Unusual tadpole

1588 Views 9 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Pumilo, Oct 19, 2011

Zoomie

Discussion Starter · Oct 17, 2011 (Edited)

I spent most of yesterday helping a friend pack a ton of tads for shipping. I didn't ask for a final count but here's a picture toward the end of the day prior to packing boxes. I have painter's tape burns.

During all of this we ran across this poor little guy. Frankly, I spend very little time thinking about frog genetics. We house our frogs in an environment in which we hope they thrive. Most of us then hope that we are rewarded with tads. As froggers, we don't spend much discussing genetics unless some type of potential problem arises.

Any idea what would cause this? Is it simply genetic mutation or was the egg somehow damaged ?

See less See more

Save

Reactions: 2

1 - 3 of 10 Posts

Zoomie

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 17, 2011

It was two-headed.

It was sent to the great rain forest in the sky. Highly unlikely it would have survived. Heads were so close together that there would likely be fused jaw issues. Seemed like the responsible thing to do.

Save

Reactions: 1

Zoomie

Discussion Starter · #9 · Oct 19, 2011

SmackoftheGods said:
What kind of frog was it? I suspect enough inbreeding might cause something like this to occur....

Froggers talk about genetics, you just need to know where to look

Smack, I think it was a Patricia although I'll have to verify. Adults are very well documented so highly unlikely (but not impossible) that there is a line breeding problem. This is the first of any issues for the parents in what is likely hundreds of offspring.

Speaking with huge ignorance, I was just curious if it was a genetic anomaly or if it could occur during egg handling. Having written it here, it sounds like a stupid question. I suspect that it's just a freak thing that happens, with no intelligent way to speculate on cause, with the exception of your comment of course.

Doug, that is very interesting. Care to speculate on what was causing it since this ain't exactly your first rodeo?

Save

1 - 3 of 10 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month