ADVERTISEMENT
Green frog in tree with green leaves
For Frogs, Bigger Brains Mean Worse Camouflage
Frogs invest in cognitive capacity to avoid predators—up until there are too many hungry snakes around for the evolutionary strategy to pay off.
For Frogs, Bigger Brains Mean Worse Camouflage
For Frogs, Bigger Brains Mean Worse Camouflage

Frogs invest in cognitive capacity to avoid predators—up until there are too many hungry snakes around for the evolutionary strategy to pay off.

Frogs invest in cognitive capacity to avoid predators—up until there are too many hungry snakes around for the evolutionary strategy to pay off.

frog

colored microscope photo of xenobot
“Xenobot” Living Robots Can Reproduce
Chloe Tenn | Dec 2, 2021 | 2 min read
Biological robots made from frog cells can replicate by smooshing loose cells into new robots—a reproduction method not seen in any other organism.
Glowing Amphibians Extremely Common
Lisa Winter | Feb 28, 2020 | 2 min read
A study of the animals using blue light reveals what humans are not able to see with the naked eye.
Image of the Day: Brainless Frogs
Amy Schleunes | Feb 18, 2020 | 1 min read
Without a brain, the frog embryo immune system doesn’t receive the signals it needs to mobilize macrophages and fight infections.
Image of the Day: Scrambled Frog Eggs
Emily Makowski | Nov 6, 2019 | 2 min read
Cellular innards can reorganize themselves to form structures similar to cells.
Image of the Day: Floating Frog
Emily Makowski | Oct 4, 2019 | 1 min read
A frog performs a balancing act in a region where amphibians are threatened.
Frog-Killing Chytrid Fungus Far Deadlier than Scientists Realized
Carolyn Wilke | Mar 29, 2019 | 2 min read
A survey reveals the disease has decimated populations in Central and South America and tropical Australia and contributed to the extinction of 90 species.
Image of the Day: New Tiny Frog
Jef Akst | Oct 23, 2018 | 1 min read
A newly described amphibian has such a small range in southern Brazil that it’s already critically endangered.
Origin of Frog-Killing Chytrid Fungus Found
Ruth Williams | May 10, 2018 | 4 min read
DNA evidence points to Asian amphibians as the source of a fatal disease that has been wiping out frogs across the globe.  
Studies Show How Cells Differentiate at Life’s Beginning
Shawna Williams | Apr 27, 2018 | 1 min read
A trio of papers provide new insight into embryo development.
Frogs Fight Back From Fungal Attack
Ruth Williams | Mar 29, 2018 | 3 min read
A decade after chytridiomycosis killed scores of amphibians in Panama, some species are recovering. New research indicates why.  
Tadpoles Keep Eating Because They Don’t Feel Full
Catherine Offord | Mar 27, 2018 | 1 min read
Baby frogs don’t develop the neural circuitry responsible for feeding inhibition until they begin metamorphosing into adults. 
Romeo the Frog
The Scientist and The Scientist Staff | Feb 14, 2018 | 1 min read
When forlorn mating calls went unanswered, biologists set him up with an online dating profile.
Image of the Day: Frog Leaps Away from Extinction 
The Scientist and The Scientist Staff | Jan 3, 2018 | 1 min read
A once critically endangered species of leaf frog has made a comeback. 
Frog Skin Yields Potent Painkillers, but None Clinic Ready
Shawna Williams | Jan 1, 2018 | 2 min read
Decades after their discovery by bioprospectors, amphibian-derived analgesics continue to attract scientific attention.
Image of the Day: Tadpole Prism
The Scientist and The Scientist Staff | Nov 3, 2017 | 1 min read
Scientists are making use of Xenopus tadpoles to study autism risk genes. 
How Poison Frogs Avoid Poisoning Themselves
Abby Olena, PhD | Sep 21, 2017 | 4 min read
Amphibians resist their own chemical defenses with amino acid modifications in the sequence for a target receptor.
Image of the Day: Save the Frogs
The Scientist | Jun 23, 2017 | 1 min read
Small but striking with its eyebrow-like horns, the 6-centimeter smooth horned frog (Proceratophrys boiei) was one of 453 amphibian species in Brazil assessed in a recent conservation study.
Image of the Day: Heart On Your Sleeve
The Scientist | May 31, 2017 | 1 min read
The entire underbelly of a newly discovered glassfrog species (Hyalinobatrachium yaku) is see-through, allowing the beholder to peer into its heart. 
Image of the Day: Night Crawler
The Scientist | Apr 17, 2017 | 1 min read
Phyllomedusa bicolor is a nocturnal, tree-dwelling frog that lives in the Amazon rainforest.
ADVERTISEMENT