amphibian
Zooillogix
Category archives for amphibian
Japanese Create “See-Through” Frogs
Posted by ableiman on September 27, 2007 Those crazy Japanese have done it again! By combining two types of recessive genes that cause frogs to be pale, they have created a frog with almost transparent skin. Unfortunately for the frogs, the advantages to testing on a see-through critter are numerous. For example, “You can see through the skin how organs grow, how…
Purple Frogs, an Evolutionary Wonder
Posted by ableiman on June 14, 2007 Hey there, ladies. I’m just a lonesome, evolutionary mishap who loves to party. The Purple frog or Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis can be described as a “living fossil.” These strange creatures split evolutionarily from other frogs nearly 150 million years ago giving them features unique to any amphibian, so unique in fact that they have been put…
You Are What You Eat?
Posted by ableiman on May 17, 2007 A team of Florida International University zoologists studying poison arrow frogs in South America have identified the source of the colorful critters’ toxicity. Researchers have long known that the amphibians do not produce the toxic compounds, alkaloids, themselves, but were uncertain of their origins. The FIU team discovered that the frogs were eating tiny oribatid…
Monster Toad Captured!
Posted by ableiman on March 27, 2007 “This bounty hunter is my kind of scum: fearless and inventive.” Cane toad, Bufo marinus The environmental group, Frogwatch, caught one of the largest specimens of toad ever discovered in Darwin, Australia on Tuesday. The apprehended toad is the size of a football and as heavy as a small sack of potatoes. Cane toads are…