The Museum of Nature’s newest exhibit will feature frogs like this green and black poison species.
The newest exhibit at the Canadian Museum of Nature features creatures that are colourful, vocal, and deadly.
Frogs – A Chorus of Colours opens Wednesday and will show off species that include tree, tomato, horned, and bullfrogs, as well as poison dart frogs, famous for their toxic and fluorescent skin.
“We have 18 species, which is quite a number,” says John Swettenham, a spokesperson for the museum. He says that while it’s not the first time the exhibit has been on display in Ottawa, the Museum of Nature is the only Canadian venue to feature the frogs since its creation in 2003.
The live specimens, which are presented in recreations of their native habitats complete with plants, rock ledges and waterfalls, are “definitely a crowd-pleaser,” said Laura Sutin, a spokespersonfor the museum, in an email.
“The Smooth-sided Toads, for example, look grumpy, whereas the Chinese Gliding Frogs look so relaxed and peaceful,” she said. “The facial expressions really vary between the species.”
Unique to the Museum of Nature are displays on Canadian frogs, says Swettenham.
This year the museum has also stepped up its interactivity by offering visitors a chance to conduct virtual dissections and to play with frog calls through motion sensors.
Created by Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, the exhibition first toured the United States before arriving in Canada. The exhibition will be on display until May 11, 2014.