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CLEVELAND, Ohio — Two researchers were in for a surprise when they captured a frog in Ecuador's western Andean cloud forest.
The frog, called Pristimantis mutabilis, is the first known amphibian to have shape-shifting abilities, according to a new study from Case Western Reserve University. However, doctoral student Katherine Krynak and her husband didn’t realize the full significance of the frog when they first picked it up.
Covered in thorn-like spines, the frog caught the couple’s attention because they had never seen anything like it during their previous trips to the forest to study amphibians. However, when they took the frog out of a container the next day to photograph it against a white backdrop, they were disappointed to discover it was smooth-skinned and concluded they must have selected the wrong frog, according to the university.
"I then put the frog back in the cup and added some moss," Krynak said in a statement. "The spines came back ... we simply couldn't believe our eyes, our frog changed skin texture! I put the frog back on the smooth white background. Its skin became smooth."
The spines came back ... we simply couldn't believe our eyes.
–Katherine Krynak
The couple nicknamed the frog “punk rocker” for its unusual spikes. During further examination, a team of researchers determined the frogs can change their skin texture “in a little more than three minutes.”
Interestingly, the finding led researchers to re-examine other related frogs for longer periods of time. So far, they have identified one other rainfrog from the same forest that has the same shape-shifting abilities.
"The spines and coloration help them blend into mossy habitats, making it hard for us to see them," Krynak said. "But whether the texture really helps them elude predators still needs to be tested."
Researchers said the findings will likely affect the process of identifying frog species in the future. Longer field observations and photographs could prevent one species from being mistakenly identified as two because of differences in appearance.
The study was published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
