Mini mum, mini scale and mini ature
March 28, 2019 5:41 PM Subscribe
Five new species of the tiniest (and cutest) frogs have been named with adorable pictures of 11-14mm frogs on fingertips. And yes, those are their actual scientific names of three in a new genus Mini. Congrats, scientists - somewhere, Gary Larson is smiling. The actual paper argues that evolution of miniturisation is driven by both contingency and determinism.
OMG they have a banana for scale
posted by darkstar at 6:34 PM on March 28, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by darkstar at 6:34 PM on March 28, 2019 [10 favorites]
"...Gary Larson is smiling." For people not fully familiar with all of Gary Larson's works can you give us a clue as to what you mean? I love Gary Larson but I want to know which comic-drawing you mean.
posted by RuvaBlue at 6:35 PM on March 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by RuvaBlue at 6:35 PM on March 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
I meant in general Gary Larson with his love of scientists being funny and weird puns would appreciate this. He has a butterfly, beetle and louse named after him after all.
(omg he is still alive - I apologise Mr Larson! Please whack me with the cow tools.)
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 6:46 PM on March 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
(omg he is still alive - I apologise Mr Larson! Please whack me with the cow tools.)
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 6:46 PM on March 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
Baby frog, doo doo doo
posted by blaneyphoto at 6:56 PM on March 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by blaneyphoto at 6:56 PM on March 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
Tiny froge!
posted by supermedusa at 6:58 PM on March 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by supermedusa at 6:58 PM on March 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
These are SO CUTE! I like frogs and I love teeny weeny frogs best of all. And I am very tickled by the punny names!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 7:34 PM on March 28, 2019
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 7:34 PM on March 28, 2019
How in the world do the scientists find them in nature????
posted by gryphonlover at 8:21 PM on March 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by gryphonlover at 8:21 PM on March 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
Awesome!!!
posted by eggkeeper at 9:06 PM on March 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by eggkeeper at 9:06 PM on March 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
Please whack me with the cow tools.
We’re really testing rule 34 here, aren’t we.
posted by TedW at 10:08 PM on March 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
We’re really testing rule 34 here, aren’t we.
posted by TedW at 10:08 PM on March 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
How do they find them? The listen for them. But also frog researchers just get really good at spotting cryptic species in leaf litter. Especially if they move. You get a search image and you stay real still. Humans are good hunters.
These handsome frogs with loud jarring calls ... as we were moving away from the edge of the forest, we heard not only the clinking calls of the abundant Gephyromantis angano (named after that trip), but also a strange, jarring, tocking call consisting of a series of notes that I had not heard before....I stopped to record a calling specimen, and then captured it. At the time, I was unsure what it might be, but suspected that it might be new because it was large and its call is slightly different from that of G. tandroka, which calls with single notes instead of the series emitted by this frog. From the scientist's blog
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 5:20 AM on March 29, 2019 [2 favorites]
These handsome frogs with loud jarring calls ... as we were moving away from the edge of the forest, we heard not only the clinking calls of the abundant Gephyromantis angano (named after that trip), but also a strange, jarring, tocking call consisting of a series of notes that I had not heard before....I stopped to record a calling specimen, and then captured it. At the time, I was unsure what it might be, but suspected that it might be new because it was large and its call is slightly different from that of G. tandroka, which calls with single notes instead of the series emitted by this frog. From the scientist's blog
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 5:20 AM on March 29, 2019 [2 favorites]
My very dear friend Johanna discovered a species of frogs with sex role reversal, in which the females call to attract males. Evolutionary constraints are strong, and the females aren't able to make very loud calls... Just little quiet hiccups. She can hear them even on a crickety, froggy night in Borneo, partially because they time their calls for lulls in the din, but partially because she's just good at it.
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 5:22 AM on March 29, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 5:22 AM on March 29, 2019 [5 favorites]
Meanwhile, frogs and amphibians in general are under assault from a lethal fungus.
Chytridiomycosis, or chytrid fungus, has killed off 90 species over the past 50 years while leading to huge losses of 501 kinds of frogs, toads, salamanders, and other amphibians, according to researchers from a number of worldwide universities. Nearly 125 of those species have declined by at least 90 percent due to the rapid spread of the pathogen.posted by Kirth Gerson at 11:22 AM on March 29, 2019
I just made a sound only dogs can hear in sheer delight
brb getting my whole damn LIFE
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 4:18 PM on March 29, 2019
brb getting my whole damn LIFE
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 4:18 PM on March 29, 2019
From the article: there are only a handful of frog and fish species that are smaller.
I see what you did there, Mr. Scherz!
posted by crazy_yeti at 7:33 AM on March 30, 2019
I see what you did there, Mr. Scherz!
posted by crazy_yeti at 7:33 AM on March 30, 2019
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posted by es_de_bah at 6:16 PM on March 28, 2019 [2 favorites]