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Chernobyl black frogs reveal evolution [?] in action
theconversation.com ^

Posted on 09/30/2022 11:07:22 AM PDT by BenLurkin

The impact of the acute exposure to high doses of radiation was severe for the environment and the human population. But more than three decades after the accident, Chernobyl has become one of the largest nature reserves in Europe. A diverse range of endangered species finds refuge there today, including bears, wolves, and lynxes.

As with other pollutants, radiation could be a very strong selective factor, favouring organisms with mechanisms that increase their survival in areas contaminated with radioactive substances.

After detecting the first black frogs in 2016, we decided to study the role of melanin colouration in Chernobyl wildlife. Between 2017 and 2019 we examined in detail the colouration of Eastern tree frogs in different areas of northern Ukraine.

During those three years we analysed the dorsal skin colouration of more than 200 male frogs captured in 12 different breeding ponds. These localities were distributed along a wide gradient of radioactive contamination. They included some of the most radioactive areas on the planet, but also four sites outside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and with background radiation levels used as controls.

Chernobyl tree frogs have a much darker colouration than frogs captured in control areas outside the zone. As we found out in 2016, some are pitch-black. This colouration is not related to the levels of radiation that frogs experience today and that we can measure in all individuals. The dark colouration is typical of frogs from within or near the most contaminated areas at the time of the accident.

The study of the Chernobyl black frogs constitutes a first step to better understanding the protective role of melanin in environments affected by radioactive contamination. In addition, it opens the doors to promising applications in fields as diverse as nuclear waste management and space exploration.

(Excerpt) Read more at theconversation.com ...


TOPICS: Pets/Animals; Science
KEYWORDS: blackfrogs; chernobyl; notevolution; radiation
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To: BenLurkin

Should’nt “black frogs “ be capitalized?


21 posted on 09/30/2022 11:30:24 AM PDT by Night Hides Not (Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! Remember Gonzales! Come and Take It!)
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To: \/\/ayne

” If the genetic structure is modified it’s because it takes away part of it.”

It breaks the chromosome chain. If the chain is not accurately repaired, a trait can be changed into a new trait.


22 posted on 09/30/2022 11:34:07 AM PDT by TexasGator (!!!)
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To: BenLurkin

“What are your thoughts on Th Chernobyl frogs?”

Looks like survival of the fittest.


23 posted on 09/30/2022 11:40:08 AM PDT by TexasGator (!!!)
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To: DannyTN

“So if radioactivity can cause skin color to turn dark was there some event in Africa?...”

Did you read the article?


24 posted on 09/30/2022 11:41:24 AM PDT by TexasGator (!!!)
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To: Night Hides Not
Should’nt “black frogs “ be capitalized?

Either that or use the phrase African-French.

25 posted on 09/30/2022 11:44:48 AM PDT by gitmo (If your theology doesn't become your biography, what good is it?)
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To: BenLurkin
Apparently, no one taught these frogs a very crucial life truth: Wash up after weekly cross-burning Remember to Wash-Up after weekly cross-burning
26 posted on 09/30/2022 11:45:06 AM PDT by ExcursionGuy84 (MadeinUSAForever.com/)
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To: BenLurkin

The Theory of Evolution is entirely consistent with Christianity.


27 posted on 09/30/2022 11:46:36 AM PDT by bwest
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To: ExcursionGuy84

28 posted on 09/30/2022 11:47:01 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: BenLurkin
If that is true then after the bombs fall the ayam gemini chicken will be eating all of the cockroaches.

The ayam gemini - even its internal organs are ebony black:


29 posted on 09/30/2022 11:49:05 AM PDT by WMarshal (Neocons and leftards are the same species of vicious rat.)
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To: BenLurkin

I am Scottish heritage. Very little radiation protection. An adaptation to perpetually cloudy British isles in Northern latitude. My adaptation is to gather rare sunlight and make d3.


30 posted on 09/30/2022 11:49:38 AM PDT by DariusBane (Liberty and Risk. Flip sides of the same coin. So how much risk will YOU accept? Vive Deo et Vives)
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To: Pollard

Groot looks like an extra from a zombie movie.


31 posted on 09/30/2022 11:50:23 AM PDT by WMarshal (Neocons and leftards are the same species of vicious rat.)
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To: Olog-hai

I could be mistaken, but haven’t a few people successfully moved back into the exclusion zone near Chernobyl and survived for a number of years without any noticeable problems ??


32 posted on 09/30/2022 11:50:51 AM PDT by srmanuel (C)
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To: Godzilla

Not a black swan, but...


33 posted on 09/30/2022 11:56:04 AM PDT by null and void (Can't hear the Rod Serling narration? You are not in the audience. You are a part of the story.)
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To: ClearCase_guy

One of my liberal friends is a big-time evolutionist. I asked him if we evolved from apes, why aren’t men walking out of the rainforests still today? Why did the evolution stop? Why aren’t we evolving into a more advanced species?

His answer was that the evolutionary need has been fulfilled, so evolution stopped. Yeah, OK.


34 posted on 09/30/2022 12:15:46 PM PDT by Dexter Morgan ("Fox News? Appalling. Appalling and amateurish. So both at the same time; it's a bad combination.")
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To: TexasGator

No read? I scannedd it briefly. Why?


35 posted on 09/30/2022 12:29:33 PM PDT by DannyTN
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To: DannyTN

“I scannedd it briefly.”

scan

VERB
look at all parts of (something) carefully in order to detect some feature:


36 posted on 09/30/2022 1:13:36 PM PDT by TexasGator (!!!)
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To: TexasGator

Scan
2: to look through or over quickly

But to be more precise I glanced at the posted excerpt hastily and haphazardly.


37 posted on 09/30/2022 1:18:41 PM PDT by DannyTN
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To: srmanuel

A lot of the elderly refused to leave in the first place, they lived on just fine.


38 posted on 09/30/2022 2:07:26 PM PDT by moose07 (If the spelling is bad, you know the poster is real. )
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To: BenLurkin

This is natural selection. In the same way gingers burn more easily in sunlight, lighter skinned frogs absorbed more radiation. The darker skinned frogs out survived the lighter skinned frogs and got better odds at reproduction. This leads to more dark frogs than light frogs.


39 posted on 09/30/2022 2:08:13 PM PDT by muir_redwoods (Freedom isn't free, liberty isn't liberal and you'll never find anything Right on the Left)
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To: Night Hides Not
Should’nt “black frogs “ be capitalized?

Well, better safe than sorry!

40 posted on 09/30/2022 2:24:19 PM PDT by takebackaustin
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