What is unique for Alaskan Tree Frog ?
The frost tolerance of the Alaskan Tree Frog has attracted considerable attention by biologists. According to the researches, more than 65% of the water in these frogs’ bodies, which encounter freezing cold, is completely frozen. However, they can survive for weeks, despite the frost that has no signs of life.
This mechanism is so extreme that frogs sometimes do not breathe for days or even weeks, and hearts do not beat. Due to the ice covering the toad’s skin, abdomen and muscle fibers, blood circulation stops completely. Even when the aortic vessel is cut, there is no bleeding. In this process, the frog’s heart and other vital organs are pale in color, their arms and legs are hard, and their eyes are hazy.
For frogs whose metabolism activities slow down to a halt, this process takes up to four months. In the most freezing times of the winter months, frogs that freeze with everything around them are defrosted under the leaves close to the soil surface as the temperature rises. After the ice is thawed, the frogs, which start to beat the heart again, breathe in series. In this way, frogs that return to their vital activities move to their lives by acting in almost 1 day.