Environmentalists in India have discovered a living frog with a fruiting body of a white fungus on it. This observation now gives the experts all kinds of reasons to think, but it is unlikely that they will come to a conclusion.
This is very unusual, says wetland expert Lohit YT of the environmental organization WWF. There are no other known cases of the fruiting body of a mushroom protruding from a living frog, he writes together with another author in the journal ‘Reptiles and Amphibians’.
It appears that the helmet bird (Mycena) did not harm the thumb-sized golden yellow frog (Hylarana intermedia), Lohit further told YT.
The environmentalists found the animal during a trip for documentation purposes in the western part of the country, in the foothills of the Western Ghats, which is known for its high biodiversity.
The frog was traveling with about 40 other apparently fungus-free guys. There needs to be scientific research into what the fungus feeds on, says Lohit YT. That will probably be difficult: the author duo did not collect the frog, but let it jump on it.
Source: Krone
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