April 11, 2008

A Breathtaking Discovery

Researchers find the world's first lungless frog species in Indonesia

By Vickie An

On Thursday, scientists in Indonesia announced the discovery of a rare frog that has no lungs and breathes through its skin. The remarkable find was revealed in the scientific journal Current Biology. Researchers believe that the little croaker could provide some big clues as to how environmental factors can cause certain species to evolve so drastically over time.

DAVID BICKFORD—EPA Scientists found this rare lungless frog last year on the Indonesian island of Borneo.

He's No Kermit

The aquatic brown frog was found in a remote part of the Indonesian island of Borneo during an expedition last summer. It is flat and has bulging eyes on the top of its head that peer out of the water as it glides along. Skin flaps hang from its arms and legs. The unusual creature is the world's first known lungless frog species. The few amphibians that share this unique quality include some salamander species and a blind, worm-like animal called a caecilian (see-sil-ee-uhn).

David Bickford is a biologist at the National University of Singapore. He led the research team that swam across the rare frog. "(The frogs) are like a squished version of Jabba the Hutt," he says, referring to the slug-like alien from the Star Wars movies. "These are about the most ancient and bizarre frogs you can get on the planet."

One Giant Leap

Indonesian biologist Djoko Iskander, a colleague of Bickford's, first spotted the frog in 1978 and has been searching for it ever since. But no one knew that the frog lacked lungs until the recent lab studies were conducted.

Bickford says it's possible the frog may have evolved in order to adapt to the cold, fast moving, and oxygen-rich streams in which it lives. The biologist adds that this "extreme adaptation" was probably necessary to reduce the frog's buoyancy, or its ability to float. That way, it could keep itself from being swept down the mountainous rivers.

A Foggy Future

Scientists say that the new discovery has made it even more critical to protect the frog's river habitat. In the last few years, illegal logging and gold mining has caused the once-sparkling waters to turn brown with pollution.

"The gold mining is completely illegal and small scale," Bickford says. "But when there are thousands of them on the river, it really has a huge impact. Pretty soon the frogs will run out of the river."

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