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Every winter, this remarkable frog turns into a living ice cube. Its heart stops, its body freezes, and months later it thaws out and hops away as if nothing happened.
News18
Imagine finding a frog frozen solid in the snow. Its body is stiff, its heart has stopped beating, and it isn’t breathing. Most animals would be dead.
But not the wood frog.
Found across Canada, Alaska and parts of the northern United States, the wood frog has evolved one of the most extraordinary survival tricks in the animal kingdom. As temperatures plunge below freezing, the frog allows up to two-thirds of the water in its body to turn into ice. Its heartbeat stops. Breathing ceases. For all appearances, it looks dead.
Yet it is very much alive.
The secret lies in a remarkable biological defence system. As ice begins forming around its body, the frog’s liver rapidly floods its tissues with large amounts of glucose and urea. These act as natural antifreeze compounds, protecting cells from being damaged by ice crystals.
The frog is in a state of suspended animation during all winter under the cover of leaves and forest litter. Snow blankets the landscape, temperatures are below zero, and the frog stays in a frozen state for weeks or even months.
Spring finally comes.
With rising temperatures, the frozen body thaws out. The heart resumes beating, the blood flow continues. Within several hours, the frozen creature reopens its eyes and starts hopping around looking for food and mates.
This phenomenon has attracted attention for many years now. Studying the mechanism of frog survival at low temperatures may someday contribute to medical advances in organ transplants or cryobiology.
The reason why the wood frog is unique is because unlike most creatures it does not run away from winter. Rather than migrating or hibernating underground or elsewhere, this particular species faces the challenges head on and survives through freezing.
Among the many fascinating creatures found in the animal kingdom, the wood frog is definitely one of a kind. Year after year, it creates history in its own way by freezing itself alive and then miraculously coming back to life during spring.
This is the proof that there are some amazing survival tales of the wild which take place right under our feet.
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