RIBIT

First Ever In Vitro Fertilization Carried Out on Tiny Frog Species Facing Extinction

Scientists were able to extract semen which is released in urine from the Puerto Rican toad by barking at it like a dog to make it pee.

Scientists working with the Fort Worth Zoo in Texas successfully carried out the world’s first in vitro fertilization on a frog in an attempt to save the Puerto Rican crested toad from extinction. The first of some 300 newborn amphibians hatched from the successful procedure was named Olaf after the sperm donor that unwittingly donated its semen for the project. Diane Barber, ectotherms curator for the zoo who traveled to Guayanilla to collect sperm from six male Puerto Rican crested toads explained to the Associated Press that extracting semen from the tiny toads, which are around 4.5 inches long, was generally easy. The toad sperm is released in urine, she said, and when they didn’t urinate, they used a scare tactic. “It’s kind of weird,” she said. “But if you hold them in your hand and look at them and bark at them like a dog, they will pee.”