Asian Toadfrogs: Megophryidae

People who live near the larger species sometimes eat them, but for the most part, people rarely see any of the Asian toadfrogs. These frogs, however, may prove to be quite important to humans. Since the tadpoles must have clean streams to live and grow, they are good bioindicator (bie-oh-IN-dih-KAY-tor) species. A bioindicator species is an animal that people can use to tell whether the environment is healthy. For example, if a population of Asian toadfrogs were to disappear suddenly from an area, the change might mean that the water in the streams has become polluted.