Terra Gecko Magazine : All about terrarium 2018/1 | Page 4

Interesting facts about animals
Fluorescent frog
discovered
Mysterious dwarf
crocodile
t Two Czech zoologist, Matej Dolinay and
Václav Gvozdik investigated a rare crocodile
species, the dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus
tetraspis). The aim of their 7-week long
expedition in Congo was primarily genetic
sampling to examine whether the animal living
here is truly a subspecies of the dwarf crocodile,
or it is a distinct species. Only one species is
included in the Osteolaemus genus with two
recognized species, which are O. t. tetraspis
Cope (1861) and O. t. osborni (Schmidt, 1919),
alias Congo (or Osborn’s) dwarf crocodile.
t Argentine and Brazilian researchers of
the Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences
Argentine Museum have discovered the first
fluorescent frog species of the world. During
studying the pigments of metabolic origin,
the scientists noticed that the individuals of
Hypsiboas punctatus, a frog living in South
America, emit a natural fluorescent light.
Under natural light the skin of the frog is
semi-transparent and dull yellow-brownish
with red spots. However, when exposed to UV
light, it glittered in a splendid green colour like
northern lights. According to researcher Carlos
Taboada, this is the first scientific description
of a fluorescent frog. This discovery radically
changes our knowledge about terrestrial
fluorescent animals as this feature was only
known in aquatic animals and some insects.
The researches may result in the discovery
of new fluorescent compounds, which might
be significant for scientific or technological
applications. Moreover, the team studied more
than 200 other frog species to prove that the
phenomenon is not a result of captivity, and
they found the same in all animals.
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