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A perfect fit

When searching for Aparasphenodon ararapa frogs in bromeliad flowers in the region of Ilhéus, Bahia, biologist Amanda Lantyer often found the top of the amphibian’s head covering the plant’s central well, where the eggs or tadpoles live. The photo above, with the frog peering out of the flower, is a rarer sight. “I removed them very carefully with a spatula,” she says. After measuring many frogs, bromeliads, and the volume of water inside them as part of her master’s degree at Santa Cruz State University, Lantyer concluded that the males are very particular when choosing the flowers in which they will spend their whole lives: they specifically select those with a diameter that allows them to close off the opening with their head.

Image submitted by Amanda Santiago Lantyer-Silva, currently a PhD student at São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Rio Claro

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