Week 2, September 6 - 12
Category: Biology
What species of frog is able to revive itself back to normal life after staying completely frozen for months, during which its heart, brain and other organs stop functioning?
The answer is the Alaskan wood frog! Similar to other northern frogs that hibernate close to the surface in soil and/or leaf litter, wood frogs can tolerate the freezing of their blood and other tissues. Urea is accumulated in tissues in preparation for overwintering, and liver glycogen is converted in large quantities to glucose in response to internal ice formation. Both urea and glucose act as "cryoprotectants" to limit the amount of ice that forms and to reduce osmotic shrinkage of cells. Frogs can survive many freeze/thaw events during winter if not more than about 65% of the total body water freezes.
Check back later today for this week's trivia question!
Category: Biology
What species of frog is able to revive itself back to normal life after staying completely frozen for months, during which its heart, brain and other organs stop functioning?
The answer is the Alaskan wood frog! Similar to other northern frogs that hibernate close to the surface in soil and/or leaf litter, wood frogs can tolerate the freezing of their blood and other tissues. Urea is accumulated in tissues in preparation for overwintering, and liver glycogen is converted in large quantities to glucose in response to internal ice formation. Both urea and glucose act as "cryoprotectants" to limit the amount of ice that forms and to reduce osmotic shrinkage of cells. Frogs can survive many freeze/thaw events during winter if not more than about 65% of the total body water freezes.
Check back later today for this week's trivia question!
Stay curious,
Team ARC
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