Rice-sized Brazilian amphibians land on their faces or backs when they jump, due to an evolutionary trade-off. Click the link to read more.
In the hills of Brazil’s Atlantic Rainforest, Ecologist Marcio Pie was ready to forsake his research expedition. Dozens of flea toads surrounded him but he could only hear their characteristic chirps when he stopped for 15 minutes and remained completely still.
When he did finally find flea toads, Pie observed something strange. They could jump like other frogs when frightened, but they couldn’t land well, often dropping on their faces or backs. “We noticed how extremely clumsy these frogs are,” Pie says.researchers analyzed why they lost their balance, running lab tests and CT scans of the frogs’ anatomy.On average, it would take two researchers among Pie’s team roughly four to five hours to catch a single toad. “It’s really frustrating,” says Pie.
Experts only described nearly two-thirds of the 38 known species in the last decade — likely due to the difficulty in studying them. Pie himself has described several species previously unknown to science with colleagues. “Many species — you can walk the entire geographic distribution of the species in one day,” Pie says.Vertebrates use liquid that moves around in spiraling chambers in our inner ears, called the vestibular system, to sense balance. When we move our heads, the liquid shifts, sending signals that lets us know which way is up.
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