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44425 |
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Date: February 29, 2024 at 18:25:49
From: shadow, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Mushroom growing on live frog surprises researchers |
URL: https://www.forbes.com/sites/amandakooser/2024/02/08/mushroom-growing-on-live-frog-surprises-researchers/?sh=5afd16ad69c7 |
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(So many questions! Is it really an expression of the
frog's own biology, that just happens to look like a
mushroom? If it is a mushroom, does it produce spores?
And will this little guy escape everyone's need to
objectify it for doing the research to provide answers?)
***
You’ve heard of a toadstool, but now there’s something
much stranger: a frog mushroom. Researchers in India came
across a frog with a mushroom sprouting from its flank.
It may be the first observation of its kind. How the
mushroom got there, grew and fruited is a mystery.
The hit HBO show The Last of Us pushed mushrooms and
fungi into the pop-culture spotlight. In the show (based
on a video game), humans are infected by a fungus that
turns them into horrifying zombies. The series is
fictional, but the frog with a mushroom growing on it
sounds a lot like something that could happen in The Last
of Us. Fortunately, the real-life frog didn’t show signs
of wanting to chomp on human flesh.
A Surprising Discovery
The report in the January issue of Reptiles & Amphibians
came from hobbyist naturalist Chinmay Maliye and Lohit
Y.T, a wetlands specialist with conservation organization
WWF India.
The star of the report is called a Rao’s intermediate
golden-backed frog, a species of yellowish amphibian
named for the zoologist who first described it in 1937.
The researchers encountered the frog in June 2023. It was
among several dozen in a small roadside pond formed from
rainwater. “One individual perched on a twig had a
distinct outgrowth on its left flank,” the researchers
wrote. “A closer examination clearly revealed a mushroom
sprouting from its side.” The frog was alive and moving
about.
The fungus discovery came as a surprise. “To the best of
our knowledge, never has a mushroom sprouting from the
flank of a live frog been documented,” the researchers
said. The eye-catching photos are the highlight of the
brief report. Images show the frog and mushroom from
several angles. The tiny, gray-capped mushroom extends on
a delicate, curved stalk from the frog’s left side."
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Responses:
[44426] |
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44426 |
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Date: February 29, 2024 at 19:15:09
From: Mitra, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Mushroom growing on live frog surprises researchers |
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Hmm. Perhaps he hibernated and it grew while he was
sleeping.
Rip van Froggle.
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