The show gives center stage to a class of critters that too often escape notice by melting into the landscape or leaping away in a flash.
This is Here is a Tomato Frog, from Clyde Peeling's Reptiland in Allenwood, Pa., exhibit of Frogs: A Chorus of Colors that opens on Saturday at the Springfield Science Museum. SPRINGFIELD – A secret kingdom will come alive on Saturday as the Springfield Science Museum unveils the exhibition called “Frogs: A Chorus of Colors,” on view from Saturday to May 13.
The traveling show gives center stage to a class of critters that too often escape notice by melting into the landscape or leaping away in a flash. Nineteen species of frogs will be displayed in 15 large terrarium cases in two galleries of the museum.
Origin of the show is Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland in Allenwood, Pa., which sent the display materials by truck.
Not so the frogs. They arrived by private jet at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport, according to Dan Augustino, Science Museum aquarist.
Some of the little amphibians are small as coins, while others are big as acorn squash. Some are colorless as dried leaves, others colorful as rainbows. Some have exquisitely slender “fingers” that pull them along branches. One even has teeth.
Each display case is about three by four feet, equipped with heat lamps and beautifully landscaped with mosses, plants, trickling water, tree stumps and other elements to reproduce the critters’ natural habitats.
Of all the species on view, none surpasses the beauty of the tiny Dart Poison Frogs. Several of them are bright blue from head to toe, and one is turquoise with bronze patches.
Also dazzling are the Tomato Frogs, which really are red-orange. “Often bright colors are a warning to tell predators that the animal could be toxic or distasteful,” said Augustino.
The exhibition comes with all kinds of educational technology. At the push of a button, the museum-goer can hear the grunt of an African Bullfrog or the whistling of spring peepers.
“Frogs are very vocal animals,” said Augustino.
Opening day activities will include a performance of “The Frog Prince” by the Pumpernickel Puppets at 1 p.m.
Admission to “Frogs” is $5, in addition to the standard admission price to the Quadrangle museums, which ranges from $6.50 to $12.50 and gives entry to all the museums at 21 Edwards St., Springfield. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Children under age 3 are admitted free.
For more information, call (413) 263-6800 or visit www.springfieldmuseums.org.