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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Pilots of the Caribbean"
Fully produced report in MP3 format:
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(90 seconds)
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READER SCRIPT
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EXCUSE ME: I HAVE A FROG IN MY--BOAT. THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. A TALE OF ADVENTURE ON THE HIGH SEAS; THE SAGA OF A WORLD WHERE ONE, BECAME MANY: IT'S "FROGS ON A RAFT"--AND IT'S NOT AT A CINEPLEX NEAR YOU. THE REAL STORY IS BASED ON A STUDY LED BY A PENN STATE RESEARCH GROUP; THEY TELL US THAT NEARLY ALL SPECIES OF TODAY'S CARIBBEAN FROGS ORIGINATED FROM A SINGLE SOUTH-AMERICAN SPECIES SOME 30-MILLION TO 50-MILLION YEARS AGO. THE FROGS LIKELY FLOATED TO THE ISLANDS ON A "RAFT"--OR FLAT CLUMP OF VEGETATION--THAT FERRIED THE FROGS TO THEIR PERMANENT CARIBBEAN VACATION. DETAILED D-N-A ANALYSIS OF HUNDREDS OF SPECIES OF CARIBBEAN AND SOUTH-AMERICAN FROGS ENABLED SCIENTISTS TO CONSTRUCT A FROG-FAMILY TREE; THEIR DISCOVERY OF A SINGLE, COMMON ANCESTOR IN ONE MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC AREA IS SURPRISING AND UNUSUAL--BECAUSE OF ANCIENT LAND-BRIDGES BETWEEN CONTINENTS, SPECIES USUALLY ROAMED FREELY, AND INTERMIXED. THE FROGS SIMPLY WAITED FOR THEIR "SHIP" TO COME IN. THESE UNWITTING "PILOTS OF THE CARIBBEAN" HAVE FINALLY FILLED IN AN IMPORTANT BIO-EVOLUTIONARY BLANK--AND HAVE GIVEN NEW MEANING TO THE PHRASE, "ISLAND-HOPPING". THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
