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The world’s smallest species of fanged frog is found in the fertile volcanic hills of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Photo/Phys
JAKARTA – The smallest species of fanged frog in the world was found in the fertile volcanic hills of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Several species of frogs in Southeast Asia have developed fangs to fight over territory, mate, and hunt crunchy prey such as centipedes and crabs.
A team of herpetologists from the United States and Indonesia hiked through the rainforest. They found black, glassy frog eggs on the leaves as well as large, mossy rocks several meters from the ground.
This discovery attracted the attention of researchers because frog eggs are almost always placed in water to prevent the jelly layer from drying out. Soon after, the researchers spotted a coin-sized spotted brown frog protecting its nest.
“After repeatedly monitoring the nest, the team began to find frogs sitting on the leaves cuddling their small nests. “Surprisingly, all the frogs that incubate the eggs are male frogs,” said Jeff Frederick, a wildlife ecologist at the Field Museum in Chicago, quoted by SINDOnews from the Science Alert page, Thursday (21/12/2023).
These guard frogs coat their eggs with a compound that keeps them moist and free of bacteria and fungus. This never-before-seen species of frog has a band of small teeth on its upper jaw and two small fangs protruding from its lower jaw.
Frogs usually only have teeth in their upper jaw. The new species was named Limnonectes phyllofolia. Phyllofolia means ‘nest of leaves’. “This new species is small compared to other fanged frogs on the island where it was found,” said Frederick.
Other saber-toothed frogs on Sulawesi are giants weighing two pounds, but this new species only weighs about two grams. “Almost the same weight as a one-cent coin,” Frederick said.
Because leaf-nesting frogs don’t use waterways to reproduce, they don’t need large fangs to compete for the best nesting sites in crowded river currents. This could explain the small size of their fangs compared to other frogs on the island.
Researchers previously found that frog fangs have evolved independently at least four times across all frog species. Studying the behavior and diet of this species, the fangs of frogs that evolved in response to sexual selection appear to be relatively large compared to the fangs of frogs that evolved in response to other environmental pressures.
Fanged frogs have been found in Cambodia, Vietnam, West Africa, and South America. Scientists also found fanged tadpoles of the vampire flying frog (Rhacophorus vampyrus) in the evergreen forests of southern Vietnam.
(wib)