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Aphids are distributed worldwide, but are most common in temperate zones. In contrast to many taxa, aphid species diversity is much lower in the tropics than in the temperate zones. They can migrate great distances, mainly through passive dispersal by winds.

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Bullfrogs, also known as "American bullfrogs," are large semi-aquatic amphibians. They are considered to be "true frogs," and truly are the archetype for what most people imagine when they think of a frog. These large amphibians are interesting creatures, and are used in a number of different ways. Read on to learn about the bullfrog.

Description of the Bullfrog

The top of a bullfrog is green, and the belly is cream or yellow colored. They have large eyes with almond shaped pupils. Bullfrogs have short front legs, and long, muscular rear legs. The rear feet have webbing between most of the toes, but the front feet have no webbing. Male bullfrogs are smaller than females, and have bright yellow throats.

Interesting Facts About the Bullfrog

For a seemingly uninteresting animal, bullfrogs are incredibly adept at survival. They are capable of some impressive behaviors, and are uniquely adapted for swampy, semi-aquatic life.

Can't Catch Me! - Bullfrogs are on the menu for a wide variety of other animal species. Having an effective escape method is extremely important when everyone in the swamp is hungry for frogs' legs. Thankfully, these frogs are expert hoppers. In fact, bullfrogs are capable of jumping ten times their own body length!

Frog's Legs on the Menu - Bullfrogs are prey to many other species, but did you know that bullfrogs will eat their own kind? These voracious predators will eat anything that can fit in their mouths, including other bullfrogs!

Long-Limbed and Long Lived - American bullfrogs live surprisingly long lives. In the wild, these frogs can live up to 10 years. In human care they can survive for up to 16 years!

What's in a Name? - Some people believe bullfrogs sound similar to a bellowing bull cow. This is actually where the bullfrog got its name! This booming call can be heard from a quarter of a mile away.

Habitat of the Bullfrog

Bullfrogs must remain in aquatic or semi-aquatic environments. They prefer still, fresh water, but are occasionally found in slow moving streams. The frogs live in waters with dense aquatic vegetation, but their babies, called "tadpoles," prefer water without vegetation.

Distribution of the Bullfrog

Natural Range - Naturally, bullfrogs are native to the eastern United States. From Texas up into Maine and Canada, bullfrogs can be found in freshwater habitats.

Introduced/Invasive Range - As an invasive species, bullfrogs outcompete other frog species, causing population decline. They are also resistant to the deadly chytridiomycosis fungus, and as they spread, so does the fungus. Bullfrogs have spread or been introduced across the vast majority of North and Central America, as well as northern South America. They have also been introduced in Europe, and large portions of Asia.

Diet of the Bullfrog

These frogs are ambush predators. They lie in wait for a likely prey item to pass close by. The frog rotates to face the prey, takes a few bounces to approach it if necessary, and then leaps towards the prey and whacks it with it's sticky tongue. After capture, the frog swallows the prey whole. These frogs will eat fish, tadpoles, snails, small reptiles, insects, rodents, birds, and even bats!

Bullfrog and Human Interaction

Bullfrogs are frequently eaten, in fact it is quite common to catch and eat bullfrogs in the southern United States. The rear legs of the bullfrog are the only parts of the animal that are eaten, and they resemble tiny chicken drumsticks.

American bullfrogs are also used in science classes for dissection, across the United States and the world.

Domestication

Some attempts at commercial domestication of bullfrogs have been made. These have failed because it is difficult to raise and breed bullfrogs. They are susceptible to disease, and frequently cannibalize one another.

Does the Bullfrog Make a Good Pet

Bullfrogs can be kept as pets, but can be difficult to care for. As a pet owner, it is important not to release your bullfrog as it could pose an invasive species threat or spread disease to wild animals.

Bullfrog Care

Keeping bullfrogs is difficult. They can jump substantial distances, so keeping them contained can be difficult. They also will not feed on pelleted food, so live food must be provided. Bullfrogs will also frequently cannibalize one another.

Behavior of the Bullfrog

Male bullfrogs will congregate in choruses, or groups of animals singing together. These choruses may attract more females, allowing males a greater reproductive success rate. The males will develop territories, spaced 10-20 ft. apart. They will defend these territories aggressively, and call for females to attract a mate.

Reproduction of the Bullfrog

Female bullfrogs are drawn to areas with singing males. The female browses through the selection of males in their territories, and initiates the mating process. The male climbs onto the female, and she chooses a spot to lay her eggs. Female bullfrogs can lay up to 20,000 eggs per breeding. While the female lays her eggs, the male releases sperm to fertilize them.

The eggs hatch into tadpoles, which are fully aquatic. As the tadpoles grow and feed, they metamorphose, or transform, into frogs. The tadpoles will grow legs, and then slowly reabsorb their tails. In warmer areas this may take a few months, in colder areas it can take three years for a tadpole to develop into a frog.

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Bullfrog - Description, Habitat, Image, Diet, and Interesting Facts

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Bullfrogs, also known as "American bullfrogs," are large semi-aquatic amphibians. They are considered to be "true frogs," and truly are the archetype for what most people imagine when they think of a frog. These large amphibians are interesting creatures, and are used in a number of different ways.

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Brother’s Grimm

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The embedded audio player requires a modern internet browser. You should visit Browse Happy and update your internet browser today!

One fine evening a young princess put on her bonnet and clogs, andwent out to take a walk by herself in a wood; and when she came to acool spring of water, that rose in the midst of it, she sat herselfdown to rest a while. Now she had a golden ball in her hand, which washer favourite plaything; and she was always tossing it up into theair, and catching it again as it fell. After a time she threw it up sohigh that she missed catching it as it fell; and the ball boundedaway, and rolled along upon the ground, till at last it fell down intothe spring. The princess looked into the spring after her ball, but itwas very deep, so deep that she could not see the bottom of it. Thenshe began to bewail her loss, and said, 'Alas! if I could only get myball again, I would give all my fine clothes and jewels, andeverything that I have in the world.'

Whilst she was speaking, a frog put its head out of the water, andsaid, 'Princess, why do you weep so bitterly?' 'Alas!' said she, 'whatcan you do for me, you nasty frog? My golden ball has fallen into thespring.' The frog said, 'I want not your pearls, and jewels, and fineclothes; but if you will love me, and let me live with you and eatfrom off your golden plate, and sleep upon your bed, I will bring youyour ball again.' 'What nonsense,' thought the princess, 'this sillyfrog is talking! He can never even get out of the spring to visit me,though he may be able to get my ball for me, and therefore I will tellhim he shall have what he asks.' So she said to the frog, 'Well, ifyou will bring me my ball, I will do all you ask.' Then the frog puthis head down, and dived deep under the water; and after a littlewhile he came up again, with the ball in his mouth, and threw it onthe edge of the spring. As soon as the young princess saw her ball,she ran to pick it up; and she was so overjoyed to have it in her handagain, that she never thought of the frog, but ran home with it asfast as she could. The frog called after her, 'Stay, princess, andtake me with you as you said,' But she did not stop to hear a word.

The next day, just as the princess had sat down to dinner, she heard astrange noise-tap, tap-plash, plash-as if something was coming upthe marble staircase: and soon afterwards there was a gentle knock atthe door, and a little voice cried out and said:

'Open the door, my princess dear, Open the door to thy true love here! And mind the words that thou and I said By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.'
Then the princess ran to the door and opened it, and there she saw thefrog, whom she had quite forgotten. At this sight she was sadlyfrightened, and shutting the door as fast as she could came back toher seat. The king, her father, seeing that something had frightenedher, asked her what was the matter. 'There is a nasty frog,' said she,'at the door, that lifted my ball for me out of the spring thismorning: I told him that he should live with me here, thinking that hecould never get out of the spring; but there he is at the door, and hewants to come in.'

While she was speaking the frog knocked again at the door, and said:

'Open the door, my princess dear, Open the door to thy true love here! And mind the words that thou and I said By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.'
Then the king said to the young princess, 'As you have given your wordyou must keep it; so go and let him in.' She did so, and the froghopped into the room, and then straight on-tap, tap-plash, plash-from the bottom of the room to the top, till he came up close to thetable where the princess sat. 'Pray lift me upon chair,' said he tothe princess, 'and let me sit next to you.' As soon as she had donethis, the frog said, 'Put your plate nearer to me, that I may eat outof it.' This she did, and when he had eaten as much as he could, hesaid, 'Now I am tired; carry me upstairs, and put me into your bed.'And the princess, though very unwilling, took him up in her hand, andput him upon the pillow of her own bed, where he slept all night long.As soon as it was light he jumped up, hopped downstairs, and went outof the house. 'Now, then,' thought the princess, 'at last he is gone,and I shall be troubled with him no more.'

But she was mistaken; for when night came again she heard the sametapping at the door; and the frog came once more, and said:

'Open the door, my princess dear, Open the door to thy true love here! And mind the words that thou and I said By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.'
And when the princess opened the door the frog came in, and slept uponher pillow as before, till the morning broke. And the third night hedid the same. But when the princess awoke on the following morning shewas astonished to see, instead of the frog, a handsome prince, gazingon her with the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen, and standing atthe head of her bed.

He told her that he had been enchanted by a spiteful fairy, who hadchanged him into a frog; and that he had been fated so to abide tillsome princess should take him out of the spring, and let him eat fromher plate, and sleep upon her bed for three nights. 'You,' said theprince, 'have broken his cruel charm, and now I have nothing to wishfor but that you should go with me into my father's kingdom, where Iwill marry you, and love you as long as you live.'

The young princess, you may be sure, was not long in saying 'Yes' toall this; and as they spoke a gay coach drove up, with eight beautifulhorses, decked with plumes of feathers and a golden harness; andbehind the coach rode the prince's servant, faithful Heinrich, who hadbewailed the misfortunes of his dear master during his enchantment solong and so bitterly, that his heart had well-nigh burst.

They then took leave of the king, and got into the coach with eighthorses, and all set out, full of joy and merriment, for the prince'skingdom, which they reached safely; and there they lived happily agreat many years.

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The embedded audio player requires a modern internet browser. You should visit Browse Happy and update your internet browser today! One fine evening a young princess put on her bonnet and clogs, andwent out to take a walk by herself in a wood; and when she came to acool spring of water, that rose in the midst of it, she sat herselfdown to rest a while.

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Frogs can lift 1.4 times their body weight with just their tongues. That's like a human lifting a refrigerator with their tongue.

Researchers found that frogs can snatch their prey in under .07 seconds, five times faster than you can blink.

Watch the video above to learn more fun facts about the incredible frog tongue.

Imagine if you could stick out your tongue and lick your belly button. Turns out that would be an easy feat for a frog if they actually had belly buttons.

A frog's tongue is one-third of its body length, and that's just the start of this miraculous body part. That long tongue is covered with thousands of mucus glands, which secrete some of the stickiest spit on Earth. In fact, when researchers studied horned frog saliva in 2014, they found these frogs could lift 1.4 times their own body weight with their sticky tongues. That's like a human lifting a refrigerator with their tongue!

Because of this, frogs don't go whipping out their tongues for fun, but when they finally do, it can grab a meal straight out of the air. You see, although frogs can't fly, many hunt some of the fleetest, most agile winged animals like flies, moths, and dragonflies. They don't even have to chase their meals. They just sit and wait.

It's even more impressive when you consider that flies experience time more slowly than other animals. Each second feels like four seconds to a fly, so they have all the time in the world to escape a predator. Just think about the last time you tried swatting a fly. Not so easy, right?

Well, frogs have a trick up their sleeve: an ultra-fast tongue. Their tongue is made of two powerful muscle groups: an extender and a retractor. The extender fires the tongue towards its prey at an astounding 4 meters per second. At the same time, the frog flicks its jaws open, which rotates the tongue as it fires, like a speeding bullet. Bam! Before you can blink, it's all over.

Researchers found that frogs can snatch their prey in under .07 seconds, five times faster than you can blink. But speed isn't a frog's only weapon.

A frog's tongue is 10 times softer than ours, about as pliable as your brain, in fact. And this softness makes it super flexible so it can wrap itself around its victim, slathering the fly with a super sticky saliva, trapping it in place like glue. This fly is going nowhere. All that's left to do is reel it in.

The frog's retractor muscle yanks on the tongue, which zooms backwards like a bungee cord. Within 15/100s of a second, it disappears back into the mouth.

To dislodge its prize, the frog sucks its eyeballs back into its head. That pressure slides the prey off its tongue, ready to be swallowed whole.

Gulp! G-g-gulp!

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9 ways frog tongues are secretly impressive

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Frogs can lift 1.4 times their body weight with just their tongues. That's like a human lifting a refrigerator with their tongue. Researchers found that frogs can snatch their prey in under .07 seconds, five times faster than you can blink. Watch the video above to learn more fun facts about the incredible frog tongue.

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European edible frog, common edible frog Rana kl

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Download and buy this stock image: European edible frog, common edible frog Rana kl. esculenta, Rana esculenta - BWI-BLWS089067 from age fotostock's photo library of over 90+ million high resolution stock photos, stock pictures, videos and stock vectors

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4: OBSTACLES OR TASKS

The basic structure of a fairy tale involves a hero or heroine performing one or more tasks and then being rewarded as a result. The obstacle usually appears to be insurmountable but with a bit of creativity and some magical assistance a solution can be found. The obstacle may be overcome by their 'good' qualities, such as courage, cunning or goodness, by timely intervention of an accomplice with magical powers or by using a magical object.

Look at this interactive website for more information on how ordeals feature in fairy tales.

This site is maintained by the librarians of George A. Spiva Library.
If you have a question or comment about the Library's LibGuides, please contact the site administrator.

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Research and Course Guides: Fairy Tales: Conventions of Fairy Tales

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Salutations, BugFans,

Water Sow Bug

Another foray into the world of the "almost-insects." Like insects, Water Sow Bugs are Arthropods (jointed appendages), and like their terrestrial cousins, the sow/pill/potato bugs of previous BOTW fame, they are in the Order Isopoda (equal foot), a reference to their abdominal appendages.

There are three body segments-a cephalothorax (combined head and first segment of the thorax), a thorax (the next 7 segments) and an abdomen (everything after that). Jointed appendages? They've got plenty. Water sow bugs (WSBs) have 7 pairs of legs, one per segment of the thorax. The first pair is adapted for holding; the rest of these boots are made for walking. To that, add 6 short appendages on the underside of the abdomen, the final pair of which looks like two tails. One pair of antennae is long, and the other is short. WSBs are flattened for crawling under stuff, drab in color, and about ½" long.

Look for WSBs/Isopods under dead leaves and debris in shallow water. The more hiding places, the more WSBs. They are crawlers, designed to survive in low-oxygen and they also prefer the lighting to be low. Diet-wise, they are omnivore/scavenger/shredders. They eat little pieces of detritus from the pond floor, bits of dead or injured animals, and live and decaying plants. In turn, many aquatic animals eat WSBs.

On the underside of each of the segments of the thorax, at the base of each leg, is a short, inward projection; these combine to form a shallow chamber below the thorax. Female WSBs use this thoracic chamber as a brood chamber (or marsupium). She carries her eggs there, and later her young, for a little over a month until they can fend for themselves. During that time, she fans the "plates" that form the marsupium so that the eggs/young are properly oxygenated. That maternal solicitation is negated by the fact that she will sometimes eat her own offspring (and the siblings may cannibalize each other). About the common name-they were named sow bugs because someone (and the scribes do not record what he was smoking at the time) thought that the way the female cares for her young was reminiscent of sows caring for piglets.

Wood frogs owe a lot to WSBs. WSBs help to turn big pieces of dead plants and animals into little ones in ephemeral ponds. In the process, dead material is removed from the pond. Smaller chunks of material can be colonized by fungi and algae more easily, and these nutritionally-enhanced morsels of food are eaten by wood frog tadpoles and other herbivores.

If the worst that can be said of any of us, after we pass, is that we maybe cared a little too much for watercress, then we will have lived pretty blameless lives.

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Water Sow Bugs (WSBs) have three body segments- a cephalothorax (combined head and first segment of the thorax), a thorax (7 segments), and an abdomen (everything after that). WSBs have 7 pairs of legs, one per segment of the thorax. The first pair is adapted for holding; the rest of these boots are made for walking.

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hep = help

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fawg = frog
poy-en = poison
wim = swim
pin = prince

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What dat = What's that
obteh = lobster
cayfih = crayfish
De fawg pin = the frog prince
petty = pretty
tuh-tuh = turtle

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Lily Pad Bloom in water.Image provided by Getty Images.

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Painted turtles are some of the most widespread members of the turtle (Testudines) family in North America. Their name comes from the brightly colored markings on their extremities, which range from yellow, to orange, to red.

Despite their extremely wide distribution, there are just four different subspecies. There is a western subspecies, an eastern subspecies, a southern subspecies, and a midland subspecies. Read on to learn about the painted turtle.

Description of the Painted Turtle

Each subspecies of painted turtle has a slightly different appearance and coloration. The eastern subspecies has a dark, olive green colored, shell, with light spots of red on the underside of the top part of the shell.

The midland subspecies is similar to the eastern, but with a darker colored blotch on the underside of the turtle. The southern subspecies is the smallest, with a red stripe down the length of its shell. The western subspecies is easily distinguished by the bright red pattern across much of the underside of its shell.

Interesting Facts About the Painted Turtle

These widespread turtles are beautifully marked, and incredibly common. Learn more about this species, and other special adaptations of turtles, below!

Top Shelf - The top half of a turtle's shell is called the "carapace." They do not shed their carapace, and cannot be removed from it. The carapace grows with the turtle, and their backbone is actually fuses with the shell.

Bottom Shelf - The lower half of a turtle's shell is called the "plastron." Some members of the Testudines family have a hinge in the plastron, which allows the turtle to "close" the shell when they withdraw inside it.

Multi-Basking - It is not uncommon to see these aquatic turtles hauled out onto a log basking in the sun. This behavior not only helps warm the turtles up, but also allows them to get rid of any leeches they may have picked up while in the water. Leeches don't particularly enjoy being cooked in the sun!

Cold Living - With such a wide distribution, there are plenty of areas in this turtle's range that get extremely cold. What do these reptiles do when things start to freeze over? They swim to the muddy bottom of the pond and dig a burrow. They can hibernate without oxygen for months before temperatures rise enough to emerge again.

Habitat of the Painted Turtle

These turtles are found in a wide variety of habitats across North America. The ideal location for them to live is a fresh body of water with a soft, muddy bottom. They also need plenty of spots to crawl out of the water to bask in the sun, and lots of vegetation to attract suitable prey. They are commonly found in ponds, streams, lakes, rivers, and other slow-moving water sources.

Distribution of the Painted Turtle

Painted turtles are very widespread, and can be found across much of North America. They are found from southern Canada to Louisiana and parts of New Mexico. The different subspecies have some overlapping ranges, making identification difficult at times. The eastern subspecies is found from Nova Scotia to parts of Alabama.

The midland subspecies ranges from southern Quebec and Ontario to Northern Alabama. The southern subspecies is located from Tennessee to Alabama and Louisiana. The Western subspecies has a vast range, spreading from Wisconsin and Illinois to Washington and parts of Oregon. There are also pockets of populations in New Mexico, Texas, and northern Mexico.

Diet of the Painted Turtle

These reptiles hunt by flushing prey out of the underwater vegetation in lakes, rivers, and ponds. They will feed on dead fish, capture injured fish, and hunt for aquatic insects. They are also known to feed on aquatic vegetation, such as water lily seeds, duckweed, and algae. Different subspecies have different feeding habits. Some prefer aquatic vegetation while others eat more insects and carrion.

Painted Turtle and Human Interaction

Humans do have an impact on these turtles, but they are widespread and numerous enough that it typically doesn't impact their population. Most conflicts cause harm to turtles, with habitat destruction and road kills being the most impactful. Thankfully, this species is able to easily adapt and can even live in man-made lakes and ponds, allowing it to continue thriving.

Domestication

Painted turtles are not domesticated in any way.

Does the Painted Turtle Make a Good Pet

Choosing a more common pet turtle, like a red-eared slider, is a better decision than a painted turtle. This species has not undergone any selective breeding, and handling can cause undue stress.

Painted Turtle Care

In a zoological setting, these turtles thrive when handling is minimal. Replicating their habitat is relatively easy, and enclosures with large water sources, plenty of spots to bask, and underwater vegetation, prove to be most successful. In basking areas they should be provided with light to allow for thermoregulation.

The more spacious the enclosure is, the better. They are quite active turtles and additional swimming space is always beneficial. A wide variety of food should be offered, with approximately 30% protein and low fat.

Behavior of the Painted Turtle

This species must spend much of its time basking in the sun, as they are cold blooded and require thermoregulation to survive. They will bask in large groups, though they are not outright social with one another. Their day is a cycle of basking to reheat themselves, foraging for food, and basking again when they get too cooled down. At night, they will sleep at the bottom of the lake or stream.

Reproduction of the Painted Turtle

Females choose a male based on his courtship behavior. After mating, the female can store the sperm and use it for multiple clutches of eggs throughout the year. She chooses a sandy spot close to the water, and digs a hole to lay her eggs in.

She will lay approximately 4 - 11 eggs at about 3 inches deep. It takes approximately 72 - 80 days for the eggs to hatch, and the hatchlings are fully self-sufficient at birth.

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Painted Turtle - Description, Habitat, Image, Diet, and Interesting Facts

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Painted turtles are some of the most widespread members of the turtle (Testudines) family in North America. Their name comes from the brightly colored markings on their extremities, which range from yellow, to orange, to red. Despite their extremely wide distribution, there are just four different subspecies.

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Caecilians (; New Latin for "blind ones") are a group of limbless, serpentine amphibians. They mostly live hidden in the ground and in stream substrates, making them the least familiar order of amphibians. All modern caecilians and their closest fossil relatives are grouped as a clade, Apoda, within the larger group Gymnophiona, which also includes more primitive extinct caecilian-like amphibians. Caecilians are mostly distributed in the tropics of South and Central America, Africa, and southern Asia. Their diet consists of small subterranean creatures such as earthworms.

Caecilians completely lack limbs, making the smaller species resemble worms, while the larger species, with lengths up to 1.5 m (5 ft), resemble snakes. Their tails are short or absent, and their cloacae are near the ends of their bodies.

Their skin is smooth and usually dark, but some species have colourful skins. Inside the skin are calcite scales. Because of these scales, the caecilians were once thought to be related to the fossil Stegocephalia, but they are now believed to be a secondary development, and the two groups are most likely unrelated. The skin also has numerous ring-shaped folds, or annuli, that partially encircle the body, giving them a segmented appearance. Like some other living amphibians, the skin contains glands that secrete a toxin to deter predators. The skin secretions of Siphonops paulensis have been shown to have hemolytic properties.

Caecilians' vision is limited to dark-light perception, and their anatomy is highly adapted for a burrowing lifestyle. They have a strong skull, with a pointed snout used to force their way through soil or mud. In most species, the bones in the skull are reduced in number and fused together, and the mouth is recessed under the head. Their muscles are adapted to pushing their way through the ground, with the skeleton and deep muscles acting as a piston inside the skin and outer muscles. This allows the animal to anchor its hind end in position, and force the head forwards, and then pull the rest of the body up to reach it in waves. In water or very loose mud, caecilians instead swim in an eel-like fashion. Caecilians in the family Typhlonectidae are aquatic, and the largest of their kind. The representatives of this family have a fleshy fin running along the rear section of their bodies, which enhances propulsion in water.

All but the most primitive caecilians have two sets of muscles for closing the jaw, compared with the single pair found in other creatures. These are more highly developed in the most efficient burrowers among the caecilians, and appear to help keep the skull and jaw rigid.

All caecilians possess a pair of tentacles located between their eyes and nostrils. These are probably used for a second olfactory capability, in addition to the normal sense of smell based in the nose.

The middle ear consists of only the stapes and the oval window, which transfer vibration to the inner ear through a reentrant fluid circuit as seen in some reptiles. The species within the Scolecomorphidae lack both stapes and an oval window, making them the only known amphibians missing all the components of a middle ear apparatus.

Except for one lungless species, Atretochoana eiselti, all caecilians have lungs, but also use their skin or mouths for oxygen absorption. Often, the left lung is much smaller than the right one, an adaptation to body shape that is also found in snakes.[citation needed ]

Caecilians are found in wet, tropical regions of Southeast Asia, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, parts of East and West Africa, the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean, Central America, and in northern and eastern South America. In Africa, caecilians are found from Guinea-Bissau (Geotrypetes) to southern Malawi (Scolecomorphus), with an unconfirmed record from eastern Zimbabwe. They have not been recorded from the extensive areas of tropical forest in central Africa. In South America, they extend through subtropical eastern Brazil well into temperate northern Argentina. They can be seen as far south as Buenos Aires, when they are carried by the flood waters of the Paraná River coming from farther north. Their American range extends north to southern Mexico. The northernmost distribution is of the species Ichthyophis sikkimensis of northern India. Ichthyophis is also found in South China and North Vietnam. In Southeast Asia, they are found as far east as Java, Borneo, and the southern Philippines, but they have not crossed Wallace's line and are not present in Australia or nearby islands.[citation needed ]

The name caecilian derives from the Latin word , meaning "blind", referring to the small or sometimes nonexistent eyes. The name dates back to the taxonomic name of the first species described by Carl Linnaeus, which he named Caecilia tentaculata.

There has historically been disagreement over the use of the two primary scientific names for caecilians, Apoda and Gymnophiona. Some specialists prefer to use the name Gymnophiona to refer to the "crown group", that is, the group containing all modern caecilians and extinct members of these modern lineages. They sometimes use the name Apoda to refer to the total group, that is, all caecilians and caecilian-like amphibians that are more closely related to modern groups than to frogs or salamanders. However, many scientists have advocated for the reverse arrangement, where Apoda is used as the name for modern caecilian groups. Some have argued that this use makes more sense, because the name "Apoda" means "without feet", and this is a feature associated mainly with modern species (some stem-group caecilian-like amphibians, such as Eocaecilia, had legs).

The most recent classification of caecilians, by Wilkinson et al. (2011), divided the caecilians into 9 families containing nearly 200 species. Since then, a tenth caecilian family has been discovered, Chikilidae. This classification is based on a thorough definition of monophyly based on morphological and molecular evidence, and it solves the longstanding problems of paraphyly of the Caeciliidae in previous classifications without an exclusive reliance upon synonymy. It contains 256 species in 56 genera.

The most recent phylogeny of caecilians is based on molecular mitogenomic evidence examined by San Mauro et al. (2014).

Little is known of the evolutionary history of the caecilians, which have left a very sparse fossil record. The first fossil, a vertebra dated to the Paleocene, was not discovered until 1972. Other vertebrae, which have characteristic features unique to modern species, were later found in Paleocene and Late Cretaceous ( Cenomanian) sediments.

The earliest fossil attributed to a stem-caecilian (a species closer to caecilians than to frogs or salamanders but not a member of the extant lineage) comes from the Jurassic period. This primitive genus, Eocaecilia, had small limbs and well-developed eyes. In their 2008 description of the fossil batrachian Gerobatrachus, Anderson and co-authors suggested that caecilians arose from the Lepospondyl group of ancestral tetrapods, and may be more closely related to amniotes than to frogs and salamanders, which arose from Temnospondyl ancestors. Numerous groups of lepospondyls evolved reduced limbs, elongated bodies, and burrowing behaviors, and morphological studies on Permian and Carboniferous lepospondyls have placed the early caecilian ( Eocaecilia) among these groups. Divergent origins of caecilians and other extant amphibians may help explain the slight discrepancy between fossil dates for the origins of modern amphibia, which suggest Permian origins, and the earlier dates, in the Carboniferous, predicted by some molecular clock studies of DNA sequences. Most morphological and molecular studies of extant amphibians, however, support monophyly for caecilians, frogs, and salamanders, and the most recent molecular study based on multi-locus data suggest a Late Carboniferous- Early Permian origin of extant amphibians. The proposed molecular clock for the origin of lissamphibians has been further strengthened by the discovery of Chinlestegophis from the Late Triassic Chinle Formation of Colorado.

Reproduction

Caecilians are the only order of amphibians to use internal insemination exclusively (although most salamanders have internal fertilization and the tailed frog in the US uses a tail-like appendage for internal insemination in its fast-flowing water environment). The male caecilians have a long tube-like intromittent organ, the phallodeum, which is inserted into the cloaca of the female for two to three hours. About 25% of the species are oviparous (egg-laying); the eggs are guarded by the female. For some species, the young caecilians are already metamorphosed when they hatch; others hatch as larvae. The larvae are not fully aquatic, but spend the daytime in the soil near the water.

About 75% of caecilians are viviparous, meaning they give birth to already-developed offspring. The foetus is fed inside the female with cells lining the oviduct, which they eat with special scraping teeth.

The egg-laying species Boulengerula taitana feeds its young by developing an outer layer of skin, high in fat and other nutrients, which the young peel off with modified teeth. This allows them to grow by up to 10 times their own weight in a week. The skin is consumed every three days, the time it takes for a new layer to grow, and the young have only been observed to eat it at night. It was formerly thought that the juveniles subsisted only on a liquid secretion from their mothers.

Some larvae, such as those of Typhlonectes, are born with enormous external gills which are shed almost immediately.

The diets of caecilians are not well known. Mature caecilians seem to feed mostly on insects and other invertebrates found in the habitat of the respective species. The stomach contents of 14 specimens of Boulengerula taitana consisted of mostly unidentifiable organic material and plant remains. Where identifiable remains were most abundant, they were found to be termite heads. While the undefinable organic material may show the caecilians eat detritus, the remains may be from earthworms. Caecilians in captivity can be easily fed with earthworms, and worms are also common in the habitat of many caecilian species.[citation needed ]

Specific references:

1. ^ Evans, Susan E.; Sigogneau-Russell, Denise (2001). "A stem-group caecilian (Lissamphibia: Gymnophiona) from the Lower Cretaceous of North Africa". Palaeontology. 44 (2): 259-273. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00179.

2. ^ Goin, C. J.; Goin, O.B.; Zug, G.W. (1978). "Order Gymnophiona". Introduction to Herpetology (3rd ed.). San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-7167-0020-3.

3. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

4. ^ Nussbaum, Ronald A. (1998). Cogger, H.G.; Zweifel, R.G. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 52-59. ISBN 978-0-12-178560-4.

5. ^ Elisabeth N. Ferroni Schwartz; Carlos A. Schwartz; Antonio Sebben (1998). "Occurrence of hemolytic activity in the skin secretion of the caecilian Siphonops paulensis". Natural Toxins. 6 (5): 179-182. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1522-7189(199809/10)6:5<179::AID-NT20>3.0.CO;2-M. PMID 10398514.

6. ^ Piper, Ross (2007). Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals. Greenwood Press.

7. ^ Rathor, Hariharsingh (5 May 2016). "Kutnjema Mareka Jiv Sarpa Hoina". Katipur. Kantipur News.

8. ^ Wilkinson, M.; San Mauro, D.; Sherratt, E.; Gower, D.J. (2011). "A nine-family classification of caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona)" (PDF). Zootaxa. 2874: 41-64. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2874.1.3.

9. ^ Kamei, R.G.; San Mauro, D.; Gower, D. J.; Van Bocxlaer, I.; Sherratt, E.; Thomas, A.; Babu, S.; Bossuyt, F.; Wilkinson, M.; Biju, S. D. (2012). "Discovery of a new family of amphibians from Northeast India with ancient links to Africa". Proc. R. Soc. B. 279 (1737): 2396-401. doi:10.1098/rspb.2012.0150. PMC . PMID 22357266.

10. ^ "New amphibian family found in India". CBC News. Associated Press. 21 February 2012.

11. ^ San Mauro, D.; Gower, D. J.; Massingham, T.; Wilkinson, M.; Zardoya, R.; Cotton, J. A. (2009). "Experimental design in caecilian systematics: phylogenetic information of mitochondrial genomes and nuclear rag1". Systematic Biology. 58 (4): 425-438. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.577.2856. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syp043. PMID 20525595.

12. ^ San Mauro, D.; Gower, D. J.; Müller, H.; Loader, S. P.; Zardoya, R.; Nussbaum, R. A.; Wilkinson, M. (2014). "Life-history evolution and mitogenomic phylogeny of caecilian amphibians". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 73: 177-89. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.01.009. hdl:10261/123960. PMID 24480323.

13. ^ Anderson, Jason S.; Reisz, Robert R.; Scott, Diane; Fröbisch, Nadia B.; Sumida, Stuart S. (2008). "A stem batrachian from the Early Permian of Texas and the origin of frogs and salamanders". Nature. 453 (7194): 515-8. Bibcode:2008Natur.453..515A. doi:10.1038/nature06865. PMID 18497824.

14. ^ Huttenlocker, A. K.; Pardo, J. D.; Small, B. J.; Anderson, J. S. (2013). "Cranial morphology of recumbirostrans (Lepospondyli) from the Permian of Kansas and Nebraska, and early morphological evolution inferred by micro-computed tomography". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 33 (3): 540-552. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.728998.

15. ^ Jason D. Pardo; Bryan J. Small; Adam K. Huttenlocker (2017). "Stem caecilian from the Triassic of Colorado sheds light on the origins of Lissamphibia". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. in press. doi:10.1073/pnas.1706752114.

16. ^ Barrie G M Jamieson (5 January 2006). Reproductive Biology and Phylogeny of Gymnophiona: Caecilians. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4822-8014-2.

17. ^ Kupfer, Alex; Muller, Hendrik; Antoniazzi, Marta M.; Jared, Carlos; Greven, Hartmut; Nussbaum, Ronald A.; Wilkinson, Mark (2006). "Parental investment by skin feeding in a caecilian amphibian" (PDF). Nature. 440 (7086): 926-929. Bibcode:2006Natur.440..926K. doi:10.1038/nature04403. PMID 16612382.

18. ^ Hebrard, J. J.; Maloiy, G. M. O.; Al-Liangana, D. M. I. (1992). "Notes on the habitat and diet of Afrocaecilia taitana". Journal of Herpetology. 26 (4): 513-515. doi:10.2307/1565136. JSTOR 1565136.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Caecilians (; New Latin for "blind ones") are a group of limbless, serpentine amphibians. They mostly live hidden in the ground and in stream substrates, making them the least familiar order of amphibians. All modern caecilians and their closest fossil relatives are grouped as a clade, Apoda, within the larger group Gymnophiona, which also includes more primitive extinct caecilian-like amphibians.

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haad = hard
wid = with

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petty = pretty
buhfawg = bullfrog
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nake = snake
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# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Green Frogs Call/Song - Singing Frogs During Mate Season

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The life cycle of a frog includes three stages: egg, larva, and adult, each of which includes major developmental changes.

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Ali Baba and his older brother, Cassim, are the sons of a merchant. After their father's death, the greedy Cassim marries a wealthy woman and becomes well-to-do, building on their father's business. Ali Baba marries a poor woman and settles into the trade of a woodcutter.

One day, Ali Baba is at work collecting and cutting firewood in the forest, when he happens to overhear a group of 40 thieves visiting their stored treasure. Their treasure is in a cave, the mouth of which is sealed by a huge rock. It opens on the magic words "open sesame" and seals itself on the words "close sesame". When the thieves are gone, Ali Baba enters the cave himself and discreetly takes a single bag of gold coins home.

Ali Baba and his wife borrow his sister-in-law's scales to weigh their new wealth. Unbeknownst to them, Cassim's wife puts a blob of wax in the scales to find out what Ali Baba is using them for, as she is curious to know what kind of grain her impoverished brother-in-law needs to measure. To her shock, she finds a gold coin sticking to the scales and tells her husband. Under pressure from his brother, Ali Baba is forced to reveal the secret of the cave. Cassim goes to the cave, taking a donkey with him to take as much treasure as possible. He enters the cave with the magic words. But in his greed and excitement over the treasure, he forgets the words to get out again. The thieves find him there and kill him. When his brother does not come back, Ali Baba goes to the cave to look for him, and finds the body quartered and with each piece displayed just inside the cave's entrance, as a warning to anyone else who might try to enter.

Ali Baba brings the body home where he entrusts Morgiana, a clever slave-girl from Cassim's household, with the task of making others believe that Cassim has died a natural death. First, Morgiana purchases medicines from an apothecary, telling him that Cassim is gravely ill. Then, she finds an old tailor known as Baba Mustafa whom she pays, blindfolds, and leads to Cassim's house. There, overnight, the tailor stitches the pieces of Cassim's body back together. Ali Baba and his family are able to give Cassim a proper burial without anyone suspecting anything.

The thieves, finding the body gone, realize that another person must know their secret, and they set out to track him down. One of the thieves goes down to the town and comes across Baba Mustafa, who mentions that he has just sewn a dead man's body back together. Realizing the dead man must have been the thieves' victim, the thief asks Baba Mustafa to lead the way to the house where the deed was performed. The tailor is blindfolded again, and in this state he is able to retrace his steps and find the house. The thief marks the door with a symbol so the other thieves can come back that night and kill everyone in the house. However, the thief has been seen by Morgiana who, loyal to her master, foils the thief's plan by marking all the houses in the neighborhood similarly. When the 40 thieves return that night, they cannot identify the correct house, and their leader kills the unsuccessful thief in a furious rage. The next day, another thief revisits Baba Mustafa and tries again. Only this time, a chunk is chipped out of the stone step at Ali Baba's front door. Again, Morgiana foils the plan by making similar chips in all the other doorsteps, and the second thief is killed for his failure as well. At last, the leader of the thieves goes and looks himself. This time, he memorizes every detail he can of the exterior of Ali Baba's house.

The leader of the thieves pretends to be an oil merchant in need of Ali Baba's hospitality, bringing with him mules loaded with 38 oil jars, one filled with oil, the other 37 hiding the other remaining thieves. Once Ali Baba is asleep, the thieves plan to kill him. Again, Morgiana discovers and foils the plan, killing the 37 thieves in their oil jars by pouring boiling oil on them. When their leader comes to rouse his men, he discovers they are all dead and escapes. The next morning, Morgiana tells Ali Baba about the thieves in the jars. They bury them, and Ali Baba shows his gratitude by giving Morgiana her freedom.

To exact revenge, the leader of the thieves establishes himself as a merchant, befriends Ali Baba's son (who is now in charge of the late Cassim's business), and is invited to dinner at Ali Baba's house. However, the thief is recognized by Morgiana, who performs a sword dance with a dagger for the diners and plunges it into the thief's heart, when he is off his guard. Ali Baba is at first angry with Morgiana, but when he finds out the thief wanted to kill him, he is extremely grateful and rewards Morgiana by marrying her to his son. Ali Baba is then left as the only one knowing the secret of the treasure in the cave and how to access it.

_Zahra