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Green Frog, Brown Frog, Green Frog
By Frogs Zone
When people think of a frog, they think of a green animal jumping from lillypad to lillypad. In actual fact, there are many frogs that are not green. This is not to say that a lot of frogs are in fact green. The green colour, and for this case, brown as well, is most likely a natural defense against predators. The green-brown colour blends nicely with leaves and aquatic plant life. Even some more wildly coloured frogs have some green, to blend in when sleeping.
The actual skin colour of frogs is due to an arrangement of cells in their skin. It is similar to how lizards change their colour. Frogs, while not as advanced as lizards in this area, can change the shades of their skin to suit their surroundings, or their mood. Frogs have three different pigment cells (chromatophores). They form a stack, each one on top of each other. The bottom of the stack is the melanophore cell. This cell is dark in colour. Humans have a melanophore cell, changing the shades of brown in the human skin. The next cell in the stack is called the iridophores. These cells contain purine crystals. They are highly reflective, and bundled very tightly. The top most cells are called the xanthophores. These contain yellow pigments. Light penetrates the skin, and reflects off the iridophore cells. The reflected light is filtered through the xanthophore cells, which filters out light. The escaping light looks green to our eyes. When you see a blue frog, their skin is lacking these filter cells.
Frogs can utilize these cell stacks to change colour and shades of colour when needed. The stacks change shape and size to change the intensity of the light being reflected. The melanophore cells change the darkness of the colour. The xanthophores change the filtering effects, and the iridophore cells change the reflection.
Frogs can produce a wide range of shades of green, brown and greys. Some frogs can change shades of blues and reds, but not by very much. This has extreme advantages as you can imagine. Avoiding predators is key to their survival, and this is one other way a frog accomplishes that.
About the Author
Frogs Zone is dedicated to bringing you captive care information for frogs. You will find everything from habitat needs, nutrition, diseases, care sheets and more.
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