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Tuesday, December 12, 2006
South American Amphibian


Someone passed this news article along to me. It's in Spanish, so I'll just note a rough paraphrasing of the highlights:

Strange aquatic animal found in lagoon of Santa Catalina (Bolivar)

A fish, or hybrid amphibian, was caught in a fisherman's nets last Thursday.
It measured about 35 centimeters, with an oversized round head. It is white, transparent, and has a pair of frog-like legs.
Miguel Hernandez, president of the local Meeting of Communal Action, stated that he had never seen anything similar.
'I believe it is amphibious, but the strange thing is that the toes are webbed,' and noted that William Blanco, the fisherman who found the animal, is keeping it refrigerated.
No scientist has yet visited the area, but the animal is available for study.

It is indeed an odd photograph, but clearly represents an amphibian's transformation from larval stage to adult stage, caught in the middle. I do not know what species it is, but it is possible that it represents a malformation - gigantism in tadpoles has been documented due to hormonal problems. Or, perhaps it is related to Pseudis paradoxa (which is South American), the paradoxical frog, with a giant tadpole that transforms into a moderate-sized frog.

นกกินเปี้ยว [ 09 ส.ค. 2550 16:16:56 ]

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จาก
StrangeArk: South American Amphibian
http://www.strangeark.com/blog/2006/12/south-american-amphibian.html

นกกินเปี้ยว [ 09 ส.ค. 2550 16:18:41 ]

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3 comments:


At 8:27 AM, Chy said...
It is likely a malformed metamorphic frog of some kind, that is, a mutated form of a stage between change from juvenile to adult. Some of these malformed animals do not lose attributes they had as tadpoles; in rare cases, their juvenile-stage tails, as seen here. Malformations of this type are caused by pollutants. Frogs and toads are particularly prone to mutations due to chemical pollution.

The rear legs and overall shape indicate a frog, toad, or perhaps a metamorph salamander. The report that it is 'transparent' is obviously incorrect, judging by the photograph! Although, some tissues of an amphibian may be translucent, particularly if bloated, as this is.

It appears to have no front legs. So I would guess this is a mutant metamorph bullfrog. It is, however, rather a large specimen for such a mutation. Perhaps there is a species of salamander or juvenile toad I'm not aware of that matches this at some stage of its life cycle. The rear legs are, IMHO, obvious frog/toad legs.

I'm not a biologist, but I pretend to be one on the internet. ;)

 
At 8:32 AM, Chy said...
On further study, your identification of the specimen as Pseudis paradoxa seems to be right on the money. Compare this old drawing of a juvenile paradoxa with the photograph:

Pseudis paradoxa

 
At 5:28 PM, Anonymous said...
I may not be the brightest bulb in the marquis, but I am from Mississippi and I know a tadpole when I see one. A BIG tadpole, but a tadpole all the same.

นกกินเปี้ยว [ 09 ส.ค. 2550 16:19:24 ]

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ภาพลูกอ๊อด Pseudis paradoxa ที่ใน comments ที่ 2 กล่าวถึง

นกกินเปี้ยว [ 09 ส.ค. 2550 16:24:03 ]

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ชะรอยจักเปนปลาของดาร์วิน ใครรู้ก็บอกอิฉันด้วย

ampelisciphotis [ 09 ส.ค. 2550 18:06:33 ]

ความคิดเห็นที่: 6

เหอๆ รอข้อพิสูจน์ครับ มึนๆ เหมือนกันอ่านไปอ่านมา หรือเราแปลให้มันมึนเอง -.-

ฉลามเสือ [ 10 ส.ค. 2550 00:57:00 ]

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คล้ายๆ ในหนังเรื่อง HOSTอะ

GreenEyes [ 12 ส.ค. 2550 22:37:18 ]