Again from the Smithsonian, very exciting news on the chytrid fungus front. It seems that the fungus does not do well in warmer temperatures, so frogs that have moved to warmer habitats, learned to sunbathe, or hang out in researcher-designed hot brick condos are much more able to fight off infection. Excellent news for at least some frog populations!

Last week I read a piece in Smithsonian Magazine on the oldest fossil tadpole yet described—161 million years old! Jurassic tadpole! That’s so old!!

I love frogs but I don’t actually know a lot about them, so it was really interesting to read this piece and learn that basic frog metamorphosis is really really really old. If you’re interested in reading the original Nature paper this piece is based on, the Smithsonian article has a sharing link to Nature that will allow you to read the full text.

P.S. If you’re looking to have a few interesting science and history stories land in your feed reader every day, I can highly recommend adding Smithsonian Magazine to your reader. Here’s the RSS link: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/latest_articles/

tremendous shout out to bcj for allowing me the use of this lovely Northern Leopard frog to inaugurate the day