Tiny, New, Pea-Sized Frog Is Old World's Smallest

Tiny, New, Pea-Sized Frog Is Old World's Smallest

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August 25, 2010

By: Science Daily

Did you know that there around 100 species of amphibians that seemed to disappear 50-100 years ago? Well that’s what scientists assumed until they found a tiny little frog at the side of a road on a road leading up to Gunung Serapi Mountain. The discovery was made by Drs. Indraneil Das and Alexander Haas of the Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation at the University Malaysia Sarawak. The frogs were believed to be extinct for over 100 years. They are the smallest amphibian in the world and only grow to about 10.6 to 12.8 mm. They have been nicknamed the mini frog because of their small size. The frogs were named a pitcher plant they depend on to live, Nepenthes ampullaria. The frogs lay their eggs on the side of the plant and then the tadpoles are born into the plant and live in the liquid accumulated inside the plant.  Due to the recent discovery of this amphibian that has thought to have been extinct for over 100 years IUCN has launched a search for other species that are thought to be extinct in over twenty countries.

            The discovery of new amphibians that are thought to be extinct can change the whole world thought of animal’s adaptation and evolution and could prove that creatures may not have gone extinct but merely adapted or evolved in a way that humans don’t realize they’re there. Animals that are thought to have been extinct because of climate change and pollution might help in researching how animals adapt and evolve. Animals could just change where they live and go live where nobody would ever expects to look and then the few that didn’t adapt to their surroundings will die and humans will think the animal species are extinct. This new discovery could lead to the finding of many species that are thought to be extinct being found again and therefore giving people a new perspective on adaptation and survival.

                        This article really caught my attention because the title has two key facts about the article that caught my attention; Pea sized frogs, old worlds smallest. These two things really make you stop and think about the smallest frogs you ever seen and once you realized how small a pea is you go on in and look at it. This article has a link at the end to the website of the project to find these new species of frogs. I think that this effort to find all these unique old species of frogs that might have been extinct so many years ago is amazing and hope that they find most of these although it is very unlikely.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100825094915.htm