Fanged Frog Tadpoles - A group of international researchers have identified a one-of-a-kind amphibian that gives birth to its young as tadpoles - in their larval stage.
The fanged frog, which breeds by internal fertilization, was found in the Sulawesi Island of Indonesia in the summer of 2014 by University of California, Berkeley, herpetologist Jim McGuire.
McGuire, who is currently studying the history of the diversification of the animal species on the island, reportedly came by this groundbreaking discovery accidentally. "As soon as I picked her up, she squirted tadpoles all over my hand," he said.
The fanged frog specie in question is reportedly one of the least well known. Also, there is scanty information on the process of internal fertilization in many amphibians.
"Almost all frogs in the world - more than 6,000 species - have external fertilization, where the male grips the female in amplexus and releases sperm as the eggs are released by the female," McGuire explains. "But there are lots of weird modifications to this standard mode of mating. This new frog is one of only 10 or 12 species that has evolved internal fertilization, and of those, it is the only one that gives birth to tadpoles as opposed to froglets or laying fertilized egg."
Although scientists believe that there are several unique species of frogs in the increasingly small Sulawesi forest, just four species have been identified thus far.
McGuire's colleague Djoko Iskandar had reportedly discovered the new fanged frog specie some years ago. However, lack of more information about the discovery had held the zoologist back from declaring his find as a new specie. Now, with McGuire's discovery, the specie has been named the Limnonectes larvaepartus. The new discovery was published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.
McGuire has revealed that the larvaepartus typically lays its tadpoles in a small pool of water located near a stream. Future studies are expected to shed light on how the larvaepartus tadpole feeds and grows into full maturity.
The fanged frog species are famous for their tooth-like projections, which are used for self defense.
