Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Scientist: Frog Could Be 25M Years Old
Myway ^ | Feb. 14, 2007

Posted on 02/14/2007 6:47:47 PM PST by Alouette

MEXICO CITY (AP) - A Mexican researcher announced the rare find of a tiny tree frog completely preserved in amber on Wednesday that he estimates lived about 25 million years ago.

The chunk of amber containing the 0.4-inch frog was uncovered by a miner in southern Chiapas states in 2005 and was bought by a private collector, who lent it to scientists for study.

Only a few preserved frogs have been found in chunks of amber - a stone formed by ancient tree sap - mostly in the Dominican Republic. Like those, the frog found in Chiapas was of the genus Craugastor, whose relatives still inhabit the region.

Biologist Gerardo Carbot of the Chiapas Natural History and Ecology Institute, who announced the discovery, said it was the first such frog found in amber in Mexico.

Carbot said he would like to extract a sample from the frog's remains to see if they contain well-preserved DNA, in order to identify the frog's species.

However, he expressed doubt that the stone's owner would allow researchers to drill a small hole into the chunk of amber. "I don't think he will allow it, because it's a very rare, unique piece," said Carbot.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: amber; fossils; frog; ggg; godsgravesglyphs; jurassicpark; lookbackinamber; paleontology
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-35 last
To: thackney
Hello my honey...hello my baby...hello my rag time gal!
21 posted on 02/14/2007 8:25:07 PM PST by The Lumster (USA - where the innocent have nothing to fear!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Alouette
Carbot said he would like to extract a sample from the frog's remains to see if they contain well-preserved DNA, in order to identify the frog's species.

Or else he wants to extract the DNA to clone them and create a vast entertainment center containing half-inch prehistoric frogs: Oligocene Park.

22 posted on 02/14/2007 8:34:55 PM PST by KarlInOhio (Samoans: The (low) wage slaves in the Pelosi-Starkist complex.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Alouette; MeekOneGOP; Conspiracy Guy; DocRock; King Prout; SandyInSeattle; Darksheare; OSHA; ...
Helen Thomas news trivia alert

*whimper*


23 posted on 02/14/2007 9:32:28 PM PST by Slings and Arrows ("Facts are a Zionist plot!" --MarkL)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: spanalot; Screamname
Oh, please. What do you think -- that we're all like Screamname, having no self-restraint and common decency? That really hurts.
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

24 posted on 02/14/2007 10:33:04 PM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Wednesday, February 14, 2007. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Calpernia

Thanks Calpernia for the ping. Tastes like chicken I'll bet.


25 posted on 02/14/2007 10:33:57 PM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Wednesday, February 14, 2007. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Screamname
You're sick! You're sick!

I think there is a cure for you though.

'Wolf recommends 20 days on the beaches of Costa Rica subject to continuous torture. Its called the Costa Rica 'young honey thong' torture method.

Have I been there? no. Now that I think of it 'Wolf needs to go down there and get reprogrammed too.
26 posted on 02/14/2007 11:28:33 PM PST by RunningWolf (2-1 Cav 1975)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Alouette

Jurassic Terrarium?


27 posted on 02/15/2007 12:01:31 AM PST by WestVirginiaRebel (A liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel-Robert Frost)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: thackney; All
A true classic!
28 posted on 02/15/2007 12:17:11 AM PST by WestVirginiaRebel (A liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel-Robert Frost)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Spruce

LOL!


29 posted on 02/15/2007 4:53:27 AM PST by Screamname (Guinness world records reports that the record for youngest living person is constantly being broken)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Screamname

You have just caused me severe cranial-corneal damage....


30 posted on 02/15/2007 5:29:40 AM PST by JB in Whitefish
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Alouette; Slings and Arrows

Helen Thomas was even too ugly for the dinosaurs!! :-P


31 posted on 02/15/2007 11:08:40 AM PST by Irish_Thatcherite (Apathy is one of the most dangerous ideologies in existence!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Alouette

32 posted on 02/17/2007 7:07:34 AM PST by mmmRamen (i could use a clever tagline)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Alouette

Even more interesting, since the species is still extant, would be to compare the preserved DNA to that of a present day frog to see what kinds of changes it had undergone over the 25 million years (other than base changes from degraded DNA).


33 posted on 02/17/2007 7:23:31 AM PST by aruanan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: thackney
Michigan J. Frog reprises his role as a Republican member of Congress


34 posted on 02/17/2007 7:36:18 AM PST by InvisibleChurch (Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a function.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]


 GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach
Thanks Calpernia (again) for the ping, and thanks Alouette for the topic.

Blast from the Past.

Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution.

I have no idea how I managed to post in the topic but not post the GGG ping message.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.


35 posted on 08/18/2011 5:45:18 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Yes, as a matter of fact, it is that time again -- https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-35 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson