Episode 10: Toad meets T-Rex: The Evolution and Diversification of Frogs | Spring 2008 - Lunch Hour Lectures

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Episode 10 - Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2008

Toad meets T-Rex: The Evolution and Diversification of Frogs

Love them or loathe them, frogs have a place in popular culture, from ‘Kermit’ to ‘Toad of Toad Hall’. The short, tailless body, large head, and long legs give a profile that is vaguely humanoid, but frogs are optimised for leaping rather than walking, a locomotor strategy that has been highly successful. Amongst amphibians, their body plan is unique, prompting questions as to its origin and evolutionary history. Some of the answers may be found in the fossil record of frogs, dating back 250 million years to the very beginning of the ‘Age of Dinosaurs’.