Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Surinam toads (Pipa pipa) are just odd all the way around. First off, they're called toads, despite being very much aquatic. They inhabit the muddy or even polluted bottoms of bodies of water in the Amazon basin and only surface for gulps of air. Secondly, they look "wrong". Their eyes are tiny, lidless, and not quite in the place you'd think to look for them. Their front toes have star-shaped sense organs splayed out from the tips, and their triangular heads seem to have extra skin around the jaws. Overall, they look like rubbery, half-rotten leaves. And then there's the way they reproduce...
|Photo from the Honolulu Zoo|
Within a day the female's skin will swell around the eggs, and in a little over a week each egg will occupy its own little chamber. And there they stay, sometimes for up to 20 weeks. The babies emerge as fully formed tiny frogs by pushing through the top membrane of their "cell". Want to see what that looks like? There's a video here. But be warned: it's the strangest thing you will see all day.
Do you own a pool? Frogs, not surprisingly, sometimes mistake pools for ponds. But once they get in they can't get out and often drown! Happily, there's a simple, low-tech, inexpensive device called a Critter Skimmer that will give frogs a way out of your pool. Want an even lower-tech option? Black snakes are major predators on many types of frogs. Buying a few plastic black snake replicas and scattering them around the perimeter of your pool may keep frogs out, but it might keep ophidiophobic folks out too, so you're probably better off just getting the skimmer.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
|Relative size difference between tadpole and adult frog|
Today's offering is the paradoxical frog (Pseudis paradoxa), also know as the shrinking frog. I have to admit, the name of this frog alone makes it one of my favorites. But wait, there's a bonus! This frog is not weird in name only. Oh no, it's weird in actual fact: the tadpole stage of this amphibian is much larger than than the adult. Why this should be is something of a mystery, and highly unusual too. I would guess that this frog has evolved so that its life stages occupy quite different niches. Before the tadpole was seen to actually become the adult, they were even believed to be two different species. Prior to that exciting discovery you might have been excused for not giving this frog a second look. In fact, it would have been hard to give it a first look. In the wild they are just that cryptic.
But their bizarre ability to shrink is not their only secret. These frogs might someday help humans beat diabetes. They produce a compound which was shown in 2008 to stimulate production of insulin in compromised pancreatic cells. Even better, it the compound did it with no toxic effects. Why do these little South American frogs make a diabetes drug in their skin? It seems to have some sort of anti-microbial effect too, with the insulin production a happy accident.
An easy one today: don't set your pet frog free in the wild! Non-native frogs (and animals of all kinds) wreak havoc with wild populations. They can introduce disease, out-compete or even eat native frogs, or may die an awful death from being set loose in an area that they can't cope with. What to do instead? Most areas have local herpetological clubs. Check out their websites for hints on ways to find a home for your unwanted frog. You'll both be happy you did!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
|Photo curtesy of Save the Frogs|
First up for April, the Month of Frog Celebration, is the gastric-brooding frog (Rheobatrachus sp.). This unassuming little amphibian topped out at just over 2 inches long and looked like any conventional "slimy frog". But wait! She had a secret!
The females of this genus had the ability to turn off production of their gastric juices, thereby turning themselves into incubators for baby frogs. After external fertilization of her eggs by a male the female would literally swallow them. The eggs would hatch into tadpoles in her stomach and gradually morph into froglets over a six week period.
|Photo from flikr, showing a new froglet|
Sadly, the gastric-brooding frog appears to be extinct. First discovered in the 1920s in Queensland, Australia, they haven't been seen since the 1980s. Apart from the fact that their passing makes the world a less-cool place, they also take with them the secret of how they turned off the acids in their stomachs. That bit of information held great promise for human suffers of gastric ulcers. What killed them? It's hard to say. Their preferred habitat was clear, cool, fast running water in pristine rainforest, something that's getting harder and harder to find now. Climate change and logging were probably the main factors.
Want to help extant frogs escape the fate of the gastric-brooding frog? One simple thing you can do is just use less water. Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth. Or put timers on your sprinklers. More and more water is being diverted for human use, water that once flowed through streams and rivers where frogs breed. Just think of how many tadpoles could live in the accumulated drippings from one leaky faucet! Remember, the frog you save might just cure your ulcer.
Monday, April 11, 2011
So, maybe it doesn't work quite like that. Frogs do court during April, but the world pretty much ignores them. Which is too bad, really. Frogs are amazing, and up to this point in time have been unbelievably prolific. Even today there are over 5,500 species of anurans (that's frogs and toads to you and me). But frogs across the world are declining. The reasons are complex: higher levels of pollution (frogs are very absorptive critters after all), less of an ozone layer and so more solar radiation, climate change... The list is endless, and can seem overwhelming. But fear not! As a frog advocate, I'm here to tell you about some things that might make a difference to frogs. Won't you join me in celebrating Frog Month?
Save the Frogs for more frog facts than you could shake a frog-egg-laden sodden branch at!
I'll be running frog-heavy blog posts throughout the month of April, so check back if you're a frog fan. If you happen to be a ranidaphobic (that would be a frog-fearer), on the other hand, consider yourself warned! And happy Frog Month!
|All photos from Save the Frogs|
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
|Photo from the London Telegraph|
Turns out, this is indeed a real critter. A critter that the Telegraph called "the world's most miserable-looking fish". Other sites call it "the world's ugliest fish" and "the world's most unattractive fish". All of this seems a bit unfair, given that the blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus) lives at depths up to 800 m where the pressure is dozens of times that experienced in the sunlit world. Obviously, he's going to collapse into a blobby mess at sea level! After all, we don't look too good after being exposed to, oh, say, the vacuum of space.
|Illustration from Wikipedia|
Monday, April 4, 2011
|Hand cut aluminum hyena pin|
Many people don't care for hyenas, associating them with spooky behavior and a diet of carrion. But that doesn't mean they don't have any fans. I, for one, am fascinated by their weird lifestyle and bizarre vocalizations. For instance, did you know that they can live in groups of up to 80 which are led by females? Or that, despite looking superficially like dogs they are actually more closely related to cats?
If you like hyenas too, keep reading! It turns out that you can find some interesting hyena art if you hunt a little yourself.
Like this sculpture from Fenrislorsrai's etsy shop. It's rare to see a hyena depicted as doing anything other than fighting over a scrap of bone, but here's one engaged in child rearing! I like their expressive ears.
There's also this Victorian illustration from 1894, found in Petite Poulailler's Zibbet shop, which shows some very fluffy hyenas in a more traditional manner. Funny how the artist took more care with the ruin in the background than he did with the ribcage that his subjects are fighting over.
If you want to show off your hyena pride on a wall or laptop, there's always the decal option. I can honestly say this is the first vinyl decal I've ever seen of this particular animal! It's from Lunar Scream's Artfire shop.
Or maybe you don't have room for one of the above options? There's always this tiny replica, also available in the Tapir and Friends Animal Store.
Happy hyena Monday, everyone!