Animal Trivia

There's a type of frog that vomits its own stomach to clean itself. The Australian eastern green tree frog (Ranoidea caerulea) isn't the representative example of this ability. The truly famous ones are two species of frogs from the extinct family Rheobatrachidae. They were known to swallow fertilized eggs into their stomachs, temporarily halting digestive fluid secretion, allowing tadpoles to develop inside the stomach. The young frogs would then be born directly from the mother frog's mouth. This reproductive method is extremely rare among vertebrates. Unfortunately, these two species of gastric-brooding frogs disappeared in the late 20th century. Scientists still haven't fully clarified the reasons for their extinction.