PRODUCED BY ELIENE AUGENBRAUN, SCIENCENTRAL FOR KNOWABLE MAGAZINE
Frog populations are plummeting all around the world, with many species facing extinction. Battling extensive habitat loss and the killer chytrid fungus, scientists are attempting to save some species through captive breeding programs. Their attempts to use techniques borrowed from human infertility clinics to help frogs mate highlights just how specialized amphibian reproduction truly is: From courtship to egg fertilization, distinct frog types seem to do each step a bit differently. The frog fertility clinic is not a “one species fits all” kind of place, explains Pierre Comizzoli from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in this short video.
READ MORE: An amphibious rescue mission by Stephanie Pain
10.1146/knowable-041420-1
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