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Water beetles that survive being swallowed by frogs

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Water beetles that survive being swallowed by frogs

#11

Post by akiselev »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #8
justinclift wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, a way for the intestinal flora of frogs to be spread to other frogs. Which may be fairly unique in itself? That could have all kinds of other weird and wonderful follow on effects for the frog population.

> Also, a way for the intestinal flora of frogs to be spread to other frogs. > Which may be fairly unique in itself? Considering the number of diseases that are spread, human to human, by oral consumption of feces - probably not.

There are mammals like rabbits that eat their own feces to get a second pass at digestion. Evolution has created an unbelievable amount of diversity in the natural world - it's a mistake to judge it by our own immune systems.

Re: Water beetles that survive being swallowed by frogs

#12

Post by imglorp »

phyzome wrote: post #3

> dank and airless internal tunnel It can't be "dank" if it's entirely liquid filled, come on.

Slowing metabolism for a few hours is not too big a deal, but the adaptations to survive stomach acids maybe is? Frogs eat all manners of arthropods whole, without macerating, so whatever's down there is pretty aggressive.

Re: Water beetles that survive being swallowed by frogs

#14

Post by buran77 »

akiselev wrote: post #11
thaumasiotes wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also, a way for the intestinal flora of frogs to be spread to other frogs. > Which may be fairly unique in itself? Considering the number of diseases that are spread, human to human, by oral consumption of feces - probably not.

There are mammals like rabbits that eat their own feces to get a second pass at digestion. Evolution has created an unbelievable amount of diversity in the natural world - it's a mistake to judge it by our own immune systems.

GP may have been objecting to the uniqueness of the trait, not its existence.

Re: Water beetles that survive being swallowed by frogs

#15

Post by phyzome »

serf wrote: post #4
phyzome wrote: post #3

> dank and airless internal tunnel It can't be "dank" if it's entirely liquid filled, come on.

>It can't be "dank" if it's entirely liquid filled, come on. 'disagreeably damp, musty, and typically cold.' I imagine I'd describe visiting a predators GI tract as 'disagreeably damp', among other things. An aside : I agree that I haven't heard it used in the context of submerging, but the definition seems to allot for it?

But probably not very cold, or musty for that matter.

And "damp" would only be used ironically to describe an entirely aqueous environment. "Hmm, I don't like the ocean, it's a bit damp."

Re: Water beetles that survive being swallowed by frogs

#16

Post by justinclift »

buran77 wrote: post #14
akiselev wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are mammals like rabbits that eat their own feces to get a second pass at digestion. Evolution has created an unbelievable amount of diversity in the natural world - it's a mistake to judge it by our own immune systems.

GP may have been objecting to the uniqueness of the trait, not its existence.

Nah, I'd just not been able to think off hand of an example of intestinal flora being shared (potentially widely) among members of a species.

The rabbits example is a good one to illustrate it already does happen. :)

Re: Water beetles that survive being swallowed by frogs

#17

Post by noman-land »

"In most of the experiments, the beetles reappeared within six hours, slipping out of a frog's anus, or vent. Though muscles typically hold the vent tightly shut, those muscles loosen up when the frog poops; the beetles could be stimulating the frogs' defecation reflex in order to temporarily open this unusual emergency exit, according to the new study."

Re: Water beetles that survive being swallowed by frogs

#20

Post by thaumasiotes »

justinclift wrote: post #16
buran77 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GP may have been objecting to the uniqueness of the trait, not its existence.

Nah, I'd just not been able to think off hand of an example of intestinal flora being shared (potentially widely) among members of a species. The rabbits example is a good one to illustrate it already does happen. :)

Again, it is already known to be very common in humans.
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