They are amphibians. That means they spend part of their life as a water animal and part as a land animal.
frog on rock
bellowing frog

Their skin is very sensitive. They die in polluted water.

Frogs are carnivores. That means they eat other animals. They have teeth inside their huge mouths, but the teeth aren't used for chewing, just for holding because frogs swallow their food whole.

Frogs use their eyes to help them swallow. They pull their eyeballs into the mouth to push food down into their tummies.

Frog preparing to swallow
frog's eyes


Their bulging eyes also help them see in almost any direction.

Their strong back legs are good for jumping and for swimming.

They have to come to the surface to breathe, otherwise they drown.
frog coming to surface

Male frogs are smaller than female frogs but they are a lot noisier. Different sorts of frogs make different calls.
brown frog

This is a spotted tree frog.
green tree frog

This is a green tree frog.

Most frogs mate in water.

As the female releases her eggs the male releases his sperm to fertilise the eggs.
frog spawn

The eggs are protected by a jellylike substance. This mass of eggs and jelly is called frog spawn.

After mating the parents have nothing more to do with each other or their future babies

If the eggs don't get eaten by birds, fish or insects or the water doesn't become polluted or dry up, tiny tadpoles will hatch from the eggs. Tadpoles have long tails.
tadpole

Tadpoles eat only plants so they are called herbivores.

As they eat they get bigger and bigger.

Like fish they have gills so tadpoles can only breathe underwater.

Tadpoles get their back legs first.

Then their gills disappear and lungs develop inside the body.

Their front legs develop where the gills were.

The little frog now has to have its head out of water to breathe.

The tail gradually disappears.

Frog or tadpole?
Mother and frog

	Turtles are reptiles. Turtles live in the water and have flippers for swimming.
	Turtles can swim as fast as humans can run on land. They move their front flippers through the water like birds use their wings. Their rear flippers do the steering.
Most turtles can pull their head, legs and tail into their hard shell for protection but sea turtles can't do this. A turtle's shell is made up of two bits. The bit that covers the back is called the carapace and the bit that covers the turtle's belly is called the plastron.
A turtle's head is covered in hard scales. Turtles don't have teeth but they have a strong beak with a sharp edge so they can cut food like sea grasses.
They have to go to the surface to breathe so if they get caught in underwater fishing nets they will drown.
	Turtles hatch from eggs. The females lay their eggs on land. They dig a hole in the ground, lay the eggs in the hole and then cover them with soil. The mothers then go away. The sun's warmth hatches the eggs.
	Female turtles hatch from the warmer eggs on top, males from the deepest and coolest eggs in the nest.
When they are about 40 years old they will come back to the same beach to mate and lay their eggs. Some turtles can live to be over 100 years old.

	They are reftile so they have scaly skin. Their backs have notchy scales with blocks of bone inside. This is like protective armour.
Their sharp teeth aren't used for chewing, just for holding onto food. Food is generally swallowed whole or in large chunks Crocodiles are lucky. If they lose teeth they just regrow.
	The strong tail can be used as a weapon to deliver a powerful blow. The tail can also be used to push a crocodile straight up out of the water to grab some poor bird sitting on a low branch. The tail also makes it a good swimmer. The swimming motion is like a wave from head to tail.
Crocodiles can live on the land and in the water. In the water most of the body is hidden. You can only see the nostrils and the eyes above the water.
That way the crocodile can breathe and see any delicious meal that might come near the water's edge. With so little showing above the water it's hard to tell how big it is.
Crocodiles eat almost anything, but they prefer meat. Fruit and vegetables aren't their favourite food.
	Like most reptiles, crocodiles lay eggs. The female lays them in the sand or under rotting leaves. She covers them to protect them from hungry snakes, birds, goannas or even other crocodiles. These animals like to eat crocodile eggs.
When they are ready to hatch the baby crocodiles make a yapping sound from inside the eggs. This lets mum know her babies are ready to hatch so she digs them up and if they are having trouble getting out of their shells, she helps them by rolling the eggs inside her mouth and gently squeezing them until they hatch.
	Mum may also carry her babies to water.
The baby crocodiles have to find insects to eat. Mum protects them for a month or two, but then they are completely on their own.

Sea dragons are fish.
There are two kinds of sea dragons:
	the leafy sea dragon; and
	the weedy sea dragon
In the sea they look like a piece of floating seaweed. Fully grown they are about as long as your ruler.
	Their bodies are covered in hard bony plates. It's a bit like armour.
Their fins are so fine you can almost see through them.
They have very good eyesight and eat tiny shrimps and sea lice. They don't have any teeth so when they see something to eat they suck it through their tiny little mouth.
They live among the seagrasses in the ocean. If we destroy the environment and the sea grasses disappear, the sea dragons will die.
	Like most fish, female sea dragons lay eggs, but it's the males who get pregnant.
The female lays lots of eggs into tiny cups on the male's tail. The female then goes away.
	About five weeks later the eggs in the male's tail start to hatch.
They can see and swim just as well as he can. Dad doesn't look after his babies. They have to find their own food.
It takes the tiny babies about 2 years to grow to their full size.