Indian Purple frog skeleton changes dramatically to adapt from clinging to digging
Date: March 30, 2016
Source: PLOS
The Indian Purple frog skeleton undergoes dramatic transformation as tadpoles clinging to underwater rocks become adults digging their way underground, according to a study published March 30, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Gayani Senevirathne from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and colleagues.
The Endangered India Purple frog is very unusual among amphibians. Whilst most frog tadpoles hatch into streams and swim, the Indian Purple frog's young instead cling to rocks underwater. Then, unlike most amphibians which spend their adult life on land and in water, the adult frogs dig underground and spend their life there, only emerging to reproduce in forest streams. The authors of the present study used staining techniques to document the bone and cartilage changes which allow rapid transformation of the frogs from clinging tadpoles to digging adults.
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