WASHINGTON: The growing number of deformed frogs found in recent years is caused at least partly by runoff from farming.
Nitrogen and phosphorous in the runoff fuel a cycle that results in a parasitic infection of tadpoles, leading to deformities, according to a team led by Pieter Johnson of the University of Colorado. The findings are published in the online Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The deformed frogs have been a puzzle for more than a decade, since a group of schoolchildren in Minnesota discovered a pond where more than half of the leopard frogs had missing or extra limbs. Suggested causes have ranged from pesticides and increased ultraviolet radiation to parasitic infection.
While parasite infection is recognised as a cause of deformities, the environmental factors responsible for increases in parasite abundance had largely remained a mystery, Mr. Johnson said. — AP
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