10 Adorable Frogs: Meet the World’s Cutest Amphibians

With their large eyes and bulging bodies, frogs are the most fascinating of amphibians. But frogs are much more than just adorable, as they are among the most diverse animals in the world. While some spend their time in the trees, others settle in the sand. While some are small, others are significant. And while some blend in with their surroundings, others want to be seen.

Here are some facts about frogs and some of the cutest frogs found around the world today.

Types of frogs

It represents over 7,600 of the world’s 8,600 amphibian specieson Anuracommonly called frogs, include all types of short-bodied, tailless amphibians.

Available in an assortment of shapes and sizes and a full spectrum of colors, creatures in this taxonomic order also inhabit different habitats and perform different ecological functions. There are water cleaners and tree killers.

Read more: These little frogs traded their sense of balance for their size

What do frogs look like?

Although they all share a similar body shape, some frogs have thin torsos and long legs suitable for swimming or climbing trees, while others have strong torsos and thick legs designed for burrowing. And frogs also vary in size. While the smallest frogs are about a third of an inch long, the largest are approximately 13 inches long.

Whatever their shape and size, however, the members of Anura row tend to accept one of the two separate adaptive coloring approaches, which allows them to hunt prey, avoid predators and survive in the wild. While frogs with mottled brown, green, and gray skin camouflage themselves to avoid threats, bright-skinned frogs advertise their presence to stay alive, warning the world that they are not to be trifled with.

Where do Adorable Frog live?

IN 250 million years that these amphibians roamed the world, they reached every continent except Antarctica. During this time, each species of frog has adapted to its environment, whether it found itself in a tropical forest, a wet swamp, or a dry, dusty desert. In fact, some frogs’ territories extend even into the frigid arctic circlewhere cold-hardy creatures cover themselves in soil and leaf litter to fight the frost.

What do frogs eat?

Most frogs feed on insects, worms, slugs, snails and spiders. Yet some frogs have larger appetites, devouring small reptiles, rodents and birds, as well as other amphibians. A few species even eat vegetable mattersupplementing their carnivorous diets with garnishes of fruit, flowers and nectar.

How long do frogs live?

The longevity of frogs in the wild varies widely, with some species living only a short time and other species surviving for periods of more than 35 years. That said, whatever their lifespan, these amphibians go through several stages of growth, transforming from movie frog spawn and long-tailed tadpoles to long frogs and full grown frogs.

As they transform, the animals cultivate their froggy charm, with these 10 frogs topping the charts for amphibian cuteness.

Read more: Glass frogs become translucent, hiding their blood

1. African dwarf frog (Genus: Hymenochirus)

Classified into four distinct species, African pygmy frogs live underwater in the shallow streams and lakes of West and Central Africa. Ranging in color from mottled green to mottled brown, these cuties tend to lurk at the bottom of the water, where their backs blend into the rocks and mud.

Using their webbed feet to swim and scoop food into their mouths, these fully aquatic frogs are small, about 3 inches long, and consume anything they can cram into their mouths, whether it’s dead or alive.

2. American bullfrog (Species: Lithobates catesbeianus)

American bullfrogs have large brown eyes and large olive bodies covered in spots and brown stripes. Native to North America, they inhabit large bodies of water such as marshes and wetlands and reach up to 8 inches from snout to back.

Named for their male mating call, the charismatic males of the species emit up to three distinct sounds, including advertisement calls to attract female admirers, territorial calls to threaten male competitors, and battle calls to announce their intentions to fight.

As ambush predators, these frogs prey on all kinds of species, from the typical frog diet of insects and other invertebrates to small snakes, small mammals and other frogs. The trick to their varied diet is their speed. When a bullfrog sees something awesome, it shoots out its tongue, goes around its target, and pulls it into its mouth—a process that takes about 0.07 seconds from start to finish.

3. Blue poison dart frog (Species: Dendrobates tinctorius)

Found in the forests of Brazil and Suriname, the blue poison dart frog is a small amphibian that reaches 2 inches in length. As its name suggests, the skin of the species is bright blue and covered with patches of black spots that are unique to the individual.

While the black allows these frogs to be individually identified, scientists suspect that the blue acts as a kind of warning, telling potential predators that the frogs’ skin is toxic. In fact, the blue frog is covered in poisonous alkaloids that paralyze predators after a single bite.

Scientists believe that the diet of these beautiful frogs contributes to their toxicity. The blue poison frog feeds on fire ants, which can cause their toxicity. In addition to fire ants, frogs also feed on flies, mites, worms and spiders.

4. Common Coquí Frog (Species: Eleutherodactyl coquí)

Categorized as a generalist habitat, the common coquí inhabits a wide variety of environments in Puerto Rico and surrounding islands, including the densest forests, steepest mountains, and busiest city streets. In these diverse habitats, the mottled, mud-brown frogs munch on ants and other arthropods and call to each other in their distinctive “co-qui” choruses.

While most frogs lay their eggs in water, coca lay their eggs on land, reducing their need to live near streams and marshes. Emerging on the leaves of trees, cokies hatch as tiny frogs with short tails that disappear shortly after hatching. At about eight months, they grow to their full size of 1 to 1 and a half inches.

5. Cuban tree frog (Species: Osteopilus septentrionalis)

Native to Cuba, the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas, the Cuban tree frog has brown, beige and gray skin and a taste for travel. Since the 1800s, this species has been hitchhiking with shipments of produce and potted plants, making its way to several new locations in America, only to threaten native frogs in each of its new territories.

As the largest tree frog that treads the trees and shrubs of North America with its sticky toes, these 2- to 6-inch frogs consume a wide variety of foods, including native tree frogs. Even Cuban tree frog tadpoles compete with native frog tadpoles, making the species an even stronger invasive threat.

6. Desert Rain Frog (Species: Macropes of Breviceps)

Nestled on the sandy shores of South West Africa, the desert rain frog is a robust species with short limbs and a shorter snout. Measuring 1 to 2 1/2 inches long, the species is beige and brown and almost always covered in sand.

Living in a dry environment, the desert rain frog survives by burrowing underground where it waits for rainfall. When there is precipitation, usually in the form of fog, the frog emerges from its hole and glides along the surface of the sand. It then chews on insects and insect larvae, absorbing much-needed moisture through its porous skin.

7. Glass frog (family: Centrolenidae)

Glass frogs are a family of tree frogs that thrive throughout South America. Although there are over 160 individual species of these fascinating amphibians, members of this family of frogs are about 1 to 3 inches long and have a glassy green hue except for patches of skin on the underside of their torsos. There, their skin is either transparent or translucent, providing a peek into the frog’s internal organs.

Although the patterns of glass frogs vary, with some species showing a solid shade on their skin and other species showing patches of small specks, the frogs’ transparency makes them masters of camouflage. In fact, their transparency allows them to snooze on leaves during the day without being noticed.

8. Gray tree frog (Species: Dryophytes versicolor)

The gray tree frog is a small species native to the forests of North America, where it eats insects and insect larvae, as well as mites, spiders, and snails. But despite their common name, these 1- to 2-inch frogs have variable coloration, armed with the unique ability to change color at will.

Transforming from beige to gray to green to brown in seconds, the gray tree frog changes color to complement its surroundings. But their resting color also changes over time, with frogs tending to show lighter green tones than their adult counterparts, which tend to show darker green tones and grays.

Ultimately, the gray tree frogs’ color changes allow the amphibians to spend more of their time outdoors, lounging on leaves and branches.

9. Red-eyed tree frog (Species: Agalychnis callidryas)

A long-limbed, long-toed tree frog, the red-eyed tree frog is found in the tropical forests of Central and South America. Its cuteness comes from its small size, approximately 2 to 3 inches, and its striking coloring, including its green back, blue and yellow appendages, orange toes, and intense red eyes.

Although the night frog is not poisonous, it still uses its colors to repel predators. During the day, the frogs hide in the leaves of the rainforest using their bright green backs. If disturbed, the frogs flash their orange legs and red eyes, surprising predators and allowing them to quickly escape.

10. Tomato Adorable frog (Species: Dyscophus antongilii)

Reaching about 4 inches and ranging from red to orange, the plump tomato frog closely resembles the tender, delicious fruit for which it is named. Yet Madagascar’s predators know this nocturnal species isn’t the smartest snack.

In fact, tomato frogs spend most of their night feeding on small insects and invertebrates. When threatened by predators, they inflate their bodies and produce a thick, sticky substance all over their skin. Acting as an anesthetic agent, this toxin causes predators to release any frogs they catch. Not only that, but the substance also discourages predators from pursuing the frogs in the future by temporarily sticking their teeth together.

Read more: How do animals evolve to be so colorful?