Awesome Animal Fact - Dancing Frogs

Did you know there are 24 species of dancing frogs, and the males of all species "dance" to attract mates? Dancing frogs (all of them are in the genus Micrixalus) live in the Western Ghats region of South India.

Okay, so why do we call them dancing frogs? When trying to attract a female, male dancing frogs stretch out their hind legs to the side, one at a time, and wave their webbed toes around in the air in a rapid motion. Kind of like a dance... well, a dance in which you only move one leg at a time, flex your toes, then do the same with the other leg.

This side-kicking behavior also comes in handy when another male frog tries to crowd in and steel the female. The first male will kick the intruding male away with a quick snap of its leg.

Unfortunately, dancing frogs are some of the most endangered frogs in the world, with 15 of the 24 species endangered and 2 species critically endangered. These frogs are threatened by multiple anthropogenic factors. This means factors related to human activities. As usual!