The world's smallest fanged frogs were discovered in Indonesia

usually, Frog teeth It is not a special feature to consider. They look like small, pointed holes lining the upper jaw. But a group of frogs that live in… Southeast Asian currents She has a strange adaptation: Two bony fangs Which protrudes from his lower jaw. They use it to We fight each other Depending on the region and partner, and sometimes even for Hunting hard-shelled prey Like giant centipedes and crabs.

Now, in a new study published in the journal One plusThe researchers described A New species of fanged frog: the smallest ever discovered. This new species is considered small in size compared to other frogs of its kind found on the island where it was found Quarter size.

Many frogs of this genus are gigantic, weighing up to 900 grams. In the end, this is a new species It weighs about the same as a dime.

In collaboration with the Bogor Zoological Museum, a team from the McGuire Laboratory in Berkeley found the frogs in Sulawesia A rugged, mountainous island that is part of Indonesia. It is a giant island that includes a vast network of mountains, volcanoes, lowland tropical forests and cloud forests. Having all these different habitats means that the amount of biodiversity in many of the plants and animals found there is almost unreal: it rivals places like the Amazon.

As they walked through the forest, members of an amphibian and reptile research team made up of specialists from the United States and Indonesia noticed something unexpected in the young tree leaves and moss-covered rocks: Frog egg nests.

Frogs are amphibians and lay eggs coated in gelatin rather than a hard protective shell. To prevent them from drying out, though, most amphibians lay their eggs in water. To the research team's surprise, they continued to discover masses of ground eggs on leaves and moss-covered rocks several feet above the ground. Soon after, they began to see Little brown frogs.

Typically, when searching for frogs, you scan riverbank margins or wade into creeks to spot them directly in the water. However, after observing the eggs repeatedly, the team began to find the eggs Frogs sit on leaves and hug their little nests. This close contact allows the frog's parents to coat the eggs with compounds that keep them moist and free of bacterial and fungal contamination.

Close examination of the amphibian parents revealed not only their presence Small members of the frog family with barely visible fangs, but the frogs guarding the clutches of eggs were all male. The behavior of males protecting eggs is not exactly known to all frogs, but it is well known rare.

Specialists hypothesize that the frogs' unusual reproductive behaviors could also be related to their smaller-than-normal fangs. Some relatives have larger tusks, which helps them avoid competing for places along the river to lay their eggs in the water. Since these frogs evolved a way of laying their eggs farther down there, they may have lost the need for such large, imposing fangs. The scientific name of the new species is Limnectes philofolia. phyllofolia It means leaf nest.

The scientists' findings also underscore the importance of conserving these special tropical habitats. Most of the animals that live in places like Sulawesi are completely unique, and the destruction of the place represents an increasingly imminent conservation problem to maintain the hyper-diversity of species found there. Learning about animals like these frogs that are found nowhere else on Earth helps advocate for the protection of these valuable ecosystems.

* Jeff Frederick He is a researcher at the Field Museum in Chicago.