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[–] 114 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

The hairy frog is also notable in possessing retractable "claws", which it may project through the skin, apparently by intentionally breaking the bones of the toe.[5] These are not true claws, as they are made of bone, not keratin. In addition, there is a small bony nodule nestled in the tissue just beyond the frog's fingertip. When sheathed, each claw is anchored to the nodule with tough strands of collagen. When the frog is grabbed or attacked, it breaks the nodule connection and forces the sharpened bones through the skin.[6][7] Although a retraction mechanism is not known, it has been hypothesized that the claws later retract passively, while the damaged tissue is regenerated.

This type of natural weaponry appears to be unique in the animal kingdom, although the Otton frog possesses a similar "spike" in its thumb.[8] An alternative hypothesis is that the broken bones could provide a better grip on rocks.[9]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hairy_frog

Yep, pretty horrifying, accurate name.

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  • [–] 41 points 2 weeks ago*

    A picture adds the missing context that the meme leans into to make this seem more awful than it is.

    The bone isn't broken as if it was cracked in half and the jagged shards protrude from the skin. The tips of the toe bones are sharp points, held in place inside by a tiny "claw rest"' bone at the end. The frog flexes a muscle, the bone breaks free from the bony rest, and the sharp tips protrude through the toe pads.

    Edit: actually including the picture helps.

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  • [–] 32 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

    Nature is fucked up. Bedbugs mate via "traumatic insemination," where the male stabs the female in the gut with his reproductive organ and injects sperm straight into her body. And we all know about ducks...

    Crazy shit evolves.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    Out of the loop on these ducks, are we talking about the duck rape?

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  • [–] 14 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    Probably the evolutionary arms race between rapey males and females. Males have long corkscrew penises that inflate rapidly during copulation to fill the tract of the female. Females, what with their desire to choose mates and all, have evolved corkscrew vaginal tracts with dead ends and stuff that spirals in the opposite direction. Forced mating frequently ends without insemination, as a result.

    I am genuinely unsure of the mechanism by which successful mating actually happens, considering the anatomical arms race and all (maybe it’s like dolphins, which have a similar problem. Female dolphins have a false vagina and can choose where the male’s sperm goes by changing her tail position), but they seem to be able to reproduce, so it is what it is, and I’m not super keen to look it up at the moment.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    Fyi, I'm pretty sure the duck rape thing is specific to mallards. But I'm not an ornithologist

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    [–] 103 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    > Hairy

    > Small

    > Uses bones as weapons

    Yeah, whoever called it the wolverine frog did an excellent job

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  • [–] 4 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    I'm pretty sure its the other way around: this frog would have been the inspiration for the character.

    animals often are. especially unusual ones.

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  • [–] 68 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    Conservation status: least concern.

    Right. I have other concerns though.

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  • [–] 41 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)
  • [–] 31 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

    It's not the only animal like this! The Iberian Ribbed Newt (Pleurodeles waltl) will push its own ribcage out of its chest (turning them into spikes) and secretes toxic venom through those bones...

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_ribbed_newt

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  • [–] 15 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    P. waltl is a model organism for the study of adult regeneration. Similar to other salamanders, P. waltl can regenerate lost limbs, injured heart tissue, and lesioned brain cells, in addition to other body parts such as the eye lens and the spinal cord. The 20 Gb genome of P. waltl has been sequenced to facilitate research into the genetic basis of this regenerative ability.[20] Regeneration is able to occur due to the newt's specialized progenitor cells and the transduction of their somatic cells, which act like stem cells.[21] Stem cells repair damaged tissue and contribute to regeneration effects. In most organisms, the efficiency of the function of these stem cells decrease, but in some organisms like P. waltl, this degeneration does not occur.

    This thing is genuinely Wolverine in terms of healing superpowers.

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    [–] 26 points 2 weeks ago

    My favorite part is that it grew out it’s mutton chops for the sake of committing to the cosplay

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  • [–] 25 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    It is Wednesday, my dudes.

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  • [–] 11 points 2 weeks ago
    [–] 8 points 2 weeks ago

    This mf vs Doomguy would be an even matchup

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  • [–] 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    It’s okay, he’s only here to tell us what day of the week it is

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  • [–] 6 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    How the fuck did that evolve like that?

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  • [–] 6 points 2 weeks ago

    Yeah, that's "Wolverine frog" as in The Wolverine, Logan, not the animal he was named after. Because those bone blades are kinda like his (except they come out of the finger tips like that other version of him that he fought in X2).

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  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago

    badgers beyond my comprehension

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  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago

    I want a pack of feral frogs to defend my home

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  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago

    What. The. Fuck. Holy shit.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 weeks ago

    Hopefully, the frog only have bones to show up, and does not contains explosive power. Looks like if it had, it would kamikaze itself like a Creeper without a doubt

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  • [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago

    Spiders, centipedes and snakes, now fucking frogs gotta be nightmare fuel? Get me off this planet, please.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago

    Ppl looking for HP Lovecraft to get their horror fetiche satisfaction… just go to the local pond and observe…

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