41: Brain Storm Double Header: Frogs and Skinks!

Smash cuts of Brain Storms #8 Devil Frogs and #9 Skinks in honor of Trace’s dad’s birthday. Frank (Trace’s dad) is a freak for amphibians and reptiles…we hope you enjoy these as much as he did.

Devil Frogs and Skinks Transcript:

41: Devil Frogs and Skinks!

Wecome to Brain Junk! I’m Amy Barton, and I’m Trace Kerr, and it’s time for a Brain Storm.  

AB: Wherein I’m going to share about Beelzebuffo Ampinga or the devil frog.

TK: Dun dun dun!

AB: Who doesn’t want to know about the devil frog?

TK: I want to know about the devil frog!

AB: The devil frog lived on Madagascar during the late Cretaceous. About 65 to 70 million years ago and it grew to be about 16 inches long and 10 lb. So beach ball-sized what they were comparing it to.

TK:That’s not very nice!

AB: This is a beach ball size frog AND it was a crabby Beach ball-sized frog. There’s a frog living in South America, oh, this is a big word.Theres a South American frogs. It’s ill tempered and aggressive and it is the living relative of this Cretaceous era frog, and so they’re basing some of their predictions about it’s behavior on this frog.

TK: Do we have a name for the frog come? Oh, you know you can do it!

AB: Ceratophyrines.

TK: Oh I like that.

AB: They’re nasty they sit and wait for their prey and they snap at it and they’ll snap at any time comes by and I think the devil frog would eat lizards and small vertebrates squirrels and stuff-Cretaceous era squirrels, and possibly even hatchling dinosaurs. they had, you know, bitey teeth and they had an armored head they had a cranial shield it was very dinosaur frog.

TK: Well you had me at “frog with teeth”. Because you don’t see frogs with teeth.

AB: Yeah so that’s my Brain Fart. It’s good to live in the modern times, friends. There’s some bad things but there’s no devil frogs, least here in the Northwest.

TK: That we know of.

AB: Maybe with Sasquatch?

TK:Ooooh, there you go, I like it.

AB:Today we’re talking about Skinks reproductive habits, which I know you were thinking about before, earlier today probably even.

TK:It’s something that, you know, I wake up and I’m like, “I just wonder about skinks and their reproductive behavior”.

AB: Yeah, well I’m going to tell you that at higher climates, in colder weather, skinkis tend not to lay their eggs. They hang out in the little skinks longer. And that results in live birth. A species of Australian lizard has abandoned their egg laying habits in favor of live birth.  And individuals of the same species living in the higher altitudes are almost all giving birth to live young. So the same species living in different areas, you might have one laying eggs, and one giving live birth based on their environment. Evolutionary records show that nearly 100 reptile lineages have made the transition from laying eggs to live birth in the past. And today about 20 % of all snakes and lizards give birth to live young only.

TK: Well I guess that makes sense, because if you’re someplace in a higher altitude and your colder, keeping eggs warm would be difficult. The ones that had them closer to live birth, well, they were more likely to survive.

AB: Yeah, that’s true.

TK: Because they’re not going “I think I’m going to wait and gestate a little longer, so I can have live babies.

AB: Yeah, one wonders how that process does take place, where like, ladies, we don’t get the choice when the babies come. There must be some biological process.

TK: Well, the accident that just waited a little bit longer and then those ones were more likely to breed, and more likely to have…what came first? The skink or the eggs?
AB: Want to hear more? We’re on Facebook and Instagram as BrainJunkPodcast, and you can find us on Twitter as @MyBrainJunk. Trace and I will catch you next time, when we share more of everything you never knew you wanted to know, and I guarantee you won’t be bored.

oh sorry this is a brain fart I’m Amy Barton farts literally and gas land today were talking about skinks reproductive habits which I know you were thinking about before earlier today probably if it’s something that you know I often wake up and I’m like I should just wonder about skinks and their reproductive Behavior yeah well I’m going to tell you that are climates in Colder Weather skinks 10 not to lay their eggs to hang out in the little skank longer and that results in live birth a species of Australian lizard has a band and their egg laying habits in favor of the live birth and individuals of the same species living in the higher altitudes are almost all giving birth to live young so the same species in different areas you might have one laying eggs and the others might give live birth based on their environment evolutionary records show that nearly a hundred reptile just have independently made the transition from egg-laying two live births in the past and today about 20% of all living snakes and lizards give birth to live young only well I guess that makes sense because if you’re someplace in a higher altitude and it’s colder keeping eggs warm would be difficult the ones that had them closer to live birth probably had well finish a likely to survive I think I’m going to wait and just wait a little longer so I can have live babies take place in what is where like ladies we don’t get the choice of when the baby comes but they are there must be some biological process of the accident that just waited a little bit longer and then those ones were more likely to read and more likely to have what came first the skink or the Egg and that’s another brain fart brain parts are on Facebook and Instagram as brain junk podcast and on Twitter as at my brain just want to hear more where wherever you find a podcast and I guarantee you won’t be bored