Scientists dumbfounded by mushroom sprouting from living frog, a first
Lohit Y.T, a Rivers and Wetlands specialist at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), went on a hike with friends in the Western Indian Ghats region of Mala, Karkala in Karnataka when he encountered the Rao’s Intermediate Golden-backed Frog.
Rao’s Intermediate Golden-backed Frog is named after its discoverer, C. R. Narayan Rao, an Indian herpetologist who described the species in 1937.
The name “Intermediate” likely refers to its characteristics being between other related species, and “Golden-backed” describes its golden or yellowish coloration on its back.
Now, these frogs are quite common in that area, so it was no biggie. Around lunchtime, Lohit and his friends came across about 40 of these frogs near a small pond.
“There were five of us, busy searching for the species and avoiding leeches,” Lohit told the New York Times.
But one of the frogs had something unusual – a mushroom growing out of its side. Now mushrooms don’t usually grow on the back of frogs or any living thing for that matter. They only grow out of zombies in fictional series like The Last of Us, so this sighting was highly unusual.
Mushroom growing out of a frog
Lohit saw that the frog was alive and seemed fine. He clicked photos and published his findings last month. Experts have since weighed in and identified the mushroom as a Bonnet Mushroom, which usually grows on decaying wood.
These mushrooms are saprotrophic, meaning they feed on dead organic matter, particularly rotting wood. They can be found on fallen logs, tree stumps, or other decomposing plant material. But not frogs. Well, not usually.
Bonnet mushrooms are relatively small in size and have a distinctive bell-shaped cap, which gives them their common name.
This case of a frog with a mushroom growing from its side is unique. No one has ever documented something like this before. Unfortunately, the researchers couldn’t take the frog for further study, so they’re not sure what will happen to it.
Fungi, the organism under which mushrooms fall, play an important part in ecosystems. Fungi are remarkable organisms that serve various functions: they can be decomposers or form symbiotic relationships with other organisms to facilitate nutrient cycling. However, some fungi are parasites that can harm plants and animals.
One example of a harmful fungal parasite mentioned is Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, which causes a disease called chytridiomycosis in amphibians, explained the researchers in their paper.
This disease has had a significant impact, affecting over 700 species of amphibians worldwide. Recent studies have found low levels of this fungus in areas with high concentrations of frogs, known as frog hotspots, across India.
This suggests that even though the disease may not be causing widespread harm at the moment, it could potentially pose a threat to amphibian populations in the future.
However, it’s worthwhile to note that there have been rare instances where mushrooms have been observed growing on animals.
This phenomenon, known as mycophagy or mycosis, occurs when fungal spores land on an animal’s skin or fur and find suitable conditions to grow.
“Reports like these are important. Maybe it will make people go out and look more closely,” Sonali Garg, a herpetologist at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard who was not involved with the finding, told the NYT.
Source: Interesting Engineering
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Scientists dumbfounded by mushroom sprouting from living frog, a first