Toad-ily Frogs

They can be smooth or warty, jumpy or immobile. And the common childhood experience of catching one may soon go the way of the dodo and the dinosaur, says the global conservation group Amphibian Ark, which estimates that up to half the world’s amphibian species could be extinct within a lifetime.

This summer exhibit celebrates the critters, especially frogs and toads, with the glee of a scrappy 7-year-old, and simultaneously turns a spotlight on their plight. Curators have combined the typical interactive kiosks (these will address conservation and what we can do to help our hopping friends) with squirm-inducing items such as a tank of live tadpoles, designed to showcase the amphibian life cycle, and a high-speed video of frogs and toads eating (some estimates say a toad eats as many as 1,000 insects a day). And of course, there’ll be amphibian specimens galore. Ew!