The Marlboro Frog
Posted on 08/09/2005 9:09:21 AM PDT by Crackingham
Scientists have discovered one of the most intricate examples of convergent evolution with the help of South American "poison" frogs and ants and their cousins in Madagascar. (And here's an odd fact for smokers: one Madagascan frog studied was found to have nicotine in its system!)
Poison frogs can't make their own poison--they steal it from ants. Poison frogs secrete a variety of chemicals called alkaloids to create a poisonous defense against predators. Since they can't produce alkaloids on their own, these frogs maintain a steady diet of specific alkaloid-rich ants to keep up their defense.
Now, Valerie Clark of Cornell University and her colleagues have detailed two instances of convergent evolution--the process in which organisms not closely related independently acquire similar characteristics while evolving in separate ecosystems--between frogs and ants on two continents.
First, species of ants high in alkaloids had to evolve on two separate continents.
"The ants had to be there with alkaloids for the frogs to evolve to get alkaloids in their skin," Clark told LiveScience.
Then the frogs had to develop a resistance to the alkaloids--instead of spitting out the ants or passing the alkaloids through their systems, the frogs became able to keep their ant dinners down. Then they evolved to make use of the alkaloids themselves.
Also, both the frogs in South America and Madagascar evolved to have "don't-eat-me" skin colorings, the final step in a remarkable tale of multi-step convergent evolution.
Up until now, scientists have mainly studied frogs from South America and Australia. But Clark and her colleagues showed that the Madagascan frogs needed the same types of food to be poisonous.
They examined the stomach contents of 21 frogs from the genus Mantella and found that alkaloid rich ants made up 67 percent of their food intake.
Not only that, but they found nicotine--the same chemical found in cigarettes--in one Mantella baroni frog out of 22 examined. Nicotine is produced by plants and can sometimes be found in animals that eat these plants. But so far no nicotine-producing plants have been found growing in the area where this frog was found. This was the first time researchers observed this phenomena and they are not sure how the chemical enters the frog's system.
"Our team has not yet conducted a survey of possible nicotine containing in the area where the nicotine-frog was found, and none of our team's insect samples yielded nicotine in chemical analyses," Clark said. "However, this is some of the most convincing evidence that plant-insect-frog toxin food chains do exist."
Oh, I thought this had something to do with FRANCE...
Does Clark smoke?
Not only that, but they found nicotine--the same chemical found in cigarettes--in one Mantella baroni frog out of 22 examined. Nicotine is produced by plants and can sometimes be found in animals that eat these plants. But so far no nicotine-producing plants have been found growing in the area where this frog was found. This was the first time researchers observed this phenomena and they are not sure how the chemical enters the frog's system.The second greatest use of nicotine after cigarettes is insecticides. I'll venture a wild guess that the frog ate insects exposed to insecticides.
frog ping
This is Darwinist propaganda. A giant invisible man in the sky created these frogs so that they would eat these ants. Noah put seven frogs and seven ants on the ark (which was hard on the frogs having to eat only one ant during the time they were on board, but ultimately harder on the ants).
Thank God that two ants must have survived and that one was a male and one was a female and that they were able to migrate from Turkey to the same far away place so that His will could be done.
good read ..thanks
Whoa nelly - I like it when folks go out of their way to stoke the flames.
And it feels good to really Flame-On until I actually read what I just posted and then hit the 'back' button several times before realizing that doesnt take me 'back' in time. Anyway.
I'm pretty sure frogs have cholinergic nervous system whcih means they also use nicotine as a neurotransmitter as do humans. But circulating nicotine in the blood is a big deal - no frog legs tonight!.
And yes, why would an intelligent designer go through such contorted physiological mechanisms like this - why not just give the stupid frog a real weapon? Claws, talons, a 38 revolver?
Or second hand smoke.
I would agree. Such an interesting story they have weaved. Too bad there are so many who don't recognize it as just a story.
I have to dissent starting from the first sentence. Scientists haven't "discovered" examples of covergent evolution. They have "constructed" examples of covergent evolution.
I love a story that goes "first this had to happen, then this had to happen, then a final thing had to happen..., etc".
No evidence that it actually happened, of course.
Just a presupposition that because the frogs are there, and evolution is the only allowable explanation for it, then it must have happend by covergent evolution.
Sorry, not convincing.
And while I see no proof of evolution, I do see proof that God is fantastic, only one fantastic God could design a frog like that.
As for them evolving? Well, show me the in-betweens. Tell me why the first frog to eat poison ants didn't die, and if they didn't die, than how is that these frogs have now evolved? Evolved from what to what, frogs that eat poisonous ants to frogs that eat poisonous ants?
Why is it that those who support evolution keep avoiding the issue of the Bombardier Beetle and the human eye?
I am assuming that you have an alternative explanation (since you are so thoroughly dismissive of the explanation in the article). Care to share it?
The one that reminds me and almost swayed me about evolution went like this:
...When I look in the face of my grandchildren I see the face of God, but when I look at and listen to Olympia Snowe, I can see the remnants of pond scum in her eyes and genes. ...
I had never heard of the paper til they printed that letter and the leftist down at 560Am in the morning got a hold of it and demanded an apology from the publisher, who promptly went on their show and told them where to go, how to get there and what to do with the horse when they arrived. That was the time he asked the more liberal of the two extreme left wing wackos and I’ll never forget the quote so I can quote him exactly: “Isn’t there anything about our Republic and our Constitutional Republican form of government that you don’t hate?”
Jake
And you know, when I look at olympai Snowe and Susan Collins, John Baldacci and David R. Hastings da turd I can see that pond scum.
But that is not enough to convnce me that evolution is nothing more than one big lie, not a big bang, but a big lie.
IE, hungry frogs, happy well hidden ants.
Evolution - the deeply-held belief that astronomically improbable events occur repeatedly
Amen!
Thanks for your post - prepare to get slimed by the Darwin worshippers though. I'm taking a short break before I jump back into the evolution fray, but I always take time to praise a God who can do anything.
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