You’ve seen one frog, you’ve seen them all, right?
Not according to a new display at the Canadian Museum of Nature.
“Frogs – A Chorus of Colours” features over 80 exotic live frogs from around the world. Some of them can fly, sort of, like the Chinese Gliding Frog. Some of them are huge, like the 1 kilogram African Bull Frog.
But the real jewels of the exhibit are the stunningly colourful Poison Dart Frogs of South and Central America. These delicate little frogs sport some of the boldest colours in the amphibious world. They can afford to because they are among the most deadly animals on the planet. One of them is appropriately named Terribilis – Latin for terrible. “These guys have enough toxin to kill ten people. They are the most toxic animal,” warns the exhibit’s zookeeper, Leslie Thompson.
The exhibit offers plenty of interesting facts about frogs. You cannot, for example, contract warts by touching them. The goal is to teach people about the important role frogs play in nature. They are useful for controlling insects and they provide a food source for other animals. Because their skin is semi-permeable, frogs also act as one of the first warning signs if an ecosystem has become polluted.
“Frogs – A Chorus of Colours” is on display until May 11th, 2014 at the Museum of Nature.
