Scientists Find Ancient Antarctic Frog
2020-05-03
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1When Thomas Mörs looked at the small fossils from Antartica through his microscope, he found quite a surprise.
2They were hip and skull bones of a frog.
3The fossils, some 40 million years old, were from a helmeted frog.
4About 4 centimeters long, this helmeted frog is closely related to five species of helmeted frogs that are native to Chile in South America.
5Helmeted frogs get their name from the shape of their heads.
6Mörs is a scientist at the Swedish Museum of Natural History and a lead author of the study that was published recently in the journal Scientific Reports.
7Mörs described the find as "a total unexpected discovery."
8He said, "I first found the hip bone, and I directly realized that I found an Antarctic frog - the first. And the first Antarctic amphibian for over 200 million years."
9The discovery highlights how Antarctica, the land of ice and snow, was once home to forests and rivers that were full of life.
10Mors observed, "It tells us that whole ecosystems can be wiped out by global climate change, and that it might go fast."
11Antarctica's climate at the time resembled the modern-day Valdivian rainforest in Chile.
12It was very wet with temperatures during the warmest months averaging about 14 degrees Celsius.
13Until now, Antarctica's known prehistoric amphibians were members of extinct families.
14But the newly identified frog has plenty of living relatives.
15South America's helmeted frogs are part of a group called Australobatrachia, or "southern frogs."
16That group also has members living in Australia and New Guinea.
17Frogs first appeared roughly 250 million years ago, before the dinosaurs.
18They were found in all continents, except Antarctica.
19With the discovery, Mörs said, "now we know that they lived on all seven, before one of them froze."
20I'm John Russell.
1When Thomas Mörs looked at the small fossils from Antartica through his microscope, he found quite a surprise. They were hip and skull bones of a frog. 2The fossils, some 40 million years old, were from a helmeted frog. About 4 centimeters long, this helmeted frog is closely related to five species of helmeted frogs that are native to Chile in South America. Helmeted frogs get their name from the shape of their heads. 3Mörs is a scientist at the Swedish Museum of Natural History and a lead author of the study that was published recently in the journal Scientific Reports. 4Mörs described the find as "a total unexpected discovery." He said, "I first found the hip bone, and I directly realized that I found an Antarctic frog - the first. And the first Antarctic amphibian for over 200 million years." 5The discovery highlights how Antarctica, the land of ice and snow, was once home to forests and rivers that were full of life. Mors observed, "It tells us that whole ecosystems can be wiped out by global climate change, and that it might go fast." 6Antarctica's climate at the time resembled the modern-day Valdivian rainforest in Chile. It was very wet with temperatures during the warmest months averaging about 14 degrees Celsius. 7Until now, Antarctica's known prehistoric amphibians were members of extinct families. But the newly identified frog has plenty of living relatives. 8South America's helmeted frogs are part of a group called Australobatrachia, or "southern frogs." That group also has members living in Australia and New Guinea. 9Frogs first appeared roughly 250 million years ago, before the dinosaurs. They were found in all continents, except Antarctica. 10With the discovery, Mörs said, "now we know that they lived on all seven, before one of them froze." 11I'm John Russell. 12Will Dunham reported on this story for Reuters John Russell adapted it for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. 13We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. 14_____________________________________________________________ 15Words in This Story 16species -- n. biology : a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants : a group of related animals or plants that is smaller than a genus 17amphibian - n. an animal (such as a frog or toad) that can live both on land and in water 18ecosystem -- n. everything that exists in a particular environment 19global -- adj. involving the entire world 20extinct - adj. no longer existing 21relative -- n. something that belongs to the same group as something else because of shared characteristics, qualities, etc.