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Charles Darwin’s frogs turn mating upside down

Turning around and backing up out of pools found in tree hollows may help mating Charles Darwin’s frogs find a safe place to lay their eggs while fending off competitive males

By Jake Buehler

2 August 2024

Andamanese Charles Darwin’s frogs breed like no other frog: clinging upside down to the side of partially flooded tree cavities. This inverted addition to the Kermit Sutra may be positioning the frogs in such a way that they can kick away male competitors.

Sathyabhama Das Biju and Sonali Garg, both at Harvard University, were studying amphibians across India and nearby regions with colleagues at the University of Delhi. During field surveys in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean, the researchers…

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