Take a giant leap into the enchanting world of frogs starting Saturday, Feb. 4, when the Academy presents Frogs: A Chorus of Colors, featuring an amazing array of live frogs from around the world.
From radiant blue to fiery red, frogs are among the most visually stunning, vocally pleasing and adaptively remarkable animals on earth. They live almost everywhere—from tropical forests to frozen tundra to your back yard—and they can grow as large as a human infant. One species carries enough poison to kill 10 people.
“If you’ve never considered frogs as beautiful, this exhibition will change your mind,” said Academy Senior Exhibits Director Jennifer Sontchi. “Whether you think frogs are funny or bizarre, cute or ugly, you’ll have fun watching them hop and jump around and even listening to them sing.”
Naturalistic habitats of live plants, waterfalls and rock ledges bring the frogs’ natural environment to life. Visitors will get eyeball to eyeball with 15 different species of frogs from around the world and see them in action in nature through fascinating videos.
Families will enjoy testing their field of vision against that of a frog; activating recorded frog calls; touching models, and even performing a virtual frog dissection. Frogs explores a range of aspects on the endearing animals including their biology, natural history, role in human cultures, importance to ecosystems, and the perils they face in changing environments.
To celebrate Frogs, the Academy has renamed the opening month Froguary and will present special crafts, amphibian specimen displays, and interactive activities every Saturday and Sunday in February. Visit ansp.org for details.
And don’t miss the poison dart frogs in the Academy’s permanent Butterflies! exhibit and the green tree frog in the Outside In exhibit.
While most people don’t have an aversion to frogs, their beauty, elegance and diversity often is overlooked. But as people alter the environment, the chorus of croaks, chirps and whistles is fading as species are disappearing.
Frogs: A Chorus of Colors runs through Sunday, May 14. The exhibit was created by Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland in Allenwood, Pa.
For more information about Frogs: A Chorus of Colors, or to purchase tickets online, visit ansp.org.
Photos by: Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland