frogs

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Scientists Urge French to Cut Down on Frog Legs

French taste for the delicacy was called out by 557 experts as overconsumption

(Newser) - Hundreds of concerned scientists are asking French President Emmanuel Macron to put the brakes on a very French custom: eating frog legs. The open letter , signed by 557 research, veterinary, and conservation professionals, notes that the European Union isn't exactly practicing what it preaches in how native frogs are...

Cannibalistic Tree Frogs Spread to Another State

Invasive Cuban tree frogs have the charming habit of eating native frogs and other wildlife

(Newser) - They're big (at least for tree frogs), they're cannibalistic, and their grating croaks can be heard all night long. What's not to love about the invasive species hopping into Georgia? Cuban tree frogs are already a menace in Florida, and USA Today reports that the Peach State...

Faced With Unwanted Mating, Female Frogs Fake Death
Faced With Unwanted Mating,
Female Frogs Fake Death
NEW STUDY
Oct 13, 2023 10:37 AM CDT

Faced With Unwanted Mating, Female Frogs Fake Death

'Surprising' behavior thought to help females escape from potentially deadly 'mating balls'

(Newser) - European common frogs often mate in what's called a "mating ball." In an attempt to reproduce, males seek out and cling to outnumbered females, even those already singled out by other males, in a potentially deadly struggle. As Science reports, females risk injury or drowning if unable...

Female Frogs Know How to Tell Males to Get Lost
Female Frogs Know How
to Tell Males to Buzz Off
new study
Jul 3, 2023 9:55 AM CDT

Female Frogs Know How to Tell Males to Buzz Off

In at least one species, their distinctive croaks deter males looking to mate

(Newser) - How to put this delicately. "Black-spotted male frogs will jump on anything that looks like a female, including nonorganic objects," says Japanese researcher Makato M. Itoh of Nagoya University. But the females, it appears, have developed a simple way to ward off males looking to mate if they...

Frog Mystery Surfaces at Iron Age Settlement
Frog Mystery
Surfaces at
Iron Age
Settlement
new study
Jun 15, 2022 3:58 PM CDT

Frog Mystery Surfaces at Iron Age Settlement

Archaeologists can't explain their bones at ancient site

(Newser) - Excavations carried out ahead of highway work in England have revealed a mass grave full of … long-dead frogs. Experts are at a loss to explain the mass of 8,000 bones from roughly 350 frogs and toads, found buried in a long ditch beside an excavated roundhouse at Bar...

After 24-Hour Treatment, Frogs Started Regrowing Lost Limbs
After 24-Hour Treatment, Frogs
Started Regrowing Lost Limbs
in case you missed it
Jan 30, 2022 4:05 PM CST

After 24-Hour Treatment, Frogs Started Regrowing Lost Limbs

Scientists say they triggered dormant regenerative abilities

(Newser) - Regeneration science has taken a big step—or hop—forward with an experiment that allowed frogs to regrow lost hind limbs. African clawed frogs lose their ability to regenerate limbs after they are tadpoles but scientists managed to get them to regrow a functional hind limb after a treatment that...

'Chocolate Frog' Discovered in New Guinea Swamp

Beautiful brown amphibian is likely related to Australian tree frogs

(Newser) - No, it's not Harry Potter magic invading the world of muggles. It's just a surprisingly cool skin color. Some frogs, possibly a new species of tree frog, have been found in New Guinea. Tree frogs are usually green, but these look like they've been dipped in...

After 9-Year Fight, Couple Ordered to Dump Superloud Frogs

French couple still hopes to save their pond and its breeding amphibians

(Newser) - A French couple is being forced to drain their pond under court order because of the racket caused by its breeding frogs. The outcome is the result of a nine-year legal battle in which Michel and Annie Pecheras fought to save their pond in the small village of Grignols, Dordogne....

Beetle Has Brilliant, Gross Method of Escape
Beetle Has an Amazing
Way of Escaping Death
new study
Aug 4, 2020 1:59 PM CDT

Beetle Has an Amazing Way of Escaping Death

After being swallowed, insect tricks frog into pooping and, voila, freedom

(Newser) - Once upon a time, a water beetle was swallowed by a frog. The intrepid insect survived the journey through the frog's mouth, esophagus, stomach, and intestines, then found itself at what scientists call the frog's "vent"—in other words, its anus. So close to freedom. The...

Rare 'Snoring' Frogs Found in Place They Shouldn't Be

Nearly a dozen threatened Chiricahua leopard frogs spotted in central Ariz., not their usual haunt

(Newser) - A rare frog has been found beyond its known range in the Southwest. A US Forest Service volunteer recently photographed a Chiricahua leopard frog in an earthen stock tank near the town of Camp Verde in central Arizona. Biologists later confirmed that at least 10 of the frogs were living...

Mystery Solved: Why These Frogs Have See-Through Skin

Glass frog's translucent legs help it hide from predators

(Newser) - Scientists say they finally understand why the glass frog has see-through skin: it's camouflage—just not in the way most other tree frogs do it. An international team of scientists wondered why the glass frogs found in Central and South America have partially translucent skin—with intestines and a...

Frogs Hopped Around Ancient Antarctica
A Supercontinent Split.
The Frogs Ended Up Here
NEW STUDY
May 6, 2020 10:00 AM CDT

A Supercontinent Split. The Frogs Ended Up Here

Fossils in Antarctica are evidence of the breakup of Gondwana

(Newser) - "Frogs, nowadays, are known on all six other continents. Now we know they were also present on the seventh." That's according to Swedish scientist Thomas Mors, whose discovery of 40-million-year-old ancient horned frog fossils in Antarctica suggests frogs were transported around the globe by the breakup of...

Deadliest Pathogen in History Is Taking a Toll on Frogs

Fungus has wiped out 90 species of amphibians and caused decline in 500 more

(Newser) - Biologist Wendy Palen says "it now earns the moniker of the most deadly pathogen known to science." She's referring to an amphibian fungus responsible for wiping out at least 90 species in recent decades, reports the New York Times . It's called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis or Bd, and...

Online Dating Pays Off for Rare Frog
Match.com Pays Off
for Rare Frog
Jan 17, 2019 1:40 PM CST

Match.com Pays Off for Rare Frog

Stunt raises money for expedition, and researchers find 'Romeo' a potential mate

(Newser) - He is shy and not very active, and she is the opposite on both counts, but there are high hopes that this union via Match.com will be a lasting one. The "he" in this equation is a Sehuencas water frog named Romeo, explains the Guardian . For the last...

Tiny Frogs' No. 1 Option: Hold in Pee All Winter
Tiny Frogs' No. 1 Option:
Hold in Pee All Winter
NEW STUDY
May 2, 2018 9:20 AM CDT

Tiny Frogs' No. 1 Option: Hold in Pee All Winter

Behold the wood frog, which literally freezes to 'death' and comes back to life

(Newser) - If you've ever been unable to find a bathroom in a moment of need, you know the gotta-go feeling. That's nothing compared to the wood frog, which doesn't urinate all winter; in Alaska, that's eight months without peeing, reports the AP . Scientists have figured out how...

Possibly Last Frog of His Kind Turns to Online Dating

Scientists create a profile that is actually a fundraiser to help him find a mate

(Newser) - A water frog dubbed Romeo by scientists has been calling for a mate from his museum home in Bolivia for about a decade now. The problem is that Romeo may well be the last frog of his species, explains Quartz . Researchers, however, haven't completely ruled out hope of finding...

Cartoon Frog Taken Over by the Alt-Right Croaks

Creator Matt Furie gave up trying to keep Pepe out of the hands of white supremacists

(Newser) - He tried to #SavePepe but in the end, Matt Furie had to let the frog go. The Guardian reports that Furie, the cartoonist who created the amphibian character that was appropriated by the alt-right in internet memes, killed off Pepe the Frog to coincide with Free Comic Book Day on...

Mucus From Colorful Frog Could Contain Flu Fighter
One Illness May 
Meet Its Match in ...
Frog Mucus
STUDY SAYS
Apr 18, 2017 1:20 PM CDT

One Illness May Meet Its Match in ... Frog Mucus

South Indian amphibian has molecule in secretions that may fend off some flu strains

(Newser) - Kissing a frog may not conjure a prince, but mucus from one colorful Indian variety could one day lead to new ways to fight off the flu, the Verge reports. A study published in the journal Immunity details how scientists tested secretions from an Indian frog known as Hydrophylax bahuvistara...

In Vermont, Drivers Asked to Let Frogs Cross the Road

Frogs, salamanders active on spring nights, vulnerable to vehicular slaughter

(Newser) - It's that time of the year in which the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife is warning motorists to drive with caution, but not because of weather: Rather, it's the seasonal migrations of frogs and salamanders, reports the AP . "Frogs and salamanders become active on rainy spring...

This Frog Hadn't Been Seen in the Wild Since 1962

'Cave squeaker' is found in Zimbabwe

(Newser) - The cave squeaker is back. Researchers in Zimbabwe say they have found a rare frog that hasn't been seen in decades, reports AP . The Artholeptis troglodytes, also known as the "cave squeaker" because of its preferred habitat, was discovered in 1962, but there were no reported sightings after...

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