These female frogs eat up males if they don't like their singing
WeirdNews
A scientist claims to have witnessed a large female frog trying to eat an adult male counterpart
(Web Desk) - Adult-on-adult cannibalism is rare in amphibians. Now, an ecologist from Australia has blamed the declining population of green and golden bell frogs on Kooragang Island, north of Sydney, on female cannibal members of the same species.
A scientist from the University of Newcastle claims to have witnessed a large female frog trying to eat an adult male counterpart while slowly pulling him into a hole.
John Gould couldn't believe what he saw and immediately captured the rare moment with his camera.
“The male frog was trying really hard to prevent this from happening,” Gould was quoted as saying by the New York Times.
It was the first time that Gould witnessed an act of apparent cannibalism among two adults of the frog species.
The females “are almost the ultimate predators for males,” the ecologist said.
Generally, smaller members of the species are targeted by adults in common cases of cannibalism in amphibians.
For instance, smaller siblings, eggs or larvae end up as dinner.
Gould said in a study published last month in the journal Ecology and Evolution that it's extremely rare that an adult frog ends up eating another adult frog.
He says he has heard about such cases only happening in labs.
Almost all such cases happened when female frogs were larger than males.
In green and golden bell frogs, while females can grow to about 2.75 inches in size, males languish at a mere 2 inches.
So, what exactly helps females determine which male frog to mate with and which one to eat? It depends on the strength of their singing.
Males thus obviously take huge risk while trying to attract females for sex. If all goes fine, males know they are going to get laid.
But if females happen to dislike their singing, they may end up becoming their supper.
“You’ve really got to give props to the male frogs out there, that they are putting their lives on the line to reproduce,” Gould said.
“Maybe there’s a reason why, males and females, you don’t often find them next to each other in ponds.”
