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New shape-shifting 'punk' frog knows how to blend in
http://www.cnet.com/news/new-shape-shifting-punk-frog-knows-how-to-blend-in/We've seen octopodes that can change shape. We've even seen some frogs and reptiles that can change the colour of their skin. But, for the first time, researchers have observed a vertebrate that can change the shape of its skin to better blend in with its surrounding environment.
The newly described Pristimantis mutabilis, or mutable rainfrog, was found in in 2009 in the Reserva Las Gralarias, a nature reserve in the western Andean cloud forest in the Parish of Mindo, in north-central Ecuador originally created to help protect endangered birds....
Although the Krynaks had taken several annual trips to survey animals in the reserve -- Tim since 2001 and Katherine since 2005 -- they had never seen this particular frog before, so they scooped it into a cup for later study, nicknaming it the "punk rocker" for its spiny skin.
Yet, when Katherine went to examine the frog more closely the next day, she was dismayed to find a smooth-skinned amphibian waiting in the cup, and concluded she must have somehow managed to pick up a different frog.
The newly described Pristimantis mutabilis, or mutable rainfrog, was found in in 2009 in the Reserva Las Gralarias, a nature reserve in the western Andean cloud forest in the Parish of Mindo, in north-central Ecuador originally created to help protect endangered birds....
Although the Krynaks had taken several annual trips to survey animals in the reserve -- Tim since 2001 and Katherine since 2005 -- they had never seen this particular frog before, so they scooped it into a cup for later study, nicknaming it the "punk rocker" for its spiny skin.
Yet, when Katherine went to examine the frog more closely the next day, she was dismayed to find a smooth-skinned amphibian waiting in the cup, and concluded she must have somehow managed to pick up a different frog.
The pigs at cnet won't let me copy the pics.
