New shape-shifting 'punk' frog knows how to blend in
New shape-shifting 'punk' frog knows how to blend in
A frog found in the cloud forest of Ecuador has a neat trick -- it can change the texture of its skin, and it's the first vertebrate known to do so.
by Michelle Starr
@riding_red
/March 24, 2015 9:35 PM PDT
We've seen octopodes that can change shape. We've even seen some frogs and reptiles that can change the colour of their skin. But, for the first time, researchers have observed a vertebrate that can change the shape of its skin to better blend in with its surrounding environment.
The newly described Pristimantis mutabilis, or mutable rainfrog, was found in in 2009 in the Reserva Las Gralarias, a nature reserve in the western Andean cloud forest in the Parish of Mindo, in north-central Ecuador originally created to help protect endangered birds.
It's almost a wonder that the frog was spotted at all. At a maximum of around 23 millimetres in length, it is very small and its colouring is the mottled greens and browns of the forest. Yet, one evening in July 2009, Case Western Reserve University PhD student and her husband, a projects manager at Cleveland Metroparks' Natural Resources Division -- Katherine and Tim Krynak -- spotted the frog sitting on a leaf, about a foot from the ground.
Although the Krynaks had taken several annual trips to survey animals in the reserve -- Tim since 2001 and Katherine since 2005 -- they had never seen this particular frog before, so they scooped it into a cup for later study, nicknaming it the "punk rocker" for its spiny skin.
More:
http://www.cnet.com/news/new-shape-shifting-punk-frog-knows-how-to-blend-in/
= new reply since forum marked as read
Found some pics:
The new species, called Pristimantis mutabilis - or mutable rainfrog - was discovered by a
Case Western Reserve University PhD student and her husband at Reserva Las Gralarias.
This image shows how the frog changes from spiky to almost smooth in just over 300 seconds
This new Ecuadorian frog is like something straight out of X-Men
26/03/2015 - 13:23:23
A frog that changes shapes like Jennifer Lawrence’s character Mystique in X-Men has been found in the Andes.
The amphibian, discovered by Katherine and Tim Krynak during a research trip to the Las Gralarias reserve in northern Ecuador, is the first frog thought to have this ability.
Katherine, who is a PhD student at Case Western University, and her husband Tim, who is a naturalist at Cleveland Metroparks’ Natural Resources Division, were taking a walk through the reserve when they came across the frog.
They wrote: “Upon capture, the frog had a strong…appearance and was stored in a polyethylene holding container. The frog was then placed back into the container and moss was added to provide moisture and shelter.
“Several minutes later, the frog was removed from the container and placed immediately onto a smooth white surface…variation of skin texture was observed.”
More:
http://www.breakingnews.ie/world/this-new-ecuadorian-frog-is-like-something-straight-out-of-x-men-669156.html
