Freaky Frogs
The Suriname Sea Toad has a unique method for raising their young. The female frog's eggs are embedded in her skin, and once they hatch, the grow from tadpole to frog within their mother's back. Once the become fully-developed frogs, the pop out of their mothers back and swim off. Talk about getting under your skin!
Gastric-brooding frogs, consisting of two, now extinct, species from Australia, have another strange method of keeping their babies safe. After the eggs are laid, the female proceeds to eat the eggs. The eggs contain a special chemical, called PGE2 which stops the production of acid in the stomach. When the eggs hatch, the tadpoles excrete PGE2, thereby continuing to prevent them from being digested. While the eggs hatch and the tadpoles develop, the adult frog cannot eat. Once the tadpoles become froglets, the adult frog would then regurgitate periodically for up to a week, until she has successfully removed all the froglets from her stomach.
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