Frogs?

[Roguegal]

I recently read somewhere, I cannot find it confirm it, that frogs breathe through their skin and that anything in the air affects them before it affects anything else. I know that this was mentioned in a movie, "Red Planet", and that is why I looked it up. Does anybody know whether this real or not? Because if it is, it should be something that everybody should know about.

[Kitten]

Here's a snippet from Wikipedia that explains it better than I could:

The skin of a frog is permeable to oxygen and carbon dioxide, as well as to water. There are a number of blood vessels near the surface of the skin. When a frog is underwater, oxygen is transmitted through the skin directly into the bloodstream. On land, adult frogs use their lungs to breathe. Their lungs are similar to those of humans, but the chest muscles are not involved in respiration, and there are no ribs or diaphragm to support breathing. Frogs breathe by taking air in through the nostrils (causing the throat to puff out), and compressing the floor of the mouth, which forces the air into the lungs.

And yes, they are easily effected by things in the air before other creatures sometimes are.

[Roguegal]

Wow, I wasn't sure if it was true or not. People should know this, just because it was in the movie doesn't mean it's true. But, in fact, it is true. I know I used to see tree frogs all over Phoenix and now they're nowhere to be seen. Makes me wonder!

[SageMother]

here have been frogs developing extra limbs for quite sometime now, which prevents them from feeding themselves as it affects their ability to get around. If they can't feed, they can't breed.

[Kitten]

Originally Posted by SageMother

here have been frogs developing extra limbs for quite sometime now, which prevents them from feeding themselves as it affects their ability to get around. If they can't feed, they can't breed.

Yep, and that's happening in lots of places. I've seen people joke about seeing the deformed frogs, but it's so incredibly sad. They're coming out mutated and can't fully live....and yeah, then they can't breed and carry on the species either.

[Carl]

This observation is very scary because it suggests that we humans are mutating and changing into who knows what. It begs the question if our puny efforts of going back to green isn't too little, too late,

[mollyL]

Why people think that frogs can mutate and we won't is beyond me. It is too scary to imagine what that mutation will be, but I'll be willing to bet that we won't mutate into superheroes as the movies suggest.

[purple]

People like to have selective knowledge. While they understand the idea behind frogs mutating they like to think it won't happen to people because we have more control over our environment. These are likely the same people who still drive a Hummer to work even though they live in the suburbs, buy designer bottled water and never wear white after Labor Day.

[berlinlife06]

Originally Posted by mollyL

Why people think that frogs can mutate and we won't is beyond me. It is too scary to imagine what that mutation will be, but I'll be willing to bet that we won't mutate into superheroes as the movies suggest.

I believe that we are already mutating, perhaps not like the frogs, but think of Cancer. It is something that affects more and more people around the world in very different ways. To me, that is the product of an advance society, and it is a way of mutating.

[jazzgrrl]

I agree. We are already mutatung. I'm not thinking of disease though but it is true that throughout time humans have changed to adapt to their surroundings - shape of ears and feet is one example.