by Researchers at the University of Florida have made an interesting discovery about the arrival of frogs from the Caribbean to North America. The study, led by María Vallejo-Pareja, a graduate student at the university, analyzed understudied fossil collections and determined that frogs from the genus Eleutherodactylus are the oldest known Caribbean vertebrates to be found in Florida.
The fossils, which were collected from the 1970s through the 1990s but hadn’t been studied until now, show that rain frogs from the Caribbean arrived in Florida during the late Oligocene, millions of years before their recorded dispersal into Central America. Previous DNA analysis had suggested that Caribbean frogs in the genus Eleutherodactylus first arrived in Central America during the middle Miocene Epoch, but the fossils contradict this timeline.
The exact method by which the frogs made their way to Florida is still unclear. Most of the Florida peninsula was underwater during the estimated arrival of the frogs, so overwater dispersal on flotsam or other buoyant debris seems the most likely scenario. However, the increased distance between land would have made the journey even longer and more perilous for the frogs.
The fossils also provide valuable insights into the evolutionary history of rain frogs. These small and highly mobile creatures originated in the Caribbean from an ancestor that dispersed from South America as early as 47 million years ago. Once on the islands, the ancestral population rapidly diversified into multiple species through adaptive radiation.
While rain frogs are now widespread throughout North and Central America, Florida appears to have been their first home, where they coexisted with other interesting animals. The fossil sites where rain frog fossils were found in abundance also yielded remains of bear-dogs, bone-crushing dogs, a weasel-like carnivore, squirrels, beavers, and rabbits.
Vallejo-Pareja’s study not only sheds light on the early arrival of Caribbean frogs in Florida but also highlights the need for further research in the field of frog paleontology. By creating digital 3D models of the fossil bones used in the study, she hopes to provide a valuable reference point for paleontologists and encourage more research into the evolutionary history of frogs.
Looking to the future, Vallejo-Pareja plans to use the methods developed in this study to investigate how frogs adapt to environmental changes. Frogs have shown resilience in surviving major extinction events, but they are highly responsive to changes in variables like temperature and precipitation. Vallejo-Pareja aims to uncover how frogs responded to past climate changes and gain a better understanding of their adaptability.
The study published by Vallejo-Pareja and her team not only enriches our knowledge of Florida’s ancient ecosystems but also contributes to our understanding of the evolutionary history of frogs. By studying these fascinating creatures, researchers can uncover valuable insights into the ways in which organisms adapt and survive in changing environments.
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1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
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