The Giant Tadpole That Never Got Its Legs
A record-breaking, 10-inch-long whopper of a bullfrog tadpole was discovered by a crew of ecologists in a pond in Arizona.
The biggest tadpole ever foundβat a whopping 10 inches longβwas discovered by a crew of ecologists in a pond in the Chiricahua Mountains ofΒ Arizona. Alina Downer, an intern at the American Museum of Natural Historyβs Southwestern Research Station, came across the monster bullfrog tadpole as her crew was draining a manmade pond as part of a habitat restoration project for the endangered Chiricahua leopard frog.
As the water level lowered, Β Downer and her colleagues were assessing what organisms were left in the muddy shallows that she likened to βchocolate soup.β Downer says, βI Β was fishing around with my hands while walking in the water, and I felt Β something large, smooth, and wrigglyβwhich was unexpected, since the only other fish in the pond were about an inch long.β
As Β an avid naturalist, Downerβs first instinct was curiosity. βAt first I thought it was a giant catfish,β she says, grinning at the uncanny memory. βWhatever it was, I knew I had to grab it.β She herded theΒ slippery creature into shallower water until she could capture it. To her surprise, it turned out to be βan enormous monster of a tadpoleββso big she had to hold it with two handsβ¦
Read more: American Scientist
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