this is apparently a first - or is it a third 😲
in friendship,
prad
'Warning' over three-headed frog
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/3534361.stm)
Children in a nursery were shocked when they spotted a three-headed frog hopping in their garden.
The creature - which has six legs - has stunned BBC wildlife experts who warned it could be an early warning of environmental problems.
Laura Pepper, from the Green Umbrella nursery in Weston-super-Mare, said: We thought it was three frogs huddled together at first.
It is very strange. The children couldn't believe it.
Mike Dilger, from the BBC Natural History Unit, added: I have never seen anything like this.
Frogs are primitive animals - so the occasional extra toe is not that unusual. But this is very unusual.
All the creature's eyes and legs appear to function normally, but it is not known whether it eats using all three of its mouths.
The mystery amphibian is currently the subject of a frog-hunt after it hopped away and disappeared as staff at the nursery showed it to curious parents.
Originally posted by pradtfAll I have to say is WOW!! 😀
this is apparently a first - or is it a third 😲
in friendship,
prad
'Warning' over three-headed frog
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/3534361.stm)
Children in a nursery were shocked when they spotted a three-headed frog hopping in their garden.
The creature - which has six legs - has stunned BBC wildlife experts who warned it c ...[text shortened]... -hunt after it hopped away and disappeared as staff at the nursery showed it to curious parents.
Originally posted by kirksey957i never knew that, kirksey. that's why the 'warning' puzzled me - i thought it might have been something like siamese triplets.
They say that frogs are often the first to show deformities from ecological crises. Sort of like the "canaries in the coal mine."
i've posted it in a biology forum to see if anyone can comment on specifics causing the mutation.
in friendship,
prad
Originally posted by pradtf"Many amphibian populations have disappeared or are in decline throughout the world. In addition, more
i never knew that, kirksey. that's why the 'warning' puzzled me - i thought it might have been something like siamese triplets.
i've posted it in a biology forum to see if anyone can comment on specifics causing the mutation.
in friendship,
prad
than 60 different species of amphibians with severe abnormalities have been found in the US and several
other countries. These complex, perhaps interrelated phenomena are associated with important current challenges
in conservation biology. Although intense research, beginning in the early 1990s, has led to a better
understanding of why amphibian populations are declining, there is still a basic lack of knowledge about the
causes and implications of amphibian deformities."
Front Ecol Environ 2003, 1(2), 87–94
As Kirksey already wrote, frogs and other amphibians are seen as indicators for changes in our ecological systems. They are very sensitive for some of these changes, due to their unshelled eggs and their membrane like skins.
Many investigations have been done in this field. In the latest scientific american of Feb. 2003 a lot is explained about these deformities (although it doesn't mention multi-headed frogs).
They have found that a flatworm is the cause of many of these deformities. These flatworms need water snails as a host for their development. These snails flourish particularly in waters with algae. These algae develop easily in ponds that are contaminated with cattle manure and certain pesticides. When the flatworm has developed in the snail he leaves his host and enters the developing frog. This frog develops deformities. Predators eat these deformed amphibians and drop the eggs of the flatworm in new waters.
http://limnology.wisc.edu/pieter/Hidden%20Stuff/ComplexityFrogs.pdf
http://limnology.wisc.edu/pieter/Hidden%20Stuff/ExplainingDeformities.pdf
Fjord