Frogs! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Australia

White's tree frog, not to be confused with the American green tree frog (Hyla cinerea), is native to Australia, New Guinea and parts of New Zealand. Its lime green colour can go to a darker brown colour, all depending on its surrounding. It was discovered by John White, English Surgeon-General for New South Wales who was also interested in botany. He described the green tree frog in a 1790 journal.

Answer: Batrachotoxin

Batrachotoxin is secreted from the skin of frogs from the genus Phyllobates, of which the golden poison frog is a member. If injected, the poison can cause muscle paralysis that will lead to heart failure. The golden poison frog is native to rain forests of Columbia in South America. They can range in colour from a mint green, to yellow, to orange.

Answer: Bombina

The fire bellied toad has a mottled pattern in either green or brown, with a mottled red and black belly. There are eight known species, and these include the European (Bombina bombina) and Oriental (Bombina orientalis). If they feel threatened, they arch their back in defense to show their colourful belly. This is called the unkenreflex.

Answer: Beautiful tree nymph

Callidryas is taken from the Greek word "kallos" which means beautiful, and "dryas" which means tree nymph. The colourful frog has bulging red eyes, green skin, with blue and yellow striped sides and orange or red feet. Native to Central America, the small frog feeds off insects and can grow up to 4cm in length.

Answer: They have bright colours to warn off predators

Aposematic describes a creature that uses a signal as a warning to predators. These can include colours, sounds or smells. Rather than using camouflage to hide, they highlight their presence by using their bright colours to warn predators of their toxic or venomous traits. Examples of creatures with aposematic coloration include coral snakes, salamanders and tree frogs. Native to Central and South America, the poison dart frog has distinctive bright blue or yellow skin.

Answer: Pacman

Pacman was an arcade game popular from the 1980s, with the controller directing the yellow pac-man through different mazes. The pacman (Ceratophrys) frog was named because of its resemblance to the game character, due to its large body and wide smiling mouth. An alternative name for the pacman is the South American horned frog.

Answer: It waves

The Panamanian golden frog is revered in Panama and even has its own annual National Golden Frog Day on August 14th. The frog is believed to turn to gold when it dies. It waves its foot to attract a mate and also uses the same signal to deter any predators. The frog is on the critically endangered list due to chytridiomycosis, a fungal disease which has affected the global amphibian population.

Answer: Waxy monkey tree frog

The waxy monkey tree frog (Phyllomedusa sauvagii) is named because of the waxy feel to its skin. They are also called a leaf frog because they spend most of their time on leaves, using their green colour skin as camouflage. They are fairly large frogs, growing up to 10cm in length, and have hand-shaped feet which help them cling on to branches.

Answer: It has a transparent belly

The small glass frog from the family Centrolenidae is native to rainforests, especially along the Amazon River. Their upper body is lime green but their underbelly is transparent, meaning that their heart, liver and intestine can be seen from the outside. You may even be able to see food being digested through their gut and blood pumping through their heart.

Answer: Fly/glide

Rhacophorus is a genus of frog which can fly or glide. There are 82 known species, all of which are native to the Asian and African continents. They have webbing on their feet which allows them to glide from tree to tree. They create foam nests high in the trees to lay their eggs by mixing mucus and water. The tadpoles hatch from the foam and drop into water below.