The
nature is full of amazing creatures and their ability to survive extreme heat
or cold. While some brave the weather by going underground or develop special
features, some go into hibernation but there is a group of animals that
actually die and again come back to life. Wood frog belongs to a small group of
animals that can freeze but not die. It is a native of northern forest of
Alaska and Canada and in winters it buries itself into the leafy litter of
forest floor and goes into deep hibernation where it’s breathing, heart beat
stops and as much as 65% of water in its body turns into ice. Come summer and
as the ice melts it revives itself and goes to feed, breed, etc and again in
winter it freezes and the cycle is repeated.
Frogs are
cold blooded so their body temperature is about the same as surrounding air. At
the beginning of winter the frog does this trick because its liver continues
pumping the protective glucose around its body and the frog’s heart slows and
eventually stops. The ice produced quickly fills the wood frog's abdominal
cavity and encases the internal organs .It forms layer between skin and
muscles. The lens turns white as its eyes freezes. The glucose produced by the
liver flushes into every cell of body and this liquid prevents the cells from
freezing and binds the water droplets inside the cell to prevent dehydration.
Of course if it gets very cold and the ice formation is in excess of 65% then
it will actually die and will not be able to revive itself in summer. All the
other organs stop functioning and the frog can survive winters like this
undergoing cycle of freezing and thawing.
The
amazing ability of this group of animals who have developed special abilities
to brave cold weather and their adaptability to live in harmony without damaging
the environment but adapt to live with it should be a lesson for the humans who
have done every trick possible to degrade and spoil the environment rather than
learn to live with it in harmony and adapt to its changes but are doing their
best to change and degrade it every day.
No comments:
Post a Comment