7. Southern Gastric Brooding Frog
Imagine witnessing a mother frog swallowing her eggs, nurturing them in her stomach, and then giving birth through her mouth. Sounds unbelievable, right? Meet the southern gastric brooding frog, a peculiar amphibian that was discovered in Queensland, Australia, in 1972. Sadly, this unique species went extinct in 1983, followed by its close relative, the northern gastric brooding frog, in 1985. The culprits behind their extinction were deforestation, invasive species, and a deadly chytrid fungus. However, determined not to let these astonishing creatures fade into history, Dr. Michael Archer and his team embarked on a groundbreaking mission to clone them back to life.
By collecting tissue samples and extracting DNA from the gastric frog, they combined it with the egg of its closest living relative, the bard frog. After overcoming several challenges, including the infrequency of bard frog egg-laying, they successfully produced a frog embryo. With continued progress, it may not be long before these froglets will once again be seen puking up babies into the world.
