Why must frogs keep their skins moist?

Answer 1

To breathe
They breathe through their skin and do not have gills like some amphibians do. They can also absorb water through their skins, and they can excrete carbon dioxide through their skin as well. It has to be kept moist for this process to work and the frog's body will give up its internal water supply to keep the skin moist so it can breathe even to the point where its life is in danger.

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog
"Because the oxygen is dissolved in an aqueous film on the skin and passes from there to the blood, the skin must remain moist at all times; this makes frogs susceptible to many toxins in the environment, some of which can similarly dissolve in the layer of water and be passed into their bloodstream. This may be cause of the decline in frog populations....

Many frogs are able to absorb water directly through the skin, especially around the pelvic area. However, the permeability of a frog's skin can also result in water loss. Some tree frogs reduce water loss with a waterproof layer of skin. Others have adapted behaviours that conserve water, including engaging in nocturnal activity and resting in a water-conserving position. This position involves the frog lying with its toes and fingers tucked under its body and chin, respectively, with no gap between the body and substrate. Some frog species will also rest in large groups, touching the skin of the neighbouring frog. This reduces the amount of skin exposed to the air or a dry surface, and thus reduces water loss. These adaptations only reduce water loss enough for a predominantly arboreal existence, and are not suitable for arid conditions....

On land, adult frogs use their lungs to breathe. Their lungs are similar to those of humans, but the chest muscles are not involved in respiration, and there are no ribs or diaphragm to support breathing. Frogs breathe by taking air in through the nostrils (causing the throat to puff out), and compressing the floor of the mouth, which forces the air into the lungs."

Here is an interesting tibit of information about the South American Frogs. They depend on wild boars to make wallows. Without the wallows the frogs don't have a reliable water supply so hunting all the boars hurts the frog population.

The numbers of frogs in the world are decreasing and that is alarming. The possible reasons range from loss of habitat to pollution or even global warming. They are what are called an indicator species because of this and it is the frog's skin that makes it an indicator species.

Jason they don't secret a natual antibiotic to defend themselves; it is just part of their immune system. The drugs we get from frogs are ones that are designed to make the frog dangerous or deadly to eat.

According to Wikipedia: Same source
"Many frogs contain mild toxins that make them distasteful to potential predators. For example, all toads have large poison glands—the parotid glands—located behind the eyes on the top of the head. Some frogs, such as some poison dart frogs, are especially toxic. The chemical makeup of toxins in frogs varies from irritants to hallucinogens, convulsants, nerve poisons, and vasoconstrictors (which narrow the blood vessels). Many predators of frogs have adapted to tolerate high levels of these poisons. Others, including humans, may be severely affected.

Some frogs obtain poisons from the ants and other arthropods they eat; others, such as the Australian Corroboree Frogs (Pseudophryne corroboree and Pseudophryne pengilleyi), can manufacture an alkaloid not derived from their diet. Some native people of South America extract poison from the poison dart frogs and apply it to their darts for hunting, although few species are toxic enough to be used for this purpose. It was previously a misconception that the poison was placed on arrows rather than darts. The common name of these frogs was thus changed from "Poison Arrow Frog" to "Poison Dart Frog" in the early 1980s. Poisonous frogs tend to advertise their toxicity with bright colours, an adaptive strategy known as aposematism. There are at least two non-poisonous species of frogs in tropical America (Eleutherodactylus gaigei and Lithodytes lineatus) that mimic the colouration of dart poison frogs' coloration for self-protection (Batesian mimicry).

Because frog toxins are extraordinarily diverse, they have raised the interest of biochemists as a "natural pharmacy". The alkaloid epibatidine, a painkiller 200 times more potent than morphine, is found in some species of poison dart frogs. Other chemicals isolated from the skin of frogs may offer resistance to HIV infection. Arrow and dart poisons are under active investigation for their potential as therapeutic drugs.

The skin secretions of some toads, such as the Colorado River Toad and Cane Toad, contain bufotoxins, some of which, such as bufotenin, are psychoactive, and have therefore been used as recreational drugs. Typically, the skin secretions are dried and smoked. Skin licking is especially dangerous, and appears to constitute an urban myth. See psychoactive toad (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoactive_toad)."

Answer 2

Breathing is a gas exchange, taking in oxygen from the surroundings and letting out carbon dioxide. All frogs start life as aquatic tadpoles, breathing underwater through internal gills and their skin. Then later most develop into land animals with lungs for breathing air. But in all stages breathing is controlled by pulsing the throat. Most frogs loose their gills when they metaorphise. Frogs breath with their mouths closed. Their throat movements pulls air through the nostrils to the lungs. Then breathe out with body contractions. The activity and temperature of an animal determine how important breathing is. Anurans have much more complex lungs then other amphibians, such as salamanders, because they're more active and have higher body temperature. Lungs can also help in water. Filling the lungs with air gives a frog a better buoyancy, making it float more easily. Frogs can also breath through their skin, with tiny blood vessels, capillaries, under the outer skin layers. The African 'Hairy' frog, Trichobatrachus robustus, has small lungs and during breeding seasons the males get hair like projections on their back legs. This is because of the high oxygen needs at this time.

Answer 3

to avoid drying their skin which leads to cracking and becomes vulnerable to infection.

Frogs secrete a natural form of gooie substance that contains natural antibiotics to protect them.

It is actually being used now to help prevent / cure some serious diseases.

Answer 4

i think that its because they semi- breathe through their skin and it has to be moist for breathing purposes.

Answer 5

i believe it has something to do with breathing
they mite breath through they're skin?

and if they dont they'll dry up lol

idk

Answer 6

this helps them to breathe in water

Answer 7

same reason a porn star does