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Article: What's the fuss: about frogs?
- Article from:
- The Evening Standard (London, England)
- Article date:
- May 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Now you see them. Now you don't. Such is the game frogs seem to be playing with herpetologists (scientists who study amphibians) worldwide. Except that this game is not fun.
The gastric brooding flog, for example, was first discovered in 1973 in a small area of the Australian rain forest. "The frog had the most amazing method of reproduction," says James Hanken, professor of herpetology at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA. After mating, the female ate her fertilized eggs and incubated as many as 25 young in her stomach. After several weeks, she burped or vomited up tiny, fully formed frogs.
Although the brooding frog was never very common, scientists ...