Minnesota has 14 species of frogs and toads. Listed are some of the more common frogs that you'll find in Minnesota. Other frogs found in Minnesota include: Cope's Grey Treefrog, Mink Frog, Northern Cricket Frog, Pickerel Frog, Great Plains Toad, and Canadian Toad.
Photos and recordings courtesy of Andy Clay and are used with permission. Drawings were done by Robert Suchanek, a former MPCA employee.
Listen to the call
Listen to the call
- Frogs absorb water through their skin so they don't need to drink.
- Frogs can lay as many as 4,000 eggs in frogspawn.
- The eyes and nose of a frog are on top of its head so it can breathe and see when most of its body is under the
- A frog can change the color of its skin depending on its surroundings.
- Certain frogs can jump up to 20 times their own body length in a single leap.
- Frogs usually eat meat (bugs and worms) and swallow their food whole.
- The eggs of the marsupial frog are laid in a brood pouch on the mothers back and the young hatch out in a zipper-like fashion from the pouch.
- Research has shown that Ammonium Nitrate (a fertilizer) can cause agonizing death for frogs. This fertilizer is spread on fields in the spring when frogs are migrating. Frogs suffer a massive toxic attack if they come in contact with it.
- People who study frogs and toads are called herpetologists. Herpetology is the study of amphibians and reptiles.
- Frog bones form a new ring every year when the frog is hibernating, just like trees do. Scientists can count these rings to discover the age of the frog.
- Amphibians' eyes come in all shapes and sizes. Some even have square or heart shaped pupils. But amphibians don't see color—they only see in black or white.
- A frog's skin reflects the same amount of ultraviolet light as its immediate surroundings. This way it can protect itself from predators like snakes.
- Some frogs can survive in conditions well below freezing. The Grey Tree Frog. for example, can survive even though its heart stops. It does this by making its own antifreeze, which stops its body from freezing completely.
- Frogs cannot live in the sea or any salt water.
- There are more than 4,000 types of amphibians in the world, but Europe has just 45 species.
Facts are from the Irish Peatland Conservation Council and are used with permission.