Animalia Stupendium: The Glass Frog

Bored with dragons, the wizard Argomandanies turns his arcane attention to the fantastic fauna of the natural world. Welcome to Animalia Stupendium, a chronicle of Earth’s amazing biodiversity with all the enthusiasm of a fantasy monster book. In this episode, the wizard will consider the glorious glass frog.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to Animalia Stupendium. My name is Argomandanes, wizard to
the Queen of the Four crowns, Long may she reign,
inventor of the reversible wan sleeve and tireless creature chronicler. However,
mere monsters hold no mystery for me these days. Indus

(00:35):
worms are inconsistent, fire drakes are well. Frankly, I've just
had enough of them, so instead I turn my attention
once more to the strange fauna of a land called Earth.
Travel with me, gentle reader, as we consider the glorious

(00:57):
glass frog come name glass frog.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
Scientific classification some one hundred and forty seven species of
the family central Linidae, frequency and range Central and South America.
Size small, generally two inches or five centimeters in length,
diet various small arthropods and smaller frogs. Treasure hoard, egg

(01:25):
clutches laid on leaves or branches overhanging small bodies of water.
Challenge rating three.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Through my travels in magical realms, I even countered no
shortage of invisible creatures. Various spirits, demons, and fay that
lurk in the shadows become the shadows and creep upon
unsuspecting adventures. So too, I have met many a rogue

(01:56):
who survived encounters due to their ability to blend into
their environment and remain unseen. And yet never have I
seen a wondrous treasure, not even in a dragon's splendid horde,
as precious as the glass frog. Most of these are

(02:16):
arboreal denizens of the cloud forests, boast a semi translucent skin,
thus their name, and through their glass like skin one
may glimpse their very organs and the coursing of red
blood through their veins. Indeed, did I not know better,

(02:36):
I might assume that some careless apprentice had dripped the
very ink of animation upon the pages of an anatomy textbook.
But I assure you these frogs are quite real. And
since glass frogs are products of evolution and not accidental wizardry,

(02:57):
you might ponder why they are required translucent skin and
visible organs, because surely it is a careless adventure who
strolls into an enemy's stronghold with invisible flesh but visible viscera.
It might shock and confuse your adversaries in the short term,

(03:18):
but they'll certainly know where you are, they'll wise up,
and you might not like where they aim their arrows.
I am somewhat reminded of the crystal flesh ghuls of
Nue in this as well, but that is beside the point. Indeed,
scientists long pondered the nature and effectiveness of the glass

(03:40):
frog's camouflage. There are two amazing factors we must consider here.
First of all, while their central bodies reveal their internal organs,
their legs are generally a great deal more translucent, as
are the edges of their bodies. Thus, when the fog
bunches itself up on a leaf, the edges of its

(04:03):
balk blend into its surroundings, be it dark or light.
This is called edge diffusion, the softening of line separation
between the creature and its background. Think of it as
a blurring of the visible boundary between the individual and
the surroundings. Stealth check, and there's more. Quite recently, scientists

(04:31):
discovered something very exciting about the glass frog's blood. Yes,
when the frog is active, the visible veins of coursing
red certainly mark the frog for potential sighted predators. But
when the frog is asleep, most of its red blood
cells pool within the creature's liver, swelling the organ by

(04:52):
some forty percent and amassing an estimated eighty nine percent
of the creature's red blood cells a virtual liver of holding.
As a result, the frog's overall translucency increases by as
much as half or even more success It's an extreme adaptation,

(05:16):
and scientists ponder how they might learn from it in
the treatment and prevention of blood clots. For the frogs
carry out this daily feet without suffering clots of their own.
Further study may lead to the development of new ante coagulants.
Glass frog coloration and translucency varies from species to species,

(05:40):
as do some of their other adaptations. At least one
species produces bright red tadpoles that bury themselves in mud
and leaf litter before completing their metamorphosis. I could go
on and on about these delicate creatures, but for now
I must retire my wizards quill and allow my familiars

(06:03):
some respite. But I shall return with even more wonders
of the natural world.

Speaker 4 (06:14):
Hi, this is Robert Lamb. Thanks once more to the
wizard Augomandanese for joining us in this episode, and thanks
to my son Sebastian for suggesting the topic of glass frogs,
which he read about in the twenty twenty two Kingfisher
Animal Encyclopedia, which also served as a source for this episode.
Other sources include Imperfect Transparency and Camouflage in glass Frogs

(06:38):
by Ryan at All, published in the Journal Biological Sciences
twenty twenty and glass Frogs Concealed blood in their liver
to maintain Transparency by Taboada at All, published in the
Journal Science twenty twenty two. Thanks as always to the
excellent JJ Possway for producing this episode, and if you
wish to contact Argomandanese with recommendations for future episodes, you

(07:00):
can send an email to contact at Stuffdlow your Mind
dot com.

Speaker 1 (07:08):
Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For
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