Discover Ed Yong 20121019
Four years ago, I wrote about a group of African frogs that remind me of the Marvel Comics character Wolverine, who fights with three retractable claws in each arm. The frogs, belonging to the family Arthroleptidae, also have bone claws in their feet. They use these in defence, as many naturalists discovered to their dismay.
They’re not alone. On another continent, Noriko Iwai from the University of Tokyo has studied a different species – the Otton frog – that carries a similar bony spike in its foot. It’s large for a frog, growing to around 12 centimetres in length. The males use their spikes as anchors to latch onto females, and flick-knives for duelling with rival males.
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