A Very Special Frog

The Avengers read 'A Very Special Frog' by Lindy Kelly. They then compared two New Zealand Frogs the Maud Island Frog and the Southern Bell Frog

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If you are ever bush walking or nature hiking in damp places you may see a frog that you don’t recognise. New Zealand is home to four native frog species. Two of these are the Southern Bell Frog and the rare Maud Island Frog. These frogs have many similarities but also many differences that will help you to tell them apart.

The Maud Island Frog and the Southern Bell Frog both eat insects and have coloured skin to help them hide from prey. However they make very different noises. The Maud Island Frog makes a chirping noise like a cricket while a Southern Bell Frog croaks like many other frogs.

Both frogs breathe through their skin as well as their longs so they must keep their skin moist. However the Southern Bell Frog keeps it skin moist by spending time in water and the Maud Island Frog seeks out damp places under rotten logs or damp rocks to keep their skin moist.

Another similarity is that both frogs reproduce by laying eggs. The Maud Island Frog lays eggs in hollows under rocks. The male sits over the eggs until they hatch into tiny froglets. On the other hand the Southern Bell Frog lays its eggs in spawn and that’s where the tadpoles hatch.

In the future the Maud Island Frog will hopefully still be around in a hundred years for children to learn about. This is because the law protects the Maud Island Frog and 300 frogs were moved to Motuara Island to protect them from fire and disease.

We think our comparison is extended abstract because we made several comparisons. We also made a prediction about the future of the Maud Island Frog.