frogs

By 2013, the career of British producer Floating Points was reaching new heights: he was regularly DJing at huge nightlife institutions such as Warehouse Project and Fabric and was travelling overseas. But when he was invited to play at Cosmic Slop, a 200-capacity party tucked away in a former brass and iron works in Leeds, he knew he had to go. “Word was circulating: ‘you’ve gotta go and check out the system’,” he recalls, referencing the now-legendary hand-built speaker rig, revered by underground heroes such as Theo…

A new study has identified the smallest species of fanged frogs in Southeast Asia, with unique characteristics such as terrestrial egg-laying and male egg guarding. This discovery in Sulawesi, Indonesia, contributes to our understanding of amphibian diversity and underscores the necessity of conserving these unique ecosystems. Above is a photo of the new species of fanged frog, Limnonectes phyllofolia. Credit: Sean ReillyThe males of these tiny frogs guard their eggs, which are laid on leaves.Generally, frogs’ teeth…

Credit: SciTechDaily.comOne of the fundamental and timeless questions of life concerns the mechanics of its inception. Take human development, for example: how do individual cells come together to form complex structures like skin, muscles, bones, or even a brain, a finger, or a spine?Although the answers to such questions remain unknown, one line of scientific inquiry lies in understanding gastrulation — the stage at which embryo cells develop from a single layer to a multidimensional structure with a main body axis. In…

Scientists discover a ‘toxin sponge’ protein in poison dart frogs that safely stores dangerous alkaloids, offering potential new approaches for treating human poisonings. (Artist’s concept.) Credit: SciTechDaily.com A newly identified protein helps poison dart frogs accumulate and store a potent toxin in their skin which they use for self-defense against predators.Scientists have identified the protein that helps poison dart frogs safely accumulate their namesake toxins, according to a study published on December 19 in…

As It Happens6:28Why do these mosquitos keep perching on the nostrils of frogs who want to eat them?John Gould had been snapping pictures of mosquitoes on frogs for years before he noticed a trend — the bloodsuckers always seem to land right on the amphibians' noses."You would think that a frog would be the worst place to land, because frogs love to eat mosquitoes," Gould, a behavioural biologist at Australia's University of Newcastle, told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. Nevertheless, Gould has collected more than a dozen…

Pepe-themed Bitcoin frogs have become the most traded NFT after the Bitcoin Ordinals hype The recently released non-fungible token (NFT) named Bitcoin Frogs, which is modeled after Frogs, has surpassed even well-known collections like Bored Apes in terms of volume traded in the last day. According to data from CryptoSlam, the late-February introduction of Bitcoin Frogs on Bitcoin Ordinals saw trade volume exceed US$2.2 million. 10,000 unique frog collectibles are what the collection calls itself; they were minted…

A multi-disciplinary team of biologists and biomedical engineers has shown how these frogs make themselves see-through. It's easy to miss a glass frog in its natural environment. The northern glass frog, Hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni, measures no more than a few centimetres, and they are most active at night when its green skin helps them blend in with the surrounding leaves and foliage, the study said. But these amphibians become true masters of…

When you're just a wee squishy frog trying to make your way in the wild jungles of Central and South America, you need to have some survival tricks up your clammy little sleeve.Some frogs go on the offensive, striking out with powerful toxins. Others rely on quieter tactics – camouflage that helps them stay hidden from the eyes of voracious predators. For the Fleischmann's glass frog (Hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni), living in the leafy treetops, that camouflage takes the form of transparency.Typically nocturnal, the…

They’re called glass frogs for a reason. Flip the paperclip-size amphibians over, and you’ll see their bones, innards, and beating heart through a translucent belly. Now, scientists have figured out how some of these tiny frogs, which reside in tropical forests throughout Central and South America, keep their skin so clear—they divert their blood into their livers to help them disappear. In nature, transparency is largely reserved for fully aquatic creatures such…

No bigger than a strawberry and often more colorful, harlequin frogs suffered greatly as a rapidly spreading fungus killed amphibians around the world over the past several decades. More than 70 of the 94 named species in this charismatic group seemingly disappeared from their South and Central American homes by 2010, and researchers feared they had gone extinct. So, Juan Manuel Guayasamin could not believe his eyes when he spotted one of the missing frogs…