The Wood Frog – A Biological

Breakthrough
By James Remington Orozco Newton
Introduction

Many people have seen science fiction movies, about people being frozen
in a block ice and then being thawed out in the future. But could this truly
happen? Could we really freeze are selves in a block of ice and awake a
thousand years later? Scientists have been puzzled with this question for
years. Until recently, a new species of frog has been discovered that may
yield the answer. The name of this new species is the wood frog or (Rana
sylvatica).
Freeze tolerance allows the wood frog to live in cold climates as far north
as the Arctic Circle. But can be also found as far south as Georgia. The
problem is that, if a wood frogs body temperature dropped below 20°
Fahrenheit, the wood frog wouldn’t be able to survive. But luckily for the
frog, snow pack and other natural insulators found in the wild can keep it
warm during its winter hibernation. The key to the survival of the wood frog
is a natural antifreeze known as Glucose, which stops the frogs’ cells from
excessive dehydration during the process.
In the process two-thirds of the wood frogs body water freezes and the
rest remains liquid. The water that remains is mostly inside cells, as to keep
the cells hydrated well the process is in work. Next glucose is produced by
the liver, which causes the freezing point of the amphibians’ tissues to
lower. This is in the same nature as ammonia lowering a cars’ windshield
wiper fluid, which contains mostly just water. The newly secreted glucose
then limits ice formation in the frogs’ body and binds water molecules inside
the frogs many cells. This slows down damage caused by cell shrinkage,
which is very common with freezing. “Normally under those freezing
conditions, without glucose, the cells would dehydrate completely” states
Boris Rubinsky, who’s an engineer at the University of California at
Berkeley.

Physical Features
 The length of an adult wood frog ranges from 51 millimeters (2.0 in) to
70 millimeters (2.8 in), females being larger than males. The color of adult
wood frogs ranges from either being brown, tan, or rust colored and usually
they have a dark eye mask. Individual wood frogs are capable of varying
their color. The undersides of wood frogs are pale with either a yellow or
green cast. There isn’t any similar species in North America to the wood
frog, so if you see a small brown frog with a dark mask in the woods, than
it’s a wood frog.

Feeding
Adult wood frogs eat a variety of small invertebrates off the forest-floor.
While the omnivorous tadpoles feed on algae, plant detritus, as well as
eating the eggs and larvae of other amphibians. Including their own species.

The wood frog’s feeding pattern is triggered by prey movement and

consists of a body lunge that terminates with the frog’s mouth open and an
extension of the tongue onto the prey. This is similar to most other ranids.
The tongue is attached to the floor of the mouth and is flat when the frogs’
mouth is closed. This helps one to understand that in the feeding strike, the
tongue is swung forward as though it is on a hinge. This makes sure that,
some portion of the normally dorsal and posterior tongue surface makes
contact with the prey.

Geographic Range and Habitat

The wood frog ranges from northern Georgia and northeastern Canada in
the east to Alaska and southern British Columbia in the west. It is also found
in Medicine Bow National Forest, as wood frogs are forest-dwelling ranids
that breed primarily in ephemeral and freshwater wetlands. Long-distance
migration is an important part in the life history of these frogs. Wood frog
breeding pools range hundreds of miles away from their neighboring
freshwater swamp, moist ravines and or upland habitats. Therefore,
conservation of these ranids requires multiple habitats at spatial scales.

Wood frogs breed normally in ephemeral pools, rather than permanent

bodies of water. This is to protect the adult and their offspring from
predatory animals such as fish and other predators. Adult wood frogs come
out of hibernation near the beginning of spring, and then migrate to nearby
pools. There the males emit duck-like mating calls and the females deposit
eggs in floating masses. These eggs are often aggregated with those of other
females in rafts. An advantage is formed to breeding first, as the clutches of
eggs closes to the center of the raft absorb heat and develop faster than those
on the outside. But if pools dry before the tadpoles have metamorphosis into
froglets, the tadpoles die. This supports the risk counterbalancing the anti-
predator protection of ephemeral pools. By breeding in early spring,
however, it increases the chances of the wood frogs offspring to
metamorphosis before the vernal pools dry. About 20% of the juveniles will
disperse, permanently leaving their natal pools. While the majority return to
breed.
Adult wood frogs spend their summers in moist woodlands forested
swamps, ravines, or bogs. While during the fall, the ranids leave their
summer habitats and move to nearby uplands. Some may remain in moist
areas until winter is over. Then, after winter fully grown wood frogs migrate
to thawed vernal pools in the spring.

Conclusion
When will we start freezing ourselves in ice and waiting for the future?
Can these frogs really lead us to such great discoveries? I don’t know, but
what I do know is that the wood frog can do all I have said. And for that
reason I end this essay. But don’t worry there will be plenty more
information in the future and new discoveries just waiting to be found.