With a leap year this year who doesnt think of frogs - its a leap year - frogs jumping? Come on people ......

So in homage to this amazing amphibian, lets look at why they are so interesting; 

• There are over 5,000 species of frog.
• Frogs don’t need to drink water as they absorb it through their skin.
• A frog’s call is unique to its species, and some frog calls can be heard up to a mile away.
• Some frogs can jump over 20 times their own body length; that is like a human jumping 30m.
• Due to their permeable skin, typically biphastic life (aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults), and mid-position in the food web frogs and other amphibians are excellent biological indicators of the wider health of ecosystems.
• In Egypt the frog is the symbol of life and fertility, and in Egyptian mythology Heget is a frog-goddess who represents fertility.
• Frogs can see forwards, sideways and upwards all at the same time. They never close their eyes, even when they sleep. Frogs do, however, have eyelids that blink to protect their eyes from dirty residue and preserve moisture.
• Remarkably, frogs actually use their eyes to help them swallow food. When swallowing a big mouthful of food, a frog blinks its eyes. The blinking pushes the frogs huge eyeballs down on top of its mouth. This helps squeeze the food in its mouth into its throat.
• Frog ears are called tympanums and look more like a flat, disc-shaped patch of skin directly adjacent to each eye.
• In most frog species only the males croak. They croak to attract female frogs for breeding, and to warn away other male frogs from their territory. Many kinds of frogs puff themselves up enormously with air when they croak.
• Many species of frog care for their offspring. For example some poison dart frogs lay their eggs on the forest floor so they can guard them and urinate on them to keep them moist.
• Females of some frog species keep a regular check on their offspring (tadpoles) and if food becomes scarce she will deposit unfertilised eggs for them to eat.
• Asian tree frogs build nests in trees above water so that when the tadpoles hatch they fall directly into the water.