page_title: Frog
section_title: Locomotion
hierarchical_section_title: Frog / Locomotion
caption_attribution_description: English: Phrynomantis bifasciatus walking on a level surface
context_page_description: A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura. The oldest fossil "proto-frog" appeared in the early Triassic of Madagascar, but molecular clock dating suggests their origins may extend further back to the Permian, 265 million years ago. Frogs are widely distributed, ranging from the tropics to subarctic regions, but the greatest concentration of species diversity is in tropical rainforest. There are over 6,300 recorded species, accounting for around 88% of extant amphibian species. They are also one of the five most diverse vertebrate orders. Warty frog species tend to be called toads, but the distinction between frogs and toads is informal, not from taxonomy or evolutionary history. All toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads.
  An adult frog has a stout body, protruding eyes, anteriorly-attached tongue, limbs folded underneath, and no tail. Frogs have glandular skin, with secretions ranging from distasteful to toxic. Their skin varies in colour from well-camouflaged dappled brown, grey and green to vivid patterns of bright red or yellow and black to show toxicity and ward off predators.
context_section_description: Different species of frog use a number of methods of moving around including jumping, running, walking, swimming, burrowing, climbing and gliding.
  Jumping
  Frogs are generally recognized as exceptional jumpers and, relative to their size, the best jumpers of all vertebrates. The striped rocket frog, Litoria nasuta, can leap over 2 metres (6 ft 7 in), a distance that is more than fifty times its body length of 5.5 centimetres (2.2 in). There are tremendous differences between species in jumping capability. Within a species, jump distance increases with increasing size, but relative jumping distance (body-lengths jumped) decreases. The Indian skipper frog (Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis) has the ability to leap out of the water from a position floating on the surface. The tiny northern cricket frog (Acris crepitans) can "skitter" across the surface of a pond with a series of short rapid jumps.
  Slow-motion photography shows that the muscles have passive flexibility. They are first stretched while the frog is still in the crouched position, then they are contracted before being stretched again to launch the frog into the air. The fore legs are folded against the chest and the hind legs remain in the extended, streamlined position for the duration of the jump. In some extremely capable jumpers, such as the Cuban tree frog (Osteopilus septentrionalis) and the northern leopard frog (Rana pipiens), the peak power exerted during a jump can exceed that which the muscle is theoretically capable of producing. When the muscles contract, the energy is first transferred into the stretched tendon which is wrapped around the ankle bone. Then the muscles stretch again at the same time as the tendon releases its energy like a catapult to produce a powerful acceleration beyond the limits of muscle-powered acceleration. A similar mechanism has been documented in locusts and grasshoppers.
  Walking and running
  Frogs in the families Bufonidae, Rhinophrynidae, and Microhylidae have short back legs and tend to walk rather than jump. When they try to move rapidly, they speed up the rate of movement of their limbs or resort to an ungainly hopping gait. The Great Plains narrow-mouthed toad (Gastrophryne olivacea) has been described as having a gait that is "a combination of running and short hops that are usually only an inch or two in length". In an experiment, Fowler's toad (Bufo fowleri) was placed on a treadmill which was turned at varying speeds. By measuring the toad's uptake of oxygen it was found that hopping was an inefficient use of resources during sustained locomotion but was a useful strategy during short bursts of high-intensity activity.
  The red-legged running frog (Kassina maculata) has short, slim hind limbs unsuited to jumping. It can move fast by using a running gait in which the two hind legs are used alternately. Slow-motion photography shows, unlike a horse that can trot or gallop, the frog's gait remained similar at slow, medium, and fast speeds. This species can also climb trees and shrubs, and does so at night to catch insects. The Indian skipper frog (Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis) has broad feet and can run across the surface of the water for several metres (yards).
  Swimming
  Frogs that live in or visit water have adaptations that improve their swimming abilities. The hind limbs are heavily muscled and strong. The webbing between the toes of the hind feet increases the area of the foot and helps propel the frog powerfully through the water. Members of the family Pipidae are wholly aquatic and show the most marked specialization. They have inflexible vertebral columns, flattened, streamlined bodies, lateral line systems, and powerful hind limbs with large webbed feet. Tadpoles mostly have large tail fins which provide thrust when the tail is moved from side to side.
  Burrowing
  Some frogs have become adapted for burrowing and a life underground. They tend to have rounded bodies, short limbs, small heads with bulging eyes, and hind feet adapted for excavation. An extreme example of this is the purple frog (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis) from
caption: Phrynomantis bifasciatus walking on a level surface