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The Book of Frogs: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species from Around the World
“A huge, beautiful compendium of 600 frogs from around the world, from the famed poison-arrow variety on up to the intriguingly named plaintive rain frog.” —WiredWith over 7,000 known species, frogs display a stunning array of forms and behaviors. A single gram of the toxin produced by the skin of the Golden Poison Frog can kill 100,000 people. Male Darwin’s Frogs carry their tadpoles in their vocal sacs for sixty days before coughing them out into the world. The Wood Frogs of North America freeze every winter, reanimating in the spring from the glucose and urea that prevent cell collapse.The Book of Frogs commemorates the diversity and magnificence of all of these creatures, and many more. Six hundred of nature’s most fascinating frog species are displayed, with each entry including a distribution map, sketches of the frogs, species identification, natural history, and conservation status. Life-size color photos show the frogs at their actual size—including the colossal seven-pound Goliath Frog. Accessibly written by expert Tim Halliday and containing the most up-to-date information, The Book of Frogs will captivate both veteran researchers and amateur herpetologists.As frogs increasingly make headlines for their troubling worldwide decline, the importance of these fascinating creatures to their ecosystems remains underappreciated. The Book of Frogs brings readers face to face with six hundred astonishingly unique and irreplaceable species that display a diverse array of adaptations to habitats that are under threat of destruction throughout the world.“If you are a serious (and I mean serious) fan of the frog, you are in for a real treat.” —Boing Boing
2461 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 22, 2015
65 people are currently reading
157 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 18, 2017
The Book of Frogs: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species from around the World, by Timothy Halliday, is a wonderful collection of information on about 10% of the known frog species in the world. Halliday has collected many interesting frogs into a large book. Each page offers information on the frog's style of living, reproductive method and the habits of their tadpole. Information is also offered on the frogs habitat, similar species, endangered status and range of habitat. Although only a page of information is offered per frog, this is a really great overview of a huge number of the worlds known frog species, and is a joy to read. This book reminded me of the non-fiction books I used to read as a kid, with a good chunk of information in a large collection.
The book offers good information for anyone interested in frogs and frog species, with a great introduction on frogs feeding habits, their endangered status due to climate change, and the way the average frog breeds, gives birth and lives out its existence. This is a comprehensive book, with excellent pictures and information. This book contains a lot about frogs, from species that are as small as the tip of your thumb, to ones as large as your face. There are frogs that burrow underground, live almost permanently in water, and live in treetops. There are frogs with tadpoles that are cannibalistic, or ones that travel in schools like fish. Some frogs employ camouflage, poison defenses, or outright aggression as defensive tactics. This book contains an excellent variety of frogs, enough so to make the average reader understand the vast amount of frogs and the various habits of each one. This is a great book, and easily recommended for those who want to learn more about frogs. This style of book made me feel like a kid again, and I certainly enjoyed my time with it.
The book offers good information for anyone interested in frogs and frog species, with a great introduction on frogs feeding habits, their endangered status due to climate change, and the way the average frog breeds, gives birth and lives out its existence. This is a comprehensive book, with excellent pictures and information. This book contains a lot about frogs, from species that are as small as the tip of your thumb, to ones as large as your face. There are frogs that burrow underground, live almost permanently in water, and live in treetops. There are frogs with tadpoles that are cannibalistic, or ones that travel in schools like fish. Some frogs employ camouflage, poison defenses, or outright aggression as defensive tactics. This book contains an excellent variety of frogs, enough so to make the average reader understand the vast amount of frogs and the various habits of each one. This is a great book, and easily recommended for those who want to learn more about frogs. This style of book made me feel like a kid again, and I certainly enjoyed my time with it.
December 24, 2017
I first saw this book in the library, on the new books display. It is maybe the latest in a series of Beautiful well illustrated elegantly designed natural history books. I have almost all of them now. This one is one of my favorites, seldom do you see frogs in such detail with striking lighting, I don't think there's any other book that bridges scientific accuracy, taxonomic breadth and beauty of a printed work. This is not a storybook, and the text can be a little scientific but I think it's more accessible than some of the other books in the series, for example the book of beetles uses very specialized language, where this one gives you a little bit about the animal and its place, often there is a fun little factoid that reminds you how little you know about frogs and their diversity. If you get this book out or buy it, look out for the mustached frog.
January 29, 2018
I wanted more.
Which sounds churlish, given the book is almost seven hundred pages long, the dimensions of a textbook, and about five pounds. Still, it barely scratches the surface of the topic.
There've been books devoted to frogs dating back a little more than a century; the first I know about if Mary C. Dickerson's The Frog Book, from 1906. Generally speaking, these take up the subject through the lens of then-current scientific issues. Dickerson's book was firmly rooted in the turn-of-the-century nature study movement. Others have looked more at ecology or behavior.
Halliday's book is mostly focused on taxonomy--which seems the opposite of au courant, n'est-ce pas? Except that it's amphibian taxonomy that is being re-written right now. There's extensive exploration of frog life in a number of tropical countries, resulting in a large increase in the number of known species. Also, genetic analyses have uncovered a whole host of cryptic species and resulted in the re-organization of frog genera and families. Not all of the changes are equally valid or will stand the test of time, but the number of known frog species has increased, in the last 15 years, from about 5,000 to more than 7,000.
At the same time, ironically, frogs themselves are more endangered than they've ever been, in hundreds of millions of years. We are witnessing a number of species go extinct, and many more on the edge. The book reviews around 600 different frog species, and of these only a handful have stable populations with only a few--about three--expanding their range, though even in these cases the frogs are often threatened in their native lands.
These twin concerns structure what is essentially an encyclopedia. After a too-brief introduction, the book settles into a series of stereotyped descriptions, with common names, scientific names, ranges, habitats, physical descriptions, and a brief overview of the species. These are accompanied by (usually) two photos of the frog, one of which is life-sized. Halliday is a smooth enough writer, but it is clear that these descriptions were not meant to be read straight through, as basic information (e.g., what is an 'explosive breeder') is repeated many, many times.
There are lots of interesting nuggets in the book, and this should be a ready resource for anyone even mildly interested in frogs. Halliday obviously loves the creatures quite a bit, and this opus is a work of devotion. The book is beautifully done, with thick pages and beautiful photographs. It must have been a monster to copyedit.
I do wonder about the longevity of it, though, given the turmoil in frog classification--I can imagine lots of this being outdated in a few years. (Already, some people have broken Pseudacris regilla into three species, though this is not universally accepted.) Some of these species will go extinct. And a number with only scant behavioral or range information will be studied more intensively. Still, the backbone of it should remain in place.
And despite that there's a century of frog books, nothing like this at all.
Which is why I wanted more. Seeing the diversity laid out in this fashion, I wanted more in depth on anuran evolutionary history, ecology, and behavior. I wanted more species--this was only about 10% of the total.
This book really needs to be read with Stebbins and Cohen, A Natural History of Amphibians, although that book is now somewhat dated.
Which sounds churlish, given the book is almost seven hundred pages long, the dimensions of a textbook, and about five pounds. Still, it barely scratches the surface of the topic.
There've been books devoted to frogs dating back a little more than a century; the first I know about if Mary C. Dickerson's The Frog Book, from 1906. Generally speaking, these take up the subject through the lens of then-current scientific issues. Dickerson's book was firmly rooted in the turn-of-the-century nature study movement. Others have looked more at ecology or behavior.
Halliday's book is mostly focused on taxonomy--which seems the opposite of au courant, n'est-ce pas? Except that it's amphibian taxonomy that is being re-written right now. There's extensive exploration of frog life in a number of tropical countries, resulting in a large increase in the number of known species. Also, genetic analyses have uncovered a whole host of cryptic species and resulted in the re-organization of frog genera and families. Not all of the changes are equally valid or will stand the test of time, but the number of known frog species has increased, in the last 15 years, from about 5,000 to more than 7,000.
At the same time, ironically, frogs themselves are more endangered than they've ever been, in hundreds of millions of years. We are witnessing a number of species go extinct, and many more on the edge. The book reviews around 600 different frog species, and of these only a handful have stable populations with only a few--about three--expanding their range, though even in these cases the frogs are often threatened in their native lands.
These twin concerns structure what is essentially an encyclopedia. After a too-brief introduction, the book settles into a series of stereotyped descriptions, with common names, scientific names, ranges, habitats, physical descriptions, and a brief overview of the species. These are accompanied by (usually) two photos of the frog, one of which is life-sized. Halliday is a smooth enough writer, but it is clear that these descriptions were not meant to be read straight through, as basic information (e.g., what is an 'explosive breeder') is repeated many, many times.
There are lots of interesting nuggets in the book, and this should be a ready resource for anyone even mildly interested in frogs. Halliday obviously loves the creatures quite a bit, and this opus is a work of devotion. The book is beautifully done, with thick pages and beautiful photographs. It must have been a monster to copyedit.
I do wonder about the longevity of it, though, given the turmoil in frog classification--I can imagine lots of this being outdated in a few years. (Already, some people have broken Pseudacris regilla into three species, though this is not universally accepted.) Some of these species will go extinct. And a number with only scant behavioral or range information will be studied more intensively. Still, the backbone of it should remain in place.
And despite that there's a century of frog books, nothing like this at all.
Which is why I wanted more. Seeing the diversity laid out in this fashion, I wanted more in depth on anuran evolutionary history, ecology, and behavior. I wanted more species--this was only about 10% of the total.
This book really needs to be read with Stebbins and Cohen, A Natural History of Amphibians, although that book is now somewhat dated.
January 26, 2024
Beautiful huge book on frogs. (I got the ebook). Lots of interesting info, though some conservation stuff was already out of date when published. Things can change quickly, for better or worse. The photos are gorgeous. My only quibble with it is that the organization of the frogs may make sense to a scientist, but is chaotic to a layman. This would be an exceptional field guide if it were organized geographically instead of jumping all around the world from frog to frog. (Arguably, a physical copy of the book would be too big to haul around, but ebooks make field guides of any size light and portable!) If you love frogs this book is a must-have, as reference or just as a good browse!
January 27, 2026
I bought this book for my daughters who love frogs. It’s taken us so long to read it because it is a hefty tome full of some of the weirdest frogs you have ever seen. It can get a little repetitive which is why we would read a little then take a break for a while. It was one of those books you pick up on and off. I can’t imagine just sitting down and reading it straight through till the end. That being said, the kids loved it and bookmarked their favorite frogs and we had to frequently go back and look at all of their favorite weirdos. Recommend if you’re a lover of frogs.
December 8, 2022
I’m studying biology and I love herpetology, so of course I loved this book. Would also recommend to any kids who just love frogs like I did.
December 5, 2024
A great book for those who want information about frogs, what they look like, and their sizes.
I used this for drawing references, and I highly recommend it for that!
I used this for drawing references, and I highly recommend it for that!
April 4, 2024
I found this book…. Ribbiting. I’ll see myself out
August 31, 2020
It's pretty good, every frog that you've ever heard, wanted to know and just in general is here.
June 26, 2021
Great pictures and great facts, everything you would expected from an illustrated book about frogs.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews