Limp frogging
parasite infection combined with a weakened immune system caused by pesticide exposure are causing deformities in frogs in the us state of Pennsylvania, indicates a recent research. The research, jointly administered by Virginia-based National Science Foundation (nsf) and Maryland-based National Institutes of Health (nih), includes the first experimental studies of amphibian deformities conducted in ponds where the animals live.
Since the 1990s, when frogs with deformed legs were first discovered in us wetlands, scientists had been trying to determine the reason for the problem. Various hypotheses came up. The researchers designed their experiments to test these hypotheses.
The first was that limb deformities occur in frogs infected with the trematode parasite. Trematode parasites inhabit a series of host species, including tadpoles. The researchers placed their tadpoles in six ponds within two kinds of enclosures located side-by-side