The mouth-birthing frog (Gould)

July 14th, 2007  |  Published in Animals, Nature, Quotes, Science, Sexuality  |  4 Comments

Rheobatrachus silus [is] an Australian frog that swallows its fertilized eggs, broods tadpoles in its stomach, and gives birth to young frogs through its mouth.

–Stephen Jay Gould, “Here Goes Nothing” in Bully for Brontosaurus: Reflections in Natural History (1991), p. 294

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  1. GeorgeT says:

    July 14th, 2007 at 8:32 pm (#)

    The sad news is that this frog, first discovered in 1973, has not been seen since 1979 and is presumed extinct.

  2. Claire O Connell says:

    July 9th, 2008 at 6:02 pm (#)

    I saw this in a one of the discover channels last night. It is very sad that it is now extinct. It is amazing how the frogs did not die in the stomach acid of the frog.

  3. angie says:

    March 5th, 2009 at 11:12 pm (#)

    they have a mechanism that shuts down their digestive system before they swallow the eggs, so once inside the eggs wont be digested.

  4. Abherbz says:

    March 20th, 2009 at 10:36 am (#)

    Was there none in captivity?, where are they from?

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