FrogWorld

Humans: Deformity Scientists had been aware of frog deformity since 1990, but it wasn't until August 1999 did the problem gain worldwide attention. A group of middle school students in their teacher were studying a wetlands area in Minnesota. They noticed that of all the frog specimens they had collected, a third of them were deformed. These included extra appendages, missing appendages, malformed eyes, and other body parts. It was found that this was the highest concentration of deformed frogs ever previously found. The severe malformation of the frog is literally a death sentence. Though pollution could be a contributing factor, it has been discovered that a parasitic flatworm, called a trematode, is the main cause for deformity in the Western United States. The flatworm larvae infect the developing legs of tadpoles. Almost all deformed frogs found in Oregon had the cysts of the trematode located around the site of the deformity. Experiments at Oregon State University confirmed that the worms caused the deformities. The more the frog was infected, the more deformed its hind legs became. Previous