How do frogs stay under water so long?

When under water, a frog takes in oxygen through its skin.  When a frog dives under water, he does not come to the  surface as quickly as you have to when you dive.  Why not?

The frog, of course, cannot breathe under water, as it did when it was a tadpole.  When a frog is on the bank or pond, it breathes with its lungs, which are somewhat like your lungs.

There is always some air mixed with water in the pond.  When the frog is under water, it can take a little of the air it needs through its skin.  This explains why the frog can stay under water all winter.

If you live where the winters are cold, you have probably noticed that the frogs seem to disappear when cold weather comes.  Many frogs dive into ponds and bury themselves in the muddy bottom, and quickly fall asleep.  Sleeping all winter is called “hibernation.”

While the frog is sleeping, its body keeps so still that it can get along without any fresh air until it wakes in the spring.  During its winter sleep, the frog lives on the food stored in its fat body.-Dick Rogers

How Does A Frog Catch Its Food?

Frog

The frog catches insects and other small food animals on the sticky tip of its long tongue.  All summer long, the little frog squats, motionless, on the bank of a quiet pond or brook and watches for passing insects.

If a fly or cricket passes within reach, the frog’s long tongue will snap out like a flickering whip, so fast that you can scarcely follow the action.  The insect is caught on the sticky tip.  Just as quickly the frog flips its tongue back into its mouth.

The frog’s tongue is fastened at the front of its mouth, not the back, so that it can be flipped out a long way.  The frog’s mouth is equipped with feeble, practically useless teeth, which are present only in the upper jaw.  So it must live mostly on small creatures that it can swallow in one gulp.

Frogs also eat earthworms, spiders and minnows that they catch in the water.  Toads capture their food in much of same way frogs do.  Frogs and toads help man by eating many harmful insects to be found in gardens and on farms. - Dick Rogers