Most animals who stay in the arctic for the winter are large and furry. But something you would never expect also lives there. The arctic is also the home of... a frog?!
Rana sylvatica is a type of wood frog with an incredible adaption: it can come back from the dead. When winter comes, they freeze, and they stop breathing, their hearts stop beating, and they may as well be dead. They can stay frozen for weeks at a time,until it gets warm enough for the frogs to thaw, at which point it comes back to life. This is made possible by cryoprotectants, solutes in the blood that lower the freezing temperature of the cells. This keeps the frog's cells from undergoing cellular shrinkage, a process in which ice pulls the water out of the cells, causing them to shrink and eventually die.
This amazing adaption helps the frog survive in an environment with fewer predators than in warmer areas. The most unlikely of animals has a foothold in the cold, unforgiving home that is the arctic circle. If you have any questions or comments, comment below or email us at mulberrytimes@gmail.com!
Awesome, Katie. Really cool. Maybe you should do more science articles.
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