Agile frog
Rana dalmatina
— Where the name comes from
Rana is the Latin word, probably onomatopoeic in origin; dalmatina names Dalmatia, where it was described in 1839. The Italian common name looks instead at the hind legs, extremely long relative to the body, and at what it can do with them: it is the best jumper in Europe.
— Facts
- Group
- Amphibians · Amphibia
- Order
- Frogs and toads
- Habitat
- Broadleaf woodland, clearings, hedges, forest ponds
- Range
- Central and southern Europe, from France to Turkey
- Size
- 5–9 cm, 15–40 g
- Diet
- Insects, spiders, earthworms, slugs
- Lifespan
- 8 years
— Characteristics
- 01
It jumps up to two metres, six or seven times its own length.
- 02
It lives in the wood and comes down to the pond only a few weeks a year.
- 03
It lays a mass of eggs anchored to a submerged twig.
— What sets it apart
It breeds very early, often in February, and the race to the first pools is a gamble: whoever spawns first gives its tadpoles a head start of weeks, but risks losing everything if the frost returns. In cold years whole ponds of eggs freeze and nothing hatches; in mild ones, those who gambled have well-grown tadpoles when the others are only starting. It is the same wager made by flowers that open in late winter, played by an animal.
