192，Glass Frogs

Today, we will be talking about the glassfrogs, which are a group of 120 or more known frog species. You might bewondering why they are called glass frogs, and this will be explained soon. The reason these tree frogs are calledglass frogs is because of their transparent bellies. When you look at the undersideof some species, the skin is see-through, so you can see their insides. Thatmeans you can sometimes see the frogs hearts pumping blood, or food travelingthrough their stomach. Their bellies are like a glass screen, which you canlook through. Besides their stomachs, the rest of their skin is partially seethrough, which is known as translucent. They are usually light green in color.This could mean that they are a single green color all over their body, or theymight have white spots that make them look like frog eggs. Glass frogs arerelatively small frogs, ranging from 2 to 8 centimeters in length. You might be wondering why thistranslucent skin would be helpful, and this was a mystery to scientists for along time, too. They wondered how it could be useful camouflage, but they didstudies to find out the reason. When the glass frog sits on the leaf, with itslegs to its sides, there is a gradual color change from the frog to the leaf,making the frog less noticeable. This means it was easier for glass frogs tohide from predators. Glass frogs live in trees along rivers andstreams, in the cloud forests of Central and South America. Females usually laytheir eggs on leaves and shrubs that hang over a water source. When thetadpoles hatch, they fall into the water below. For Wild Suzhou, I’m Ciana, thanks forlistening and see you next time.