Suburban Frogs More Likely to be Hermaphrodite

Posted Tuesday, May 6, 2008, 3:32 p.m., EST

David Skelly, Ph.D., a professor of ecology at Yale University, found that suburban frogs are more likely to exhibit reproductive abnormalities than rural frogs. The as-yet unpublished study suggests factors such as pesticide and herbicide use or septic system leakage may play larger roles in deformities than agricultural chemicals, New York Times reported.

In a presentation at the University of Connecticut, Skelly, who spent the past 7 years researching amphibian disfigurements in Vermont and Connecticut, reported that 21 percent of suburban male green frogs showed signs of sexual deformity compared to 13 percent overall, 18 percent in urban areas, 7 percent in agricultural areas and none in undeveloped, forested areas. Skelly’s study surveyed 6,000 ponds and collected 233 frogs from 23 ponds, according to New York Times.

Skelly told the newspaper that he didn’t know what caused the reproductive changes found in his newest research, but noted that many of the suburban areas he studied used septic systems and added that there had been little research into chemicals and pharmaceutical residues leaching from septic systems into streams and ponds. Another possibility: the use of herbicides and pesticides in suburbia.

Skelly’s previous work suggested limb disfigurements in frogs appeared to be caused by pollutants from agricultural pesticides. <HOME>