And God Created ...

The Mouth Of The Frog

David Everson

As God created the frog with its amazing features in the beginning, you would think that He spent a long time thinking them up; but, indeed, the all-knowing and all-powerful nature of God could have produced these features in a single thought.

Let's examine a few features of the frog and marvel and then give our praise to the Almighty Creator. In the very mouth of the frog, we see the power of God. The frog's tongue is a very useful creation that aids the frog's existence. Most frogs have tongues attached at the front of their mouths and can use them to flick out and catch food. These tongues unroll like party horns and are very sticky. This living flypaper is very difficult for small insects to escape. The sticky secretions cover the end of the tongue in a manner that allows one touch to trap the bug and allows the frog to have lunch. These frogs use a "see it, snap at it" technique for food catching. The eye-to-brain connections, as well as the brain-to-tongue coordination, is extremely complex; and, for the frog, it has to work the first time, every time, for it to survive. The mechanisms involved defy logical explanation if a Creator is taken out of the picture.

Other frogs have very tiny tongues that are just used to move food around in their mouths. Some toads, like the fire-bellied toad, have these small tongues and use a stalking technique to get close and then just snap at their prey. At least 14 species of frogs lack tongues completely. These attack their prey with their mouths and use this same "snap it up" technique.

Frogs also use their mouths as a method of breathing. They can gulp air and hold it in their mouths when they are submerged. The oxygen is then absorbed into the lining of the mouth, and this allows them to be more active for a while than might be possible with just absorbed oxygen through the skin.

Frogs have two types of "teeth." The first one is the maxillary teeth which are located on the upper jaw and are very small cone-shaped projections. The second set is vomerine teeth which are basically just two or three sharp projections that help the frogs grip their food. This prevents the prey from crawling out of the frogs' mouths. They swallow by pushing their eyeballs back down into their heads and forcing the food into the stomach. So a frog cannot swallow without closing its eyes. If that food happens to be poisonous to the frog, it is vomited up along with the frog's entire stomach. The frog can then use its front leg to wipe out the contents and prevent dying.

So, in the frogs, God has shown us amazing creative abilities. Long ago, God used the frogs or "marsh leapers" to convince the Pharaoh of Egypt to release the Hebrews. We, today, should use the frogs to convince ourselves and others that our God is the Creator of all we see. Praise to His name. Rt. 1 Box 116A, Belington, WV 26250.

 

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