Tree frogs use adhesive toe pads for climbing on a variety of surfaces. They rely on wet adhesion, which is aided by the secretion of mucus. In nature, the pads will undoubtedly get contaminated regularly through usage, but appear to maintain their stickiness over time. Here, we show in two experiments that the toe pads of White's tree frogs (Litoria caerulea) quickly recover from contamination...

The role of growth hormone (GH) in amphibian metamorphosis is ambiguous based on experiments in which mammalian GH was administered to tadpoles and frogs. We have reexamined the effects of GH by producing transgenic Xenopus laevis that overexpress the cDNA encoding X. laevis GH. These transgenic tadpoles take the same length of time to reach metamorphosis as control tadpoles, but the transgenic...

BANGALORE, INDIA-Animal communication was a hot topic when 400 researchers from 39 nations gathered here at the 26th International Ethological Conference from 2 to 9 August. Some of the most vocal discussions explored how animals speak their minds, from calling in grasshoppers to croaking in frogs. Female Frogs Join the Chorus Although it may sound harsh to human ears, the croaking of frogs on ...

A recent publication in Biology Letters added a new family, Eleutherodacytlidae, to the list of frogs known to possess defensive, toxic alkaloids in their skin— the so-called ‘poison frogs’ [1]. The alkaloids have attracted much attention since they are not synthesized by frogs de novo, but rather are obtained from dietary sources and subsequently sequestered in the frogs’ skin [2]. These ‘clep...

We investigated the accumulation of radionuclides in frogs inhabiting radioactively contaminated areas around Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) to search for possible adverse effects due to radionuclides. We collected 5 frog species and soil samples in areas within and outside a 20-km radius from FDNPP in August and September 2012 and determined their radiocesium concentrations ((13...

The commercial trade in frogs and their body parts is global, dynamic occurs extremely large volumes (in the thousands of tonnes/yr or billions frogs/yr). European Union (EU) remains single largest importer frogs’ legs, with most still caught from wild. Amongst many drivers species extinction population decline (e.g. due to habitat loss, climate change, disease etc.), overexploitation becoming ...

Table of contents 1. Strategies of winter survival in animals 2. Freeze-induced gene expression 2.1. Freeze-induced gene expression in wood frogs 2.2. Freeze-induced gene expression in hatchling turtles and mitochondrial gene expression 3. Freeze tolerance, glucose metabolism and signal transduction 3.1. Unique glucose metabolism of freeze tolerant frogs 3.2. Structural modification of insulin ...

For example, evolution states that at one point in time, a strain of fish began encountering mutations in its DNA, which eventually (after many generations) gave its descendants the ability to breathe air and to move around on the earth. As a result, those mutations caused that strain of fish to become frogs. Similarly, at some later point in time, a strain of frogs began encountering mutations...