Short Wave - New Frogs Just Dropped

Episode Date: October 18, 2024

In the humid rainforests of northern and eastern Madagascar reside seven newly described frog species. They often hang out near fast, flowing rivers. These treefrogs' high-pitched, "futuristic" sounds may help male frogs attract females over the sound of nearby rushing water. They also are what inspired their Star Trek-themed names. Have another animal you want us to dig into for a future episode? Email us at [e-mail]!See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Hey, Shortwaver's, Regina Barber here. And Emily Kwong with our biweekly Science News Roundup featuring the host of All Things Considered. And today we have fellow Trekkie, awesome dude, Scott Dentro. I'm always happy to be here. I heard we're talking animals this week. Yes, there's an ambitious plan underway to protect monarch butterflies from climate change. Plus new research about a massive migration in the world's oceans.

And seven new species of frogs in Madagascar with a name sure to to, delight Star Trek fans like yourself. Yes. I'm excited to hear about them then. All of that on this episode of Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR. All right. Let's save the best for last.

Yes. Or at least the Star Trek for last and start with the butterflies. Great. Yeah. So millions of these orange butterflies migrate every year across North America. And unlike birds, monarchs have never made this journey in their lifetimes before. So imagine millions of like first generation monarchs flapping in the sun, in the force of Mexico. So usually you don't listen to the flapping of a monarch, but there are so many that you can hear like flap, flap, flap, flap, flap, flap, so that is very, very impressive and it's very unique. This is Gualtamac signs Romero at the University of Michoacan in Mexico.

And like many scientists, Gualtamuk wants to protect the monarchs. These butterflies are threatened because of pesticide use, habitat loss, but also climate change, which renders these forest sites too warm for monarchs to safely run. rest in their journey. What is his plan to save them then? His plan is to save the trees. So Mexico's monarchs, they like to spend the winter in these trees called Oiamel, or sacred first. And Gualtamac wondered, what if we planted Oiamel at higher and thus colder elevations, which may be protected for longer from climate change. Interesting. So moving the trees, not like the ants of Lord of the Rings, but rather planting them in new locations. Exactly. This is called assisted migration, similar to work that's been done in Idaho and British Columbia.

This is really interesting. How did scientists decide how high up the slope to plant new trees then? Using statistical modeling, they chose a dormant volcano called Nevada de Toluca. Last winter, a giant colony of monarch showed up there. I guess it would make sense to follow the butterflies' lead. Yeah, absolutely. So in July 2021, community scientists, many from the local tribe, joined Gualtamuk's research team in planting over 600 Oiamel seedlings up the volcano. And after two years of monitoring, the research team found these seedlings had pretty good survival rates at these higher elevations. They published their results in the journal Frontiers in Forest and Global Change this week. The trees are growing at these higher altitudes. They're going well, but this is a long-term play. How are they going to make

sure that the butterflies are actually going there down the line? Yeah, it's a gamble. A critics say we shouldn't be taking such an active role to change the forest. And the paper itself says monarchs may not even use these sites, so only time will tell. And climate change is happening. fast. So Scott Hoffman Black, the executive director at the Xerces Society, understands the urgency of plans like these. I mean, planting trees is a proactive step. Other species may use these trees someday. And Scott emphasized that work must continue to protect the current OMLT trees where they stand in Mexico. What is the next migration we're going to be talking about here today? Plankton migration, specifically a bioluminescent plant plankton. And what's interesting is the word

plankton comes from the Greek word for wanderer because these microscopic organisms at the base of the entire marine food web were thought to just drift up and down with the tide in currents. Scientists have known about this movement from deeper waters to the surface for more than a century, but they didn't know how these plankton were doing this. And a new study out this week in current biology may provide some answers. What do they find in it? All right.

So a team of Stanford researchers took samples off the coast of Hawaii and they found that these plankton travel vertically. just from around 250 feet or 75 meters deep in the sea all the way up to the surface of the ocean. Yeah, and then the researchers then built a device in the lab that allowed them to like simulate that journey and study what's happening with these plankton along the way. And they found that they do this by inflating up to six times their original size and filtering fresh water into themselves. I just picturing quickly leaving an awkward social interaction by just puffing myself up and flying away. Yeah, that's right.

Just floating away from the situation. Right. From the depths. Here's one of the researchers, Manu Prakash. This is how he describes it. It's almost as if the cell is a tiny little desalination plant, and it's pumping these sets of water to change its buoyancy. This pumping action makes the plankton less dense, letting them travel straight up to the surface instead of relying on water currents. This is interesting. Do they know why they're doing it, though? Yeah, so these plankton are plants. So they eat bifodosynthesing, which requires light. And they can only get like that by going much closer to the ocean surface because at 75 meters down, there isn't much light.

So they're doing it to eat. And this migration is a life cycle. Plankton float up. Then they sink back deep down. Manu said the cycle happens every seven days. But once a plankton gets to the surface, it will actually divide into two new cells. And those new baby plankton sink down and go through the whole cycle again. I really like this mental image.

It seems soothing. Yeah. Yeah. Let's shift back to land and to Madagascar. And these newly discovered frogs, Regina? Yeah. So seven new species of frogs. They were described in Madagascar, and they're not just any frogs.

They're named after Star Trek characters. Oh, yes. From which series, though? Oh. Or are we just going across the Star Trek genre with these frogs? Scott, it's like everybody. Okay, so, like, researchers first, they say they named these things because it sounds like Star Trek sound effects, like the communicator. But I don't really think it does.

I do love the names, though. We have Captain Kirk's frog, which is Booth is Kirkie, Captain Picard's frog, which is Booth is Picardy. Pikesy, and Booth is Archery for Captain Pike and Captain Archer. I can hear the Star Trek-esque-kind of, right? Is it like they're being beamed? Is that what they're trying to convey? No, it's the old communicator sound in the original series that they're trying to get to.

It's getting into some deep cuts of like Star Trek names because Mark Shirts is a huge track. marks the amphibian and reptile curator at the Natural History Museum of Denmark. And he's the senior author on the paper describing these frogs, which came out this week in the journal Vertebrate Zoology. Pulling myself away from the Star Trek aspect of the story. What restraint? Thank you. You know, sometimes it's tough work. What do these frogs look like?

They all look pretty identical, honestly. Even one of the researchers has a hard time telling them apart. But I can tell you they're an inch long, brown with striking eyes. They're so similar looking, though, that the whistles are. what really set them apart and their genetic information, among other things. And Mark says the names of these like seven new species are meant to convey a sense of wonder in nature and all the undiscovered. Star Trek is about science. It's about discovery. It's about exploration and the importance of those things to humanity and our place in the universe. That's right. There are over 400 amphibian species in Madagascar right now. But Mark guesses there could be hundreds more that scientists have.

have not described. Yeah, and just under half of known amphibians on Madagascar are threatened. And even just describing species, like in this paper, can help conservation efforts by understanding them better. Instead of saying goodbye to both of you, I will say, live long and prosper. Wow. Live long and prosper to you, too. We all, we all did the hand.

We did. Oh, yeah, the Vulcan salute. I did it with my left hand, even. That's harder. Thank you so much, Scott. Thank you. You can hear more from Scott Detrow and consider this NPR's afternoon news podcast about what the news means for you. This episode was produced by Hannah Chin and Megan Lim.

It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez and Christopher and Taliatta. Tyler Jones, check the facts. I'm Emily Kwong. And I'm Regina Barber. Thank you for listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR.