General 'Horror frog' breaks own bones to produce claws

[The Helper]

"Amphibian horror" isn't a movie genre, but on this evidence perhaps it should be. Harvard biologists have described a bizarre, hairy frog with cat-like extendable claws.

Trichobatrachus robustus actively breaks its own bones to produce claws that puncture their way out of the frog's toe pads, probably when it is threatened.

David Blackburn and colleagues at Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology, think the gruesome behaviour is a defence mechanism.

The researchers say there are salamanders that force their ribs through their skin to produce protective barbs on demand, but nothing quite like this mechanism has been seen before.

Read the whole article here.

 

[13lade619]

fur? claws? on a frog? man that's creepy...

 

[Cornface]

Wow, that is both creepy and awesome.

 

[Cilla]

Wow, that is both creepy and awesome.

QFT.^^

In Cameroon, they are roasted and eaten. Hunters use long spears and machetes to kill the frogs, apparently to avoid being hurt by their claws.

Frog attack!
The fact that they got hair scares me more than their 'claws'. Wuäh.

 

[Lobster]

Thats no ordinary frog... thats: the were-frog
if it bites you you will turn into a normal frog every full moon.
-------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, thats creepy

 

[Asehujiko]

The fact that they got hair scares me more than their 'claws'.

They remind me of Black Headcrabs, argueably the most terrifying enemy ever to be featured in a game.

 

[Lobster]

They remind me of Black Headcrabs, argueably the most terrifying enemy ever to be featured in a game.

what game?

(even though its getting off topic)

 

[ScarletBlade]

I hope they never come around where I live, and the aren't aggresive...

 

[BlargIAmDead]

The fact that they got hair scares me more than their 'claws'. Wuäh.

Here's what gives me the gribblies:

In Cameroon, they are roasted and eaten. Hunters use long spears and machetes to kill the frogs, apparently to avoid being hurt by their claws.

People who have lived with these frogs for generations -- who hunt and eat them on a regular basis -- are still scared of these frogs. "No, that spear isn't long enough! Don't you know anything? And you need a machete, too. And maybe a rifle. Can't be too careful."

 

[Lord Kass]

what game?

(even though its getting off topic)

They are from hl2. People in my country won't get scared of that frog, they will eat it.