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Photo of the Common frog
EuropeLeast concern

Common frog

Rana temporaria

A brown frog found all over Europe, from garden ponds to the Pyrenees.

Weight
About 25 g
Size
Up to 9 cm long
Lifespan
Up to 8 years
Top speed
Long jumps
Diet
Insects, slugs, worms

How heavy is that?

So light that a 40 kg kid weighs as much as 1,600 of them

Where it lives

Three things to know

  1. In winter it rests at the bottom of ponds and breathes through its skin.
  2. One female lays up to 2,000 eggs in a clump of jelly.
  3. Its colour can change a little to match its surroundings.
Look inside its bodySee its neighbours

Compare with…

Weight
Common frog25 g
A 10-year-old kid40 kg
The kid weighs about 1,600× as much as the common frog
Size
Common frog9 cm
A 10-year-old kid1.4 m
The kid is about 16× as big as the common frog
Top speed
Common frog—
A 10-year-old kid20 km/h
Too slow to time
Lifespan
Common frog8 yrs
A 10-year-old kid80 yrs
The kid can live about 10× as long as the common frog

Food chain

  1. LeavesProducer
  2. Insects
  3. Common frogThis animal
  4. White stork

 

Life cycle

  1. FrogspawnA clump of jelly with up to 2,000 eggs, laid in a pond in early spring.
  2. TadpoleIt hatches after 1–3 weeks, breathes with gills and eats algae.
  3. Tadpole with legsThe back legs grow first, then the front legs.
  4. FrogletThe tail shrinks, lungs replace the gills and it climbs out of the water.
  5. FrogAfter about 3 months it's a small frog that eats insects. It can lay eggs after 2–3 years.

↺ Then it starts all over again.