In order to cope with the cruel nature, "non-Buddhist frogs" choose such a strange lifestyle

Lying-flat youth, Buddhist youth, and emo youth are all very popular nowadays. Although these words sound a bit negative, they represent the philosophy of the younger generation, "giving up on the surface, but working hard in secret"...

In the real and cruel nature, can a "Buddhist" personality allow animals to survive?

For example, frogs. In order to adapt to various extreme environments, "non-Buddhist frogs" racked their brains and came up with peculiar lifestyles to cope with them!

"A beautiful girl in a golden house" raising a baby - Wei Yu Xi Chan

The frog in the game is alone, and has no intention of finding a wife (or husband) or even having children. This is considered "treasonous" in nature.

As amphibians, the anurans, which are mainly frogs, are not as thorough in taking care of their babies as mammals, but they are still dedicated and responsible during the hatching stage. Among them, the most "abnormal" love for their children is the gastric-brooding stream toad, which became extinct in the 1980s. (Note: In 2013, the University of New South Wales in Australia successfully cultivated a live embryo of the gastric-brooding stream toad.)

The gastric-brooding stream toad is only found in the mountains of southeastern Queensland, Australia. From its name we can roughly understand its living habits:

"Xi" indicates that it likes to live near wet, shallow rivers or streams.

"Gastric breeding" may seem incredible at first, but it doesn't matter, let's say it boldly: raising children in the stomach! It swallows the eggs into the stomach and incubates them in the stomach. After hatching, the young frogs will live in the mother's mouth and stomach for a week. This is really a realistic portrayal of "holding it in your mouth for fear that it will melt."

The hatching process of the gastric-brooding stream frog (Image source: YouTube: Gross Science video screenshot)

However, gastric brooding toads are bound to have mistakes. For example, if a female toad swallows X eggs, the number of eggs that will hatch will always be around X-10. This may be because there is a time lag between swallowing the eggs and stopping the secretion of gastric acid, during which some of the eggs are digested. It is also possible that the female toad's mouth is too small and she does not swallow them all at once, so some eggs slip out of her mouth.

The young toads spit out by the female toad are already mature (Photo credit: Michael J.Tyler)

Someone asked, if it can't be dissolved in the mouth, then it will be dissolved in the stomach, right? Don't worry, during the hatching period, the stomach of the gastric-brooding river toad will temporarily stop secreting gastric acid to prevent the eggs from being corroded. Moreover, as the froglets continue to grow, the stomach of the gastric-brooding river toad will expand appropriately to ensure that the froglets have sufficient living space. This is really a touching love!

"Salt and urine cover" bathing in the sea - Crab-eating frog

Have you noticed that the frogs in the game are really rich? Such a big and comfortable house is occupied by one person... a frog. In the cruel natural world, many frogs are lucky to have a moist freshwater environment, not to mention that some "magic" frogs are still soaked in salt water! What? You are right...

You know, the lungs of amphibians are not yet fully developed and cannot perform breathing functions independently, so their sticky skin plays a role in assisting breathing. As a result, their skin is extremely permeable and they cannot jump in salt water at all.

However, there is a kind of frog living in the subtropics that "does not soak in ordinary water" and often sleeps soundly hugging the roots of mangrove plants in the salt water between land and sea. This is the rare sea-land frog (also known as the crab-eating frog), which can survive in salt water with a salt content of 2.8%.

Urea in the kidneys of the terrestrial frog and salt ions in the plasma help it resist salt water (Image source: Wiki)

Don't be surprised, because they have developed this super salt tolerance ability when they were young tadpoles. The salt tolerance of their terrestrial frog tadpoles is even more amazing, and they can grow and develop in salt water with a salt content of 3.9%.

Well, the most important thing is to know how their skin can tolerate salt, right? Experts from the Kunming Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted a special study and gave the answer: the concentration of salt ions in the plasma of amphibians and the concentration of urea in the kidneys are extremely high, which can achieve a balance of osmotic pressure inside and outside the body, so that they will not be choked to death.

Poison dart frogs produce venom

Players have always said that the frog in the game is peaceful, kind and harmless, and is a "Buddha-like" frog. If there is "Buddha", there must be "devil". The most ferocious character in the frog world is the "devil-like" frog - the poison dart frog.

Poison dart frogs of different colors (Image source: Wiki)

First, we need to explain the name of the poison dart frog.

"Poison" is easy to understand. This animal uses venom as a weapon of attack and defense, which is not uncommon among amphibians. For example, many toads use a little poison.

The word "arrow" is not easy to understand. Does it mean that there are arrow-like objects on its body? Or does it secrete venom as fast as an arrow? Neither of them. The word "arrow" is used to describe the toxicity of poison dart frogs. Poison dart frogs are small in size, rarely reaching 6 cm, but they are highly toxic, with the median lethal dose (LD50) of their venom reaching 0.00001mg/kg to 0.0002mg/kg.

Therefore, the residents of the poison dart frog habitat - the Indians came up with a unique idea. After catching the poison dart frog, they smeared the frog's venom on the arrowheads of bows and arrows and used them as weapons to shoot prey. The effect was quite sharp, and this is the origin of the name of the poison dart frog.

What is unexpected is that such a powerful venom is not synthesized by itself like poisonous snakes and poisonous lizards. The frog toxin of the poison dart frog family comes from the ants, poisonous spiders and other foods it eats. After eating these foods, it absorbs the toxins and synthesizes frog toxins. In an artificial breeding environment, poison dart frogs are not poisonous. This reminds me of the unique skill of the Gusu Murong family - Dou Zhuan Xing Yi!

"Exquisite and Transparent" Sunbathing the Internal Organs - Transparent Small Tarsus Frog

Open your phone and you can see its cute big belly as long as the frog faces you. But in the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador and Peru, there lives a transparent little tarsus frog that looks both "cute" and "scary".

The back of the transparent small tarsus frog is a light lime green (Image source: Wiki)

To say it is cute, you have to look down at it and see its back. This guy is small and exquisite, only 20 mm long, about the size of a human fingernail, and its back is slightly transparent emerald green, looking like a mini pendant carved from jade.

To say it is scary, you have to look up at it and see its abdomen. As we said earlier, the back is not only light green, but also slightly transparent. But when you look at the abdomen... this guy's abdomen is too transparent. The peritoneum has no color at all, it is completely transparent, and the pink intestines, bright red liver and throbbing heart are all visible.

The peritoneum of the transparent small tarsus frog is transparent, and the five internal organs are clearly visible (Image source: Wiki)

In this way, when it is on the emerald green leaves, the slightly emerald green back and most of the other transparent parts make it impossible for predators to notice that there is such a creature on the leaves. This is a superb camouflage.

When many people see the transparent little tarsus frog for the first time, they would mistake it for a tree frog if they did not look at its transparent abdomen. After all, its body shape and living environment are very similar to those of a tree frog.

However, the transparent little tarsus frog does not belong to the tree frog family, but to the stargazer family. The biggest difference is that when the tree frog observes the surrounding environment, its eyes are looking to the side; while when the transparent little tarsus frog observes the surrounding things, its eyes are staring straight ahead.

"Sprinting like a flying bird" - Tree frog

We just mentioned tree frogs, so let's talk about them in detail. Why? Do you remember what the frog in the game looks like? It's slow and leisurely, and its "unhurried" personality makes people mistake it for a turtle!

In fact, in the real natural world, except for toads, most frogs are amazing when they move. Their jumping ability is very strong and their movement speed is also astonishing.

Why exclude toads? Because the biggest difference between most toads and frogs in terms of body structure is their front and back limbs. Toads have thicker front limbs, so they are more suitable for slow crawling, while frogs have thicker and stronger hind limbs, which make them light and agile. Among them, the most amazing one is the tree frog.

Tree frogs have flat bodies, long limbs, and large suction cups on their toes, making them natural jumpers (Image source: Wiki)

Compared to ground-dwelling frogs, tree frogs differ in two main ways.

First, tree frogs are generally flatter than terrestrial frogs, and their limbs are longer. From an aerodynamic point of view, this structure is easier to reduce air resistance and enhance the flexibility of moving between trees.

Secondly, tree frogs generally have large suction cups on their toes and "flat warts" on their chests that function as suction cups. These two body features help them firmly fix their bodies on tree trunks or even leaves.

Relying on these two "magic weapons", tree frogs can move briskly and spin and jump among the trees!

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Tadpole Musical Notation original article, please indicate the source when reprinting

Editor/Xiao Xitushuo