Scientists reveal secrets of glass frogs that HIDE their red blood cells
When tiny glass frogs turn over at night, they can become transparent, hiding almost 90 percent of their red blood cells.
Colored areas are hidden inside the frog’s liver, which can disguise the cells, according to a study published Thursday in the journal. science.
During daytime hours, these tiny frogs they spend their time hanging under the leaves of the trees. At this time, their green forms do not cast shadows, making them almost invisible to potential predators.
When tiny glass frogs turn over at night, they can become transparent, hiding almost 90 percent of their red blood cells. Above: A female glass frog with eggs in her transparent ovaries is shown, photographed from below with a flash
However, once they wake up, the frogs have a more reddish-brown hue.
“When they’re transparent, it’s for their safety,” said Junjie Yao, a biomedical engineer and co-author of the study at Duke University. When they are awake, they can actively evade predators, but when they are sleeping and are more vulnerable, they have “adapted to remain hidden.”
Scientists used light and ultrasound imaging technology to unlock a new insight: Frogs are able to “concentrate,” or hide, nearly 90 percent of their red blood cells in their livers while they sleep.
This circulating blood would otherwise give them away. Yao also noted that frogs can shrink and squash most of their internal organs together.
The research “explains very well” how “glass frogs hide their blood in their livers to maintain transparency,” Juan Manuel Guayasamin, a frog biologist at the University of San Francisco in Quito, Ecuador, who was not involved, told the Associated Press in the study
Colored areas are hidden inside the frog’s liver, which can disguise the cells, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science. Above: A glass frog sits on a leaf
Scientists used light and ultrasound imaging technology to unlock a new insight: Frogs are able to “concentrate,” or hide, nearly 90 percent of their red blood cells in their livers while they sleep. Above: A male glass frog is photographed from below
How they are able to accomplish this feat is still a bit of a mystery.
For most animals, having very little circulating oxygenated blood for several hours would be fatal, and concentrating the blood so strongly would result in fatal clotting. However, the frogs are able to survive.
The researchers believe that future studies of the species could provide information for the development of anti-blood clotting drugs.
“Transparency is very rare in nature and, in land animals, it’s essentially unheard of outside of the glass frog,” said University of Oxford biologist Richard Whitem, who was not involved in the study.
Those that are transparent include some fish, shrimp, jellyfish, worms, and insects, none of which move large amounts of red blood through their bodies.
“It’s just this really amazing and dynamic form of camouflage,” White said.
“Transparency is very rare in nature and, in land animals, it’s essentially unheard of outside of the glass frog,” said University of Oxford biologist Richard Whitem, who was not involved in the study. Above: A leaf-dwelling glass frog is seen
Above: A collection of researchers’ photos shows the same frog during sleep, under anesthesia, and while active (in transmitted light), showing the difference in red blood cells within the circulatory system
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