小小青蛙,趣聞不少

青蛙早在恐龍時期就在地球生活了，恐龍滅絕了，它卻生存了下來；在嚴寒的極地環境中，僅有少數物種能夠生存，青蛙便是其中之一；青蛙能制造極大的噪音，自己的聽力卻絲毫不會受損；青蛙可大可小，大到如家貓，小到不足半英寸……青蛙如此多的秘密，你知道多少？

7. Frogs Lived

in Jurassic Park1)

The earliest known frog appeared during the late Jurassic period， about 190 million years ago. One scientific theory states that the oldest frogs developed jumping legs to avoid being eaten by dinosaurs. Specimens2) of the first known frogs have been found on Navajo3) Indian reservations4) in Arizona. These fossils5) show that the skeletal shape and body plan6) of the frog has remained almost unchanged over the last 190 million years.

6. Frogs Can

Be Really Big

The biggest kind of frog is the Goliath frog7) (Conraua goliath)， from Cameroon in West Africa. Their bodies can reach the size of nearly 12 inches (30 cm) long， plus—in addition to the body length—their legs are also at least that long. That is a big frog. The Conraua Goliath weighs over 3 kg， about the size of a large housecat.

5. Frogs Can Be Very Small

The smallest frog in the Southern Hemisphere8) is the Gold Frog， or Brazilian Psyllophryne Didactyla. Adult Gold Frogs measure grow to only 9.8 mm in body length (with legs drawn in). That's about 3/8 of an inch.

Also very small are poison frogs. These can measure less than half an inch (1 cm) long， even when they're fully grown， and although they are small， they are highly lethal9).

4. Frogs Are Better Jumpers than Kangaroos

Frogs are one of the best leapers on the planet. Frogs can launch themselves over 20 times their own length using those big strong legs of theirs. That would be the equivalent10) of a person jumping over 100 feet. By comparison， a kangaroo can leap about 4 1/2 times its length. But as good as frogs are at jumping， there is one better—ever tried to catch a flea11)? There is a reason it is not easy—the average flea can jump up to 150 times its own length.

3. Frogs' Ears Connect to Their Lungs

Frogs can hear using big round ears on the sides of their head called a tympanum12). On some frogs， the ear is very hard to see. Ever wonder how frogs that can get so LOUD manage not to hurt their own ears? Well， actually， frogs have special ears that are connected to their lungs. When they hear noises， not only does the eardrum vibrate13)， but the lung does too!

2. Frogs Can Gestate14)

in Their Stomach

One dry-region frog， the Rheoba Trachus Silus， swallows its eggs and broods15) them in its stomach since there aren't any ponds available. Darwin's Frog also has odd brooding habits. The female lays about 30 eggs and then the male guards them for about 2 weeks. Then the male picks up all the survivors and carry around them in their vocal pouch16). They develop in the male frog's baggy17) chin skin， feeding off18) their egg yolk19). When they are tiny froglets20) they hop out and swim away.

1. Frogs Are Cryogenic21)

Well， ok—not all frogs have mastered this trait22). However， one species—the common wood frog—displays a rare trait called freeze tolerance23). When the temperature drops， the animal becomes， to the eye and touch， a frog-shaped ice cube. Two-thirds of their body water， or more， freezes. The heart stops， the breathing stops. For all practical purposes24) you'd assume that it was dead.

Freeze tolerance allows common wood frogs to live in harsh25) climates as far north as the Arctic Circle， the only frogs to do so. But they can also be found as far south in the United States as Georgia. A key to their survival is a natural antifreeze that prevents their cells from dehydrating26) excessively during the freezing process. The way it does this may eventually be copied to aid human organ transplants.

Frogs are cool—no doubt about it. Here are some fun things that you might not know about frogs. Enjoy!

青蛙不可小覷——這點毫無疑問。下面關于青蛙的這些趣聞你可能還不曾知曉。一睹為快吧！

7. 早在《侏羅紀公園》里就有青蛙生存

已知最早的青蛙出現在侏羅紀晚期，約1.9億年前。有科學理論稱，最古老的青蛙為了避免淪為恐龍的盤中餐，長出了彈跳有力的雙腿。人們在美國亞利桑那州納瓦霍人的印第安部落發現了這些青蛙的化石標本。從這些化石來看，青蛙的骨骼外形及剖面結構在過去的1.9億年里幾乎沒有發生變化。

6. 青蛙也有大個頭

體型最大的蛙種要數生活在西非喀麥隆的非洲巨蛙(學名巨諧蛙)。它們的體長可達12英寸(合30厘米)，而且，不算體長，單是它們的雙腿也起碼有這么長，個頭真是不小。巨諧蛙的體重在3公斤以上，和一只大個頭的家貓差不多。

5. 青蛙也有小不點

金蛙又名巴西金蛙，是南半球體型最小的青蛙。成年的金蛙體長(腿部蜷縮時)只有9.8毫米，約合八分之三英寸。

個頭小的青蛙還有毒蛙。即使是完全長大后，它們的體長也不足半英寸(合1厘米)。雖然個頭小，但它們卻具有致命劇毒。

4. 青蛙比袋鼠善跳

青蛙是地球上最善于跳躍的動物之一。借助強有力的兩條大腿，青蛙能跳出它們自身身長20倍以上的距離，相當于一個人跳出100英尺(約30.48米)遠。相比之下，袋鼠只能跳出自身身長4.5倍的距離。不過，雖然青蛙善于跳躍，但強中更有強中手——試過捉跳蚤嗎？它們沒那么容易被捉到的一個原因就是，一般跳蚤可跳出自身身長150倍遠的距離。

3. 青蛙的耳朵與肺相連

青蛙通過頭部兩側叫做鼓膜的兩只大圓耳朵聽聲音。有些青蛙的耳朵是很難看到的。你是否疑惑過為何叫聲如此響亮的青蛙卻不會令它們自己的聽力受損？這是因為，實際上，青蛙的耳朵較為特殊，是與它們的肺部連在一起的。當青蛙聽到噪音時，不僅耳鼓膜在震動，連肺也在跟著一起震動！

2. 青蛙能在胃里孵卵

由于棲息的地方沒有池塘，一種名叫澳大利亞胃育蛙的旱地青蛙便把蛙卵吞進肚子，在胃里進行孵化。達爾文蛙的孵化方式也頗為奇特：雌蛙產下約30只卵，然后交由雄蛙看護兩周左右。兩周過后，雄蛙挑出存活的蛙卵，把這些蛙卵吞進自己的聲囊里，帶著它們四處活動。它們在雄蛙頷下的這個袋狀皮囊里慢慢成長，以其卵黃為食物，待長成幼蛙后，便從聲囊跳出，游離雄蛙。

1. 青蛙也抗凍

當然，應當承認，并非所有青蛙都身懷此技。然而，有種叫木蛙的青蛙卻展現出了罕見的抗凍特性。當溫度降到冰點時，它們就會變成蛙狀的冰坨——看起來和摸上去都如此。此時它們體內三分之二甚至更多的體液凍結成冰，心跳和呼吸全部停止。實際上，你會認為它已經死了。

這種抗凍本領使得木蛙能在遠達北極圈那樣的嚴寒氣候下生存。它們也是唯一能在北極生存的蛙種。不過，南至美國佐治亞州，人們也發現了這種青蛙的身影。木蛙能在極地生存的關鍵在于它們體內含有一種天然的防凍液，能夠在冰凍過程中防止細胞過度脫水。木蛙的這種抗凍法或許最終能為人類所效仿，幫助人們進行人體器官移植。

1.Jurassic Park: 《侏羅紀公園》，1993年好萊塢科幻冒險電影，由斯蒂芬·斯皮爾伯格執導，改編自邁克爾·克萊頓1990年發表的同名小說。電影很大程度上加強了恐龍在流行文化中的影響，令公眾對恐龍的興趣大大提升，同時也推進了有關恐龍的新理論的快速傳播(例如恐龍與鳥類的演化關系)。Jurassic [d#658;#650;#712;raelig;s#618;k] adj. 【地】侏羅紀的。侏羅紀是一個地質時代，界于三疊紀和白堊紀之間，是中生代的第二個紀。雖然這段時間的巖石標志非常明顯和清晰，其開始和結束的準確時間卻無法精確界定。侏羅紀的名稱取自德國、法國、瑞士邊界的侏羅山。

2.specimen [#712;spes#618;m#601;n] n. 樣本；標本

3.Navajo [#712;naelig;v#601;h#601;#650;] n. = Navaho [#712;naelig;v#601;h#601;#650;] n. 納瓦霍人(散居于新墨西哥州、亞利桑那州及猶他州的北美印第安人)；納瓦霍族

4.reservation [#716;rez#601;#712;ve#618;#643;n] n. <美> (印第安人)居留地

5.fossil [#712;f#594;sl] n. 化石

6.body plan: 橫剖面型線圖

7.Goliath frog: 【動】巨蛙(產于西非，是世界上最大的蛙類)

8.hemisphere [#712;hem#618;sf#618;#601;(r)] n. (地球或天體的)半球

9.lethal [#712;li#720;θl] adj. 致命的；會致死的

10.equivalent [#618;#712;kw#618;v#601;l#601;nt] n. 相等物；對應詞(或對應符號、對應表達法等)

11.flea [fli#720;] n. 【昆】蚤，跳蚤

12.tympanum [#712;t#618;mp#601;n#601;m] n. 【解】鼓膜，耳膜；中耳

13.vibrate [va#618;#712;bre#618;t] vi. 震動，顫動；振動；抖動

14.gestate [d#658;es#712;te#618;t] vi. 懷孕

15.brood [bru#720;d] vt. 孵(蛋)；孵出

16.pouch [pa#650;t#643;] n. (鵜鶘等的)喉囊

17.baggy [#712;baelig;ɡi] adj. 袋狀的；寬松下垂的

18.feed off: 以……作為食物(或能量等)的來源

19.yolk [j#601;#650;k] n.【生】卵黃

20.froglet [#712;fr#594;ɡl#601;t] n. 小蛙

21.cryogenic [#716;kra#618;#601;#712;d#658;en#618;k] adj. 低溫的；致冷的，產生低溫的

22.trait [tre#618;t] n. 特征，特點，特性

23.tolerance [#712;t#594;l#601;r#601;ns] n. 【生】(生物體耐受特定環境條件或病原體感染而生存的)耐性

24.for all practical purposes: 實際上

25.harsh [hɑ#720;#643;] adj. 嚴酷的，嚴峻的；苛刻的，艱苦的

26.dehydrate [di#720;#712;ha#618;dre#618;t] vi. 脫水，失水

27.school [sku#720;l] n. 魚群；同類水生動物群

28.seagull [#712;si#720;ɡ#652;l] n. 【鳥】海鷗

What's More

A group of fish is called a School27) of Fish.

A group of seagulls28) is called a Flock of Seagulls.

A bunch of cows and bulls is called a Herd of Cattle.

But what do you call a group of frogs?

Answer: An ARMY of Frogs!