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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Frog-antuan"
Fully produced report in MP3 format:
48 kbps |
96 kbps
(90 seconds)
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READER SCRIPT
(DOES NOT FULLY MATCH AUDIO)
JABBA, THE FROG.... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. 70-MILLION YEARS AGO, IT MAY BE THE LARGEST FROG EVER TO HAVE WADDLED THE EARTH; IT VORACIOUSLY DINED ON LIZARDS, OR PERHAPS ON YOUNG DINOSAURS. THE SCIENTIFIC NAME FOR THIS 10-POUND, 16-INCH "FROG-ANTUAN" BEHEMOTH? "BEELZEBUFO"--THE "DEVIL FROG". ASIDE FROM ITS MORE-THAN-AMPLE GIRTH, THE BIZARRE THING ABOUT THIS AMPHIBIAN-ON-STEROIDS IS ITS HOME TURF: THE REMAINS WERE FOUND BY A TEAM LED BY STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY ON THE UNLIKELY ISLAND OF MADAGASCAR--OFF AFRICA'S SOUTHEASTERN COAST; UNLIKELY, BECAUSE THE "DEVIL FROG'S" RELATIVES ALL HAIL FROM SOUTH AMERICA. ODDS ARE THAT HE DIDN'T SWIM ACROSS--POSSIBLE DIRECT EVIDENCE OF A ONE-TIME LAND CONNECTION BETWEEN MADAGASCAR AND SOUTH AMERICA. SO, HOW DOES THE TOP CONTENDER FOR THE LARGEST-EVER FROG COMPARE TO OUR CURRENT FROGS? THE BIGGEST THAT WE HAVE TODAY IS THE "GOLIATH" OF WEST AFRICA--AT ABOUT THREE-QUARTERS OF THE SIZE; THE LARGEST FROGS IN WHAT IS NOW MADAGASCAR ARE ONLY FOUR INCHES LONG--LITTLE MORE THAN A SNACK FOR THE "DEVIL FROG". 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.
