World Frog Day is an annual celebration celebrated on March 20. Unlike other animals, not all of us love frogs for their looks, appearance, and most importantly, their croak. Most often they are tiny creatures, small in body, and will make us scrunch up our faces. Frogs are amphibians that can be found both on land and in water. They are considered to be predators and play an important role in preserving the environment throughout their lives. In recent years, however, frogs have been critically endangered for several reasons. World Frog Day is an awareness day celebrated to save these living beings and provide them with a safer environment to survive.
History of World Frog Day
World Frog Day has been celebrated since 2014. There is no precise mention of the person or organization that started this awareness day; it was created to save the different frog species from extinction. Frogs are tailless amphibians with origins dating back nearly 256 million years. They were valued as food by the people and also have many cultural roles including literature, symbolism, and religion. Approximately 6,000 known frog species have been found, of which 4,800 recorded frog species have been found around the world except for Antarctica. But around 170 species of frogs have become extinct in the past decade. The reason for their population decline is different, as they are disappearing due to both human activity and fungal infections.
Frog populations have declined significantly since the 1950s and around a third of the world’s species are critically endangered, while more than 120 species are believed to have been extinct since the 1980s. The extinction of certain frogs has been traced back to emerging fungal diseases, habitat destruction and alteration, pollution, climate change, pesticide use, and more. All of this led to an increase in malformations in frogs in particular.
Many conservation biologists around the world are actively working to find and understand the causes of these problems and ways to solve them. Frogs are tailless amphibians of the order. Anura. They are widespread from the tropics to the subarctic regions, but the highest concentration of biodiversity is found in tropical rainforests. The oldest fossil of the “Protofrog” appeared in the early Triassic of Madagascar. However, the dating of the molecular clock suggests that the origin of the frog could stretch further back into the Permian, approximately 265 million years ago.
265 Million Years Ago Frogs are Discovered
The first species of frogs are discovered.
2014 The First Year of the Celebrations
World Frog Day is first observed.
2016 Frog Numbers have Boomed
Local volunteers help to increase conservation work in Scotland.
2020 The Work in Scotland
A becoming population of common frogs is discovered.
Why is World Frog Day celebrated?
It is celebrated to mark the existence of frogs, to create awareness of the different species, and to advocate for their protection.
What is the biggest frog in the world?
The Goliath frog is the largest in the world.
What country has the most frogs?
Brazil has the most frogs with a total Amphibian species count of 1,022.
World Frog Day Activities
Get to know more about frogs
Start practicing some new environmental-friendly habits
Get to know about the frogs, their habitats, types, and their ecological roles in detail. It’s sure to be interesting!
Help to raise awareness of the decline in the frog population and the importance of saving them in the community. Instead of killing them, ask them to protect this incredible creature.
Help create some environmental changes such as reducing pollution and pesticide usage to prevent them from being killed. What are you waiting for?
5 Facts About Frogs That Will Leave You Baffled
6,000 species of frogs across the world
Frogs can drink water through their skin
Jump 20 times their body length
Some of them are poisonous
They display vibrant colors
Frogs are among the most diverse animals on land, with more than 6,000 species distributed across various parts of the globe.
Frogs drink water through their skin by absorbing it and have a drinking patch located on their belly and the underside of their thighs via which they absorb water.
One trait that stands out among frogs is their ability to jump and can reach heights of 20 times their body length.
Poison dart frogs have highly toxic skin and one species known as the golden poison frog perfects the ability to kill 10 adult males.
Frogs are not just green or yellow — which are commonly seen during the monsoon months — but display a range of colors from vibrant red to dark blue.
Why We Love World Frog Day
It's aimed to raise awareness
It celebrates these diverse and valuable treasures of the ecosystem
It improves people's overall knowledge about frogs
The primary aim of this day is to raise awareness of the different species of frogs and to protect them further. See what you can do on this day to contribute.
Frogs play a central role in many ecosystems. They control the insect population, and they're a food source for many larger animals. Frogs can also secrete substances through their skin. Some secretions are beneficial and researchers have used some of them to create new antibiotics and painkillers.
Aside from the celebration of the tailless amphibians, it's a day also set aside to help educate the general populace on the different species of frogs that exist, their habitats, how they feed, what is causing their ecological decline, and how we can better protect and save these awesome creatures.
