The wonders of the rain forest

Wonderful thats what rain forest frogs are.They arent just green or brown like ordinary frogs.They can be blue,orange, yellow,red,and even pink,purple,some even have all of those colors that I said on just a single body.They may have red stripes or pink bellies,you may not belive it ,but some are even bigger than your thumb,and others arw as big as kittens.They look different than the ordinary frogs you see around your house.Even though in some ways they are the same frogs.Like most frogs they have moist skin,big eyes,and long hind legs.The males croak to attract females,which then lay their eggs without shells.

The tropical rain forest is a very special place.It never freezes.Instead of summer and winter,the rain forest has a wet and dry season.Even during the dryer season,it often rains.The rain forest looks like a tropical garden.Plants grow everywhere,even on other plants.At the top of the rain forest is the canopy,where trees spread their leaves to gather sunlight.The forest floor is shaded by the plants above,so,often,little grows there.

Many frogs live in the canopy and the underestory.They may never come down to the grond.Their legs are lng and thin for climbing from branch to branch.Their toes have wide sticky tips that help them cling to the branches and leaves.Other frogs spend their whole lives on the forest floor and never enter the water.They don't need to,because the air is so wet.Only a few live in or near ponds and streams.

Most rain forest frogs eat insects.There are so many cricets,moths,termites,ants,and other insects in the forest that frogs have plenty to eat.Big frogs may go beyond eating insects,some large "horned frogs"have green and brown bodies that makes them blend with the rain forest floor perfectly.These frogs dont hunt for food.They just sit and wait.They can eat almost anything that comes their way,even mice and small rats.

The disquise of the horned frogs also protect them for not becomeing food for larger predators.Many small frogs protect themselves by hiding too.Some have brown patterns that disquise them on tree trunks or among daed leaves.Glass frogs are hard to see on leaves.Much of their skin has no color at all.It is sometimes hard to see where the glass frog ends and where the leaf begins.

A few rain forest frogs have special ways to avoid predators.They have big feet with webbing between the toes.Some also have flaps of skin on the sides of their bodies.To escape,the frog jumps in the air and spreads out its feet.The webbing and flaps act like wings and slow the frogs fall as it glides gently downward.When the frog reaches another tree,it can hang on with just one giant toe pad until it can grab with its foot.

Poison dart frogs dont need to hide as they hop along the rain forest floor their bright colors aware predators.Their bright colors warn predators " Dont touch me". Only a few animals can eat them. Native huters in Colombia roll the tips of their blowgun darts onto the skin of certain poison dart frogs.The poison will last for about a year.The hunters use it to kill game,but they must be very careful.The skin of one small frog can contain enough poison to kill more than a hundred people.

The chemicals in poison dart frog skin are very interesting to scientists.Like other poisons,they can be useful as medicine in small doses.One chemical from poison dart frogs skin is a more powerful painkiller than morphine.Others could be used as heart-attack medicines.