Frog | Common News Update

Aug132020 by adminNo Comments

Male frog in Brazil loyal to two females during breeding season

Science

Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Scientists have discovered a frog species in Brazil's Atlantic rainforest that practices harem polygyny. The discovery, described Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, marks the first time biologists have observed a male frog offering his companionship and loyalty to two females during a breeding season. Advertisement "Single-male polygyny with reproductive fidelity occurs in invertebrates, bony fishes, and some tetrapods, such as lizards, mammals, and birds," researchers wrote in the new paper. According to the study's authors, the practice is not well-documented among amphibians. To confirm the practice of polygyny among Thoropa taophora frogs, researchers observed the behavior of males during the course of the breeding season. The research team, led by Fabio de S...

Jul272020 by adminNo Comments

Lake Titicaca giant frog: Scientists join forces to save species

Science

Five scientific institutions are joining forces in a cross-border effort to preserve the Lake Titicaca giant frog (Telmatobius culeus).The frog is one of the world's largest exclusively aquatic frogs and lives in the waters of Lake Titicaca, which straddles the border between Peru and Bolivia. The aim of the project is to ensure the future of the endangered frog.The amphibian is threatened by pollution from mining and also by its use in traditional medicine. The scientists will study the habitat of the Lake Titicaca giant frog and also carry out genetic analyses to find out how to best protect the species. The frog lives its entire life in the waters of Lake Titicaca and nearby lagoons. It has loose, baggy skin which ripp...

Nov242019 by adminNo Comments

Mothering poison frog in Madagascar helps scientists study the maternal brain

Science

Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Most frogs lay dozens of eggs and leave. The tadpoles-to-be are on their own from the start. In a new study, scientists examined why some frog moms stick around to help raise their young. At least two species, including Madagascar's climbing mantella, a poison frog species, are much more nurturing and attentive than the average frog mom. Both the climbing mantella and Ecuador's little devil frog lay just a few eggs in pools of water that collect in cupped leaves. The moms sit next to their offspring and feed the growing tadpoles' unfertilized eggs until they're big enough to venture off on their own. New research, published this week in the journal Current Biology, suggests the extra motherly attention helps the young frogs develop potent chemical defenses. When scientis...

Apr112019 by adminNo Comments

Common Costa Rican frog species consists of several ‘cryptic’ species

Science

April 11 (UPI) -- Scientists have discovered multiple "cryptic" species hiding inside a common Costa Rican frog species. Warszewitsch's frog is found in Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. But according to a new study, not all Lithobates warszewitschii frogs are the same. Scientists in Britain and Costa Rica used an analysis technique called DNA barcoding to compare snippets of DNA samples collected from dozens of Warszewitsch's frog specimens collected from three different locations in Costa Rica and Panama. Genetic sequences from the specimens' mitochondria, the DNA powerhouses inside animal cells, revealed significant intraspecies diversity. The analysis showed the common species houses several cryptic species within it. Cryptic species are groups within a single classified s...

Feb142019 by adminNo Comments

New frog species discovered on remote Ethiopian mountain

Science

Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Biologists have discovered a new species of frog living among the forests on a remote mountain in Ethiopia. The small frog's home is one of the country's last undisturbed forests. Scientists named the new frog species Phrynobatrachus bibita sp. nov.. The amphibian belongs to a group called Ethiopian puddle frogs. DNA analysis confirmed the species is genetically distinct from its closest puddle frog relatives. Human development has impacted wildlife throughout Ethiopia, but the southwestern corner of the country hosts several pockets of remote wilderness. Bibita Mountain is one of the most remote pockets. "Untouched, isolated, and unexplored: it had all the elements to spike our interest," Jacobo Reyes-Velasco, a postdoctoral researcher at New York University who led some...