Frog colour

[kathateria]

Hi folks
Could someone please help with a daft question.
Ive seen various frogs lately,and almost all are different colours.
Some brown,and some very light green.
Will they change colour to match their surroundings?

[AndrewA123]

Ooooh a good question.

I suspect not, the frogs in my garden are identifiable by their colouration and markings, although they are seen mainly in the same area each time. The one who seems to live in the jungle (my currently overgrown lawn) is by far the greenest though so you could be onto something. The one who lives under the fern also has the broadest and blackest markings (much like the underside of the fern leaves).

I never thought of it as camouflage, but I'll watch with interest

[GCN lova]

hi

common frogs do have the ability to change the colours of their bodies to match their surroundings. not completely obviously but thats why if you look at a pond of spawning frogs there will be a variety of colours.

GCN lova

[toadpole]

mine are all different colours depending on their situ ..when they are in the pond they seem to be much paler.... beiges and pale greens ...but on land they seem to be much greener and stripier ..so i think the colour changes if they are in or out of the water ..... I have 6 adult frogs and a variety yearlings and a couple of 2 yr olds that have been with me sice feb and i can recognise them by their colouring in the pond as they live in there 99% of the time ....but a couple come out go under my log pile and i am allways shocked how they change ...its the same with my Toads... on land they are green.. brown and red ..but when they are in the pond they are all the same tan colour ..perhaps its the temperature ...very interesting tho ....Marion

[Madmills]

Yes, i read somewhere, a very long time ago, that this does indeed happen, their bodies have the ability to change their colour to match in with their surroundings.

[Dogghound]

I think people are getting mixed up with chameleons here .

Rana temporaria is an extremely variable species. They are found in a huge diversity of colours such as brown, green, yellow, blue, orange, red, black. They dont change colour to match their surroundings although individuals may change colour as they age. More likely frogs of a particular colour morph will associate with a similar habitat.