Amphibians Archives - Heartland Safari

A skeleton of a bat against a black background. The wings and legs are spread, showing the same set of bones that make up a human’s arms and legs with five fingers and toes at the end of each limb.

Bones: Comparative Anatomy

Updated March 24, 2025

By Dr. Jessica LaPrice Dr. LaPrice teaches biology at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. Recently I visited her at her university where she showed me a goat skeleton once used in a comparative anatomy class. It reminded me just how similar our skeletons are to Dave’s and Clancy’s, and even to that goat. […]

A tiny frog about an inch long, sits on a person’s finger against a black background. Spring peeper.

Frog Magic—Spring Peepers

Updated May 6, 2024

One of my very favorite signs of spring is the chorus of spring peepers coming from the ditches along the road in front of Owl Acres. When the weather gets warm enough, and we’ve had some rain, they start their choruses, calling to prospective mates. When the dogs and I go for a walk, we […]

Amphibians

Brown and green with bulging, gold-green eyes, a soft, fat critter with wide, frowning mouth (and warts) sits on a concrete floor.

Toad Breath: American Toad

Updated May 11, 2023

I’m sitting out on the deck, enjoying an evening chorus and glass of wine when that familiar trilling floats through the soundscape. There are lots of birds out there, but this isn’t a bird. It’s an American toad. He’s been hibernating over the winter, and now the ground temperature tells him that spring has arrived. […]

Amphibians