This frog raised its young in its stomach

In a few streams of Queensland lived Rheobatrachus silus, a small frog whose reproduction defied habits. The female swallowed her eggs, but this time the ride did not lead to a meal. The young developed in his stomach.

Digestive acid production was interrupted during this period. The tadpoles could thus continue their development in an organ that would normally have destroyed them. When the little frogs were ready to go out, they would leave their mother’s body by mouth. The behavior has been observed and studied; it does not come from a local legend.

However, the story takes a much less joyful turn. The species disappeared from observations in the early 1980s and is classified as extinct. Specimens kept in museums remain available for research, while explorations are still trying to find possible survivors. So we know this extraordinary motherhood thanks to an animal that we no longer know how to observe living in its habitat.