As I was doing some research for a infectious disease presentation I had to deliver, I read up on the African Clawed Frog. The earliest case of chytridiomycosis (remember that amphibian skin disease I'm studying?) was found in a specimen from 1938.
This frog is very odd looking:
It's very flat and the way its eyes are laid it reminds me of a Planarian (a common flatworm; we just looked at some in the Bio lab I lead!).
Anyways, they are powerful swimmers (just look at those gams!) and use the claws on their back legs to tear up food.
But more importantly for humans, they keep well. They are common pets and lab animals. They've been used for developmental research because they and their embryos are very easily maintained in the lab. They were also extensively used in human pregnancy tests!! This article in Slate gives a good overview of the practice. Apparently it was found that a pregnant women's urine induces these frogs to produce their own eggs! So, they were quickly shipped all over the world. Of course whenever this happens you know there are escapees and thus grew a theory of how chytridiomycosis became widespread.
Due to their invasive status it is illegal to own any of these without a legal permit in many U.S. states including Oregon and Virginia. So don't think about it.
Salt Lake City soon! Am very grateful PDX has free wifi to pass the time :)
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