Red-eyed treefrog embryos actively avoid asphyxiation inside their eggs
Thursday, November 6, 2008 - 15:14
in Biology & Nature
Adult red-eyed treefrogs are the postcard-perfect mascot of tropical biology, but their eye-catching embryos get the cover of the November 2008 issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology. Credit: Karen Warkentin, Boston University and STRI Boston University undergraduate Jessica Rogge and associate professor Karen Warkentin, working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's laboratories in Gamboa, Panama, discovered that frog embryos at a very early developmental stage actively respond to oxygen levels in the egg—as reported in the Nov. 7, 2008 issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology. These initial responses to the environment may be critical to the frogs' long-term survival.