June 30, 2007
Amazing Death and Resurrection of a Frog
The North American wood frog belongs to a small group of animals that are freeze tolerant. As the temperature drops below freezing each winter, the wood frog drifts into a deep hibernation, its breathing and heartbeat grind to a halt, and as much as 65% of the water in its body gradually crystallizes into ice. Sound uncomfortable? The wood frog seems not to mind terribly much, as it spends two or three months of each winter frozen, with its body temperature ranging between -1°C and -6°C. When spring finally arrives, the ice melts, heartbeat and breathing return, and the frog continues on its happy-go-lucky way.
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