Facts About the Stomach in the Frog

Frogs enjoy a diet that would make most people cringe. Spiders, flies and bugs of all kinds are on the menu for these amphibians. As such, some frogs have developed unusual mechanisms in their digestive track. Frogs have been known to vomit up their stomachs, protect their eggs in their warm lining and process toxins for protection.

  1. Throw Up

    • Some frogs have an unusual way of throwing up. If these frogs swallow something poisonous or indigestible, they can throw up their stomachs. The stomach dangles from the mouth and the frog uses its forearms or legs to scrape out the contents before swallowing the stomach back down again.

    Visible Digestion

    • Frogs will display bioluminescence if they consume enough fireflies.

      Fireflies, also known as lightning bugs, are commonly consumed by frogs. Many frogs have thin or translucent skin that allows the contents of their stomach to be visible to the naked eye. According to "Fireflies," by Ann Heinrichs, "if frogs eat enough fireflies, their stomachs will visibly glow." Some frogs, such as the glass frog of Ecuador, have skin that is so translucent that you can watch it digest food and can even see its heart beat.

    Protecting Eggs

    • Some frogs, such as the gastric brooding frog of Australia, protected their fertilized eggs by storing them in their stomachs. These frogs were able to keep their eggs warm, protect the developing tadpoles and then release the frogs from their mouths seven to eight weeks later. Because of habitat loss and the introduction of toxins in the environment, this genus of frog became extinct in the late 1980s.

    Skin Toxins

    • Certain poisonous frogs process the toxins of their prey in their stomachs. For instance, the blue poison dart frog of South America consumes ants, termites and beetles, distilling their toxins in their stomach and then transferring the poisons to their skin. According to the National Aquarium in Baltimore, poisonous frogs bred in captivity "are fed fruit flies and baby crickets" and, as a result, "the frogs are completely non-toxic."