The Fascinating World of Frogs. Frogs Vs Humans.
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When writing The Adventures of the Frog Prince I wanted to show the struggles that you would face when inconveniently turned into a frog.
In order to see how a human would struggle in a frogs body I had to find out how a frog works.
Before I’d done the research I thought I’d be writing about hopping and catching flies; it turns out that frogs are more complicated than they look.
Having done some research it’s no great leap (pardon the pun) to see how a human might struggle in a frogs body.
Here is a list of body functions in Frogs VS Humans
Sight
Frogs:
Because of the way a frogs eyes are laid out on its head a frog has very good peripheral vision, this allows them to keep a better eye out for predators and food. This is especially helpful as frogs cannot turn their heads.
The downside of this is that they are not so good at judging distance. This added to the difficulties Prince Leo faced when learning to hop.
Frogs can see objects that are further away from them better than those that are close to them.
Humans:When catching prey their eyes close, this means that they have to line up their prey before going in for the kill.
We can see objects both close too and at a distance, although women tend to have better peripheral vision than men, and men to have better” forward” sight. This goes back to our hunter-gatherer roots.
The eyes of a human are positioned on the front of the face. This is because humans are predators, a predator needs to judge distance and to be able to focus on one thing. Prey.
We can also stick our tongue out without closing our eyes if we want to. I just did.
Frogs don’t blink like humans do
Frogs:
In order for a frog to blink it sucks its eyes into its socket and the eyelid closes over the top.
Frogs blink in order to help swallow their food. The eyeballs are sucked into the skull and push food down the frog’s throat.
They don’t chew their food much, their teeth aren’t very strong, and whilst their tongue is good for catching prey, it’s not so good for swallowing.
Frogs also have a second set of eyelids in the form of a thin membrane called a nictitating membrane, this allows the eyes to stay protected when underwater. Because they are transparent they still allow the frog to see.
Humans:
We mere humans have one set of eyelids that clean our eyes, protect them and shut out light.
Fortunately for us our mouth is more advanced than a frogs so our eyes can just concentrate on looking out at the world.
Make some noise
Frogs:
In most frog species only Male frogs croak. They do this to attract a lady frog or to get rid of a competing male.
Humans:
All Humans are noisy most of the time.
Breathe easy
Frogs:
Frogs can absorb oxygen through their skin as well as breathing through their nose and into their lungs. To breathe into their lungs the gulping movement their throat makes pulls in air whilst body contractions expel it.
The oxygen that is absorbed through the skin goes straight into their bloodstream.
Humans:
Humans have a diaphragm under the lungs that pulls air into our lungs by contracting and relaxing. Far less complicated.
Don’t eat me
Frogs:
Frogs, like toads, have glands the produce foul tasting toxins that make them distasteful to predators. These glands can also help keep a frogs skin moist. A Frogs skin shouldn’t be allowed to dry out.
Humans:
Humans have glands too. We have sweat glands that produce moisture to cool us down. We also have many other glands that perform many other tasks that range from hormone regulation to fighting infection and many, many other things. We don’t have glands to make us taste bad though.
Reading through this makes me glad that I am human.
When writing The Adventures of the Frog Prince I wanted to show the struggles that you would face when inconveniently turned into a frog.
In order to see how a human would struggle in a frogs body I had to find out how a frog works.
Before I’d done the research I thought I’d be writing about hopping and catching flies; it turns out that frogs are more complicated than they look.
Having done some research it’s no great leap (pardon the pun) to see how a human might struggle in a frogs body.
Here is a list of body functions in Frogs VS Humans
Sight
Frogs:
Because of the way a frogs eyes are laid out on its head a frog has very good peripheral vision, this allows them to keep a better eye out for predators and food. This is especially helpful as frogs cannot turn their heads.
The downside of this is that they are not so good at judging distance. This added to the difficulties Prince Leo faced when learning to hop.
Frogs can see objects that are further away from them better than those that are close to them.
Humans:When catching prey their eyes close, this means that they have to line up their prey before going in for the kill.
We can see objects both close too and at a distance, although women tend to have better peripheral vision than men, and men to have better” forward” sight. This goes back to our hunter-gatherer roots.
The eyes of a human are positioned on the front of the face. This is because humans are predators, a predator needs to judge distance and to be able to focus on one thing. Prey.
We can also stick our tongue out without closing our eyes if we want to. I just did.
Frogs don’t blink like humans do
Frogs:
In order for a frog to blink it sucks its eyes into its socket and the eyelid closes over the top.
Frogs blink in order to help swallow their food. The eyeballs are sucked into the skull and push food down the frog’s throat.
They don’t chew their food much, their teeth aren’t very strong, and whilst their tongue is good for catching prey, it’s not so good for swallowing.
Frogs also have a second set of eyelids in the form of a thin membrane called a nictitating membrane, this allows the eyes to stay protected when underwater. Because they are transparent they still allow the frog to see.
Humans:
We mere humans have one set of eyelids that clean our eyes, protect them and shut out light.
Fortunately for us our mouth is more advanced than a frogs so our eyes can just concentrate on looking out at the world.
Make some noise
Frogs:
In most frog species only Male frogs croak. They do this to attract a lady frog or to get rid of a competing male.
Humans:
All Humans are noisy most of the time.
Breathe easy
Frogs:
Frogs can absorb oxygen through their skin as well as breathing through their nose and into their lungs. To breathe into their lungs the gulping movement their throat makes pulls in air whilst body contractions expel it.
The oxygen that is absorbed through the skin goes straight into their bloodstream.
Humans:
Humans have a diaphragm under the lungs that pulls air into our lungs by contracting and relaxing. Far less complicated.
Don’t eat me
Frogs:
Frogs, like toads, have glands the produce foul tasting toxins that make them distasteful to predators. These glands can also help keep a frogs skin moist. A Frogs skin shouldn’t be allowed to dry out.
Humans:
Humans have glands too. We have sweat glands that produce moisture to cool us down. We also have many other glands that perform many other tasks that range from hormone regulation to fighting infection and many, many other things. We don’t have glands to make us taste bad though.
Reading through this makes me glad that I am human.
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