Frog Facts: From Metamorphosis to Mating Calls

This article curates verified facts about frog biology for students, researchers, life-science professionals, and informed general readers. The content covers the frog life cycle, physiological adaptations, species diversity, ecological roles, and recent research findings. Each fact is drawn from peer-reviewed literature and official scientific databases. The practical utility is a categorized fact sheet with a life cycle diagram and a decision table for identifying key biological features.

At a Glance: Frog Biology Fact Table

The Frog Life Cycle: From Egg to Adult

Egg Deposition and Embryonic Development

Frog reproduction begins with egg deposition, typically in aquatic environments. The embryos develop using nutrients stored within each cell, a feature that allows isolated embryonic tissue to survive and differentiate in culture. This characteristic makes amphibian embryos valuable models for studying vertebrate development, particularly heart formation. Researchers use Xenopus explants to investigate molecular pathways and gene regulatory networks in cardiogenesis because the knowledge generated validates the conservation of molecular pathways across all vertebrates. The relatively large embryos are available in large numbers and survive simple microsurgery, making them practical for experimental studies.

Tadpole Stage and Metamorphosis

The tadpole stage represents a distinct evolutionary trajectory separate from the adult frog form. Research on the non-obligate cave-dwelling frog demonstrates that transcriptional responses to environmental conditions decline markedly after the onset of metamorphic climax. Before this transition, tadpoles show upregulation of fundamental cellular processes such as RNA and protein synthesis while downregulating immune-related processes, consistent with a resource-allocation strategy in resource-limited environments. The hindlimb, a frog-specific organ, shows the weakest environmental responsiveness during development.

Metamorphic Climax and Adult Transition

Metamorphic climax marks a critical transition point where environmental responsiveness declines in the liver, skin, and tail. The stage-dependent plasticity observed in frogs suggests that early-life adaptations facilitate survival in challenging environments, while adult stages depend on external resources. This biphasic life cycle, with tadpole and frog following distinct evolutionary trajectories, exemplifies how adaptive plasticity shapes life cycle evolution.

Antimicrobial Peptides: The Frog's Innate Immune System

Peptide Structure and Diversity

Antibacterial peptides serve as effector molecules of innate immunity in frogs and other organisms. These peptides generally contain 15 to 45 amino acid residues with a positive net charge. The cecropin type of linear peptides without cysteine were first found in insects, while the defensin type with three disulphide bridges were found in rabbit granulocytes. A database now stores more than 800 sequences of antibacterial peptides and proteins from the animal and plant kingdoms. Each species typically has 15 to 40 peptides made from genes that code for only one precursor.

Mechanisms of Action

The dominating targets of antibacterial peptides are bacterial membranes, and the killing reaction must be faster than the growth rate of the bacteria. Five classes of gene-encoded effector molecules exist, categorized based on the absence or presence of cysteines. These molecules are peptide antibiotics with wide spectra against different microbes. They are synthesized as propeptides, and post-translational modifications are common. Some antibacterial peptides are clearly multifunctional, and researchers have attempted to predict this property from the hydrophobicity of amino acid side chains.

Frog Skin as a Peptide Source

Frog skin is a rich source of antimicrobial peptides. Studies of the normal microflora of frogs have isolated bacteria including Aeromonas hydrophila, found on all five frog species studied. The interaction between frog antimicrobial peptides and skin microflora represents a dynamic relationship where the host produces effector molecules that control microbial populations without causing host damage. This innate immune mechanism operates through nuclear factor-kappa B and I kappa B alpha regulation of effector genes.

Frog Adaptations to Extreme Environments

Salinity Tolerance in the Crab-Eating Frog

The crab-eating frog is the only known amphibian capable of completing its life cycle in intertidal zones, facing dual challenges of high salinity stress and a diet rich in chitinous crab exoskeletons. This species has evolved a thicker gastric muscularis and longer gastric villi, consistent with enhanced processing of hard prey. Comparative transcriptomic analysis revealed an expanded repertoire of putative chitinase encoding transcripts, with 15 versus 8 non-redundant transcripts compared to freshwater relatives. Both gastric and intestinal tissues exhibit significantly higher and more pH-tolerant chitinase activity.

The gut microbiota of the crab-eating frog is not enriched for microbial chitin degradation genes. Instead, it is functionally specialized for lipid metabolism and DNA repair pathways. A controlled feeding experiment confirmed that the microbial enrichment in lipid metabolism is diet-driven, while the DNA repair pathways are largely independent of diet and likely reflect microbiome-intrinsic adaptation to chronic saline stress. This suggests a partially partitioned host-microbiome strategy where the host manages chitin breakdown while the microbiota optimizes energy harvest and intrinsic stress tolerance.

Ionic Regulation Mechanisms

The crab-eating frog tolerates increased environmental concentrations of sodium, chloride, and potassium partly by raising ion and urea levels in its blood plasma. Genes in categories associated with ion transport have evolved rapidly in this species. Both positively selected and differentially expressed genes exhibit enrichment in the gene ontology category of regulation of renal sodium excretion. Four genes involved in the regulation of body fluid levels show signs of positive selection and increased expression. Significant upregulation occurs in several genes associated with the renin-angiotensin system and aldosterone-regulated sodium reabsorption pathways, which relate to osmotic regulation.

Freeze Tolerance and Cold Adaptation

The wood frog demonstrates extreme freeze tolerance in subarctic populations. Research on the common frog examined behavioral and physiological responses that facilitate survival in low-temperature environments. Breeding does not occur below 5 degrees Celsius at any site, and there is a delay in spawning of five days for every 100 meters increase in altitude. Individuals sampled from low altitudes survived freezing significantly better than those from high altitudes.

The paddy frog genome provides insight into molecular adaptations and regulation of hibernation in ectotherms. Key genes encoding proteins essential for circadian rhythms, thermosensation, and hypoxia during hibernation have been identified by comparing hibernator and non-hibernator genomes. Examining organ changes during hibernation revealed the central regulatory role of the brain. Twenty-one factors contribute to hibernation, involving hormone biosynthesis, protein digestion, DNA replication, and the cell cycle.

High-Altitude Adaptations

The plateau frog thrives on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau despite extreme abiotic stressors. Metabolomic profiling revealed significant altitude-driven shifts, including the downregulation of glycolysis intermediates and tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates in the liver. Enhanced oxidative phosphorylation efficiency occurs via elevated flavins in skeletal muscle. These findings suggest a conserved strategy of metabolic rate depression and tissue-specific metabolic regulation.

Gut microbiomes of high-altitude frogs exhibit increased alpha diversity and functional enrichment in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, cofactors, amino acids, and carbohydrate-active enzymes. Key microbial taxa including Candidatus Udaeobacter, Desulfovibrio, Bradyrhizobium, and Akkermansia contribute to tolerance of stressful environments and maintenance of homeostasis.

Heat Stress Responses

High-altitude frogs endemic to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau face challenges from high temperatures and heat waves. Research on thermal biology, locomotor performance, and antioxidant systems in these species examines how they respond to thermal stress. Mitochondrial gene expression changes represent one element of amphibian adaptation to environmental stress at low temperatures. In one Asian hylid frog species, transcript levels of 12 out of 13 mitochondrial genes were significantly reduced under cold exposure, suggesting adaptation by entering a hibernation state. Another species showed increased transcript levels of specific genes at low temperatures, possibly related to its narrow distribution primarily at low latitudes.

Frog Vocal Communication and Mating Calls

Call Structure and Energy Costs

Vocal communication behavior in frogs is energetically expensive and can reveal caller locations, making frogs vulnerable to predation. Calls have likely been selected to minimize energy and make signals difficult to locate. Research on sound localization performance in human listeners used synthetic narrowband frog calls based on the pulsed calls of the gray treefrog. Localization performance in response to synthetic calls was 64 percent, lying between the positive control at 86 percent and the negative control at 32 percent, which was chance level.

Narrowband Call Characteristics

Differences in performance were largely a function of call bandwidth. Among all variations of calls tested, the synthetic call most closely resembling the gray treefrog call had the lowest call energy, the narrowest spectral bandwidth, and was the most difficult to localize. Calls may have been selected to keep their energy as low as possible by reducing duty cycle and reducing spectral leakage to maintain narrowband characteristics. Differences in the acoustic receivers of frogs and mammals may be exploited to make frog calls difficult for mammals to locate, thereby reducing predation pressure.

Behavioral Rhythms and Vocalization

Research on male Dybowski's frogs examined the effects of shelter and hibernation on 24-hour behavioral patterns across different age groups. Both adults and juveniles showed significantly increased resting behavior when provided with shelter, with adults resting more than 70 percent of the time and juveniles exceeding 80 percent. Hibernation induced clear changes in circadian rhythms, including shifts in peak activity times. Vocalizations increased post-hibernation in both age groups, reflecting physiological adjustments associated with reproductive activation. Juveniles displayed more pronounced activity rhythms and greater sensitivity to shelter availability, indicating age-specific differences in environmental adaptability.

Frog Chromosomes and Genetics

Complex Sex Determination Systems

The Amazon frog possesses a meiotic multivalent composed of 12 sex chromosomes. This species has a ring formed by ten chromosomes in meiosis, indicating a new system of sex determination with the karyotype formula X1Y1X2Y2X3Y3X4Y4X5Y5. Synapsis occurs in the homologous terminal portion of the chromosomes, while part of the heterologous interstitial regions performed synaptic adjustment. The multivalent center remains asynaptic until the end of pachytene, with interlocks, gaps, and rich chromatin in histone H2A phosphorylation at serine 139, suggesting transcriptional silence.

Meiotic Adaptations for Fertility

In late pachytene, paired regions show repair of double-strand breaks with RAD51 homolog 1. These findings suggest that Rad51 persistence creates positive feedback at the pachytene checkpoint, allowing meiosis I to progress normally. Histone H3 trimethylation at lysine 27 in the pericentromeric heterochromatin can suppress recombination in this region, preventing failed chromosomal segregation. These meiotic adaptations are required for maintenance of fertility in this species.

Comparative Genomics

Comparative genomics on Fzd8 orthologs reveals molecular evolution across vertebrates. The rat Fzd8 gene showed 99.1, 96.8, 71.8, and 71.6 percent total amino-acid identity with mouse, human, zebrafish, and Xenopus orthologs respectively. Vertebrate Fzd8 orthologs are seven-transmembrane receptors with a Frizzled domain within the N-terminal extracellular region, a leucine zipper motif around the fifth transmembrane domain, and a Dishevelled-binding motif within the C-terminal cytoplasmic region. Two Asn-linked glycosylation sites within the N-terminal extracellular region are conserved among vertebrate Fzd8 orthologs.

Frog Parasites and Diseases

Hemoparasites in Water Frogs

Dactylosomatid parasites have been documented in frogs from Slovakia, representing the first published record in that region. Of 239 anurans screened for apicomplexans, 67 individuals belonging to three species of water frogs were found to be infected with haemogregarines of the genus Dactylosoma. The haemogregarine found in all three species represents a single taxon that morphologically resembles the type species Dactylosoma ranarum. Molecular screening of dipterans collected from the study sites detected no representatives of Dactylosoma in any examined specimens.

Skin Disease Pathogens

Research on the giant spiny frog has identified pathogens causing ulcerative skin disease and examined immune responses and protective efficacy after vaccination. This work addresses drug resistance of the pathogen and provides information relevant to disease management in cultured frog populations.

Frog Embryonic Development as a Research Model

Xenopus Explants in Heart Development Research

Many developmental processes are highly conserved in all vertebrate organisms. This conservation has allowed developmental biologists to use numerous animal models to further understanding of the molecular mechanisms that govern heart development and congenital heart disease. Amphibian embryos represent a useful model because their relatively large embryos are available in large numbers and survive simple microsurgery. Until swimming tadpole stages, an amphibian embryo develops using nutrients stored in each of its many cells. This feature has the advantage that explants isolated from embryonic tissue will continue to survive in isolation and differentiate in culture.

Stem Cell Properties of Embryonic Cells

Cells from the ectodermal layer of the blastula or gastrula embryos are stem cell like in that they are pluripotent and can be induced to form various tissues in vitro. The knowledge generated with amphibian explant approaches supports the usefulness of these models, and the relevance of the findings strongly validates the conservation of molecular pathways that underlie heart development in all vertebrates.

Cell Motility During Gastrulation

Research on cell motility in the organizer and dorsal mesoderm of Xenopus describes a sequence of cell behaviors called mediolateral intercalation behavior that produces mediolateral cell intercalation, the process that drives convergence and extension of the axial and paraxial mesoderm. At midgastrula stage, this behavior begins at two dorsolateral sites in the prospective anterior mesoderm and progresses medially along two arcs that lengthen toward and meet at the midline. The notochordal-somitic mesodermal boundary forms within the vegetal alignment zone and then progresses animally and laterally along the prospective anterior-posterior axis.

Renal Development Studies

Xenopus frogs are used to study renal development and repair. The use of this model system provides insights into kidney formation and regeneration processes that have relevance for understanding vertebrate organ development.

Frog Behavior and Learning

Information Transfer from Books to Real Animals

Research on young children's learning examined whether preschool children can learn biological facts about color camouflage in frogs and lizards from picture books and transfer that knowledge to real animals. Results show that by 4 years of age, children can learn new biological facts from a picture book. Of particular importance, transfer from books to real animals was found. These findings point to the importance that early book exposure can play in framing and increasing children's knowledge about the world.

Reproductive Behavior Evolution

Research on foot-flagging frogs examines activational versus organizational effects of sex steroids and their role in the evolution of reproductive behavior. This work addresses how hormones influence the development and expression of reproductive behaviors in frog species that use visual signaling.

Environmental Toxicology and Frog Development

Pesticide Effects on Embryo-Larval Development

Diazinon, an anti-cholinesterase organophosphate, is an extensively used pesticide. Research on the common South American toad assessed lethal and sublethal effects of Diazinon and its uptake by embryos and larvae using standardized bioassays during acute, short-term chronic, and chronic exposures. Toxicity resulted time- and stage-dependent. The lethal concentration 50 for 96 hours, 168 hours, and 504 hours were 27.2, 20.1, and 6.8 mg Diazinon per liter for embryos and 8, 6.7, and 1.9 mg Diazinon per liter for larvae.

Teratogenic Effects

Remarkable differences exist between concentrations causing lethality and those causing adverse effects on development such as malformations. The teratogenic index from 144 hours was greater than two. Main adverse effects included axial flexures, irregular borders, wavy tail, microcephaly, malformed mouth and adhesive structures, gut miscoiling, underdeveloped gills, cloacal edema, desquamation, and severe hydropsy. The characteristic sublethal effect of Diazinon on larvae was abnormal behavior related to neurotoxicity.

Bioaccumulation and Ecological Risk

Diazinon contents in the toad were time-dependent and significantly related to exposure concentration for both embryos and larvae. Diazinon contents were also stage-dependent, as it was up to 27 times higher for organisms exposed from blastula stage onwards than early larvae. The Hazard Quotients, a numerical expression of ecological risk, of 2.73 is above the USEPA Level of Concern, showing the threat that Diazinon represents for toad populations.

Common Failure Patterns in Frog Observation and Research

Misidentification of Species

Researchers and observers may confuse frog species with similar morphology. The water frog complex in Europe includes hybridogenetic species that can be difficult to distinguish without molecular analysis. Professional assessment using morphometric, morphological, and molecular data is recommended for accurate species identification.

Incomplete Life Cycle Observation

Observing only one life stage can lead to incorrect conclusions about frog biology. The biphasic life cycle means that tadpoles and adults occupy different ecological niches and exhibit different adaptations. Researchers should document all life stages when studying frog populations.

Overlooking Environmental Context

Behavioral observations without environmental context can be misleading. Shelter availability significantly influences frog resting behavior, with adults resting more than 70 percent of the time and juveniles exceeding 80 percent when shelter is provided. Hibernation induces temporary but marked alterations in daily activity cycles.

Records and Measurements for Frog Studies

Behavioral Observation Protocols

Continuous video monitoring provides reliable data on frog behavioral patterns. Studies should record resting behavior, activity times, and vocalizations across different age groups and environmental conditions. Pre- and post-hibernation comparisons reveal physiological adjustments associated with reproductive activation.

Physiological Measurements

Metabolic rate measurements using closed respiratory tube systems provide data on oxygen consumption. Freeze tolerance is measured as survival following slow cooling to the point when all container water has frozen. These measurements should be standardized across study sites and populations.

Genetic and Genomic Data Collection

Genome sequencing provides insights into molecular adaptations. The paddy frog genome contained 13 chromosomes with a significant proportion of repetitive sequences. Transcriptomic analysis comparing hibernator and non-hibernator genomes identifies key genes essential for circadian rhythms, thermosensation, and hypoxia during hibernation.

Professional Escalation Criteria

When to Consult Specialists

Researchers and practitioners should consult specialists when encountering unusual mortality events in frog populations, suspected disease outbreaks, or unexplained behavioral changes. Skin lesions, abnormal swimming patterns, or mass die-offs warrant professional assessment. The identification of pathogens causing ulcerative skin disease in cultured frogs requires laboratory confirmation and drug resistance testing.

Regulatory Considerations

Pesticide exposure assessments should follow standardized bioassay protocols. The Hazard Quotient calculation provides a numerical expression of ecological risk, with values above the USEPA Level of Concern indicating significant threat to frog populations. Researchers should document exposure concentrations, exposure durations, and developmental stages when assessing toxicological impacts.

Data Quality Standards

Published research on frog biology should meet standards for species identification, sample size, and statistical analysis. Studies using amphibian models should document developmental stages, rearing conditions, and experimental protocols to ensure reproducibility.

Welfare and Safety Context

Humane Handling of Research Animals

Research using frog models should follow institutional animal care guidelines. Amphibian embryos survive simple microsurgery and can be maintained in culture, but researchers should minimize distress and follow approved protocols. The use of live animals versus cell cultures presents different considerations for studying receptor and signal transduction mechanisms.

Environmental Safety in Field Studies

Field researchers should minimize habitat disturbance when observing frog populations. Collection of specimens should follow permitting requirements and conservation considerations. Studies of protected or threatened species require additional oversight.

Laboratory Safety

Researchers working with frog tissues should follow biosafety protocols. The isolation of bacteria from frog normal flora, including Aeromonas hydrophila, requires appropriate containment procedures. Antimicrobial peptide research should follow standard laboratory safety practices.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do frogs survive freezing temperatures?

Some frog species survive freezing through metabolic depression and cryoprotectant production. The wood frog demonstrates extreme freeze tolerance in subarctic populations. Research on the common frog found that individuals sampled from low altitudes survived freezing significantly better than those from high altitudes. The paddy frog genome reveals molecular adaptations linked to hibernation, including genes essential for circadian rhythms, thermosensation, and hypoxia.

What makes the crab-eating frog unique among amphibians?

The crab-eating frog is the only known amphibian capable of completing its life cycle in intertidal zones. It faces dual challenges of high salinity stress and a diet rich in chitinous crab exoskeletons. This species has evolved a thicker gastric muscularis and longer gastric villi for processing hard prey, and it possesses an expanded repertoire of chitinase encoding transcripts. Its gut microbiota is specialized for lipid metabolism and DNA repair pathways instead of chitin degradation.

How do frog calls avoid attracting predators?

Frog calls have been selected to minimize energy and make signals difficult to locate. Research on the gray treefrog found that the synthetic call most closely resembling the natural call had the lowest call energy, the narrowest spectral bandwidth, and was the most difficult to localize. Calls may reduce duty cycle and spectral leakage to maintain narrowband characteristics, exploiting differences in acoustic receivers between frogs and mammals.

What role do antimicrobial peptides play in frog immunity?

Antimicrobial peptides are effector molecules of innate immunity in frogs. These peptides generally contain 15 to 45 amino acid residues with a positive net charge. A database stores more than 800 sequences of antibacterial peptides from the animal and plant kingdoms. Each species typically has 15 to 40 peptides made from genes that code for only one precursor. The dominating targets are bacterial membranes, and the killing reaction must be faster than the growth rate of the bacteria.

How does frog metamorphosis work?

Frog metamorphosis involves a biphasic life cycle with tadpole and frog following distinct evolutionary trajectories. Transcriptional responses to environmental conditions decline markedly after the onset of metamorphic climax. Before this transition, tadpoles show upregulation of fundamental cellular processes such as RNA and protein synthesis while downregulating immune-related processes. The hindlimb, a frog-specific organ, shows the weakest environmental responsiveness during development.

Why are frog embryos used in developmental research?

Amphibian embryos are useful models because their relatively large embryos are available in large numbers and survive simple microsurgery. Until swimming tadpole stages, an amphibian embryo develops using nutrients stored in each of its many cells. Cells from the ectodermal layer of the blastula or gastrula embryos are pluripotent and can be induced to form various tissues in vitro. This makes them valuable for studying heart development, renal development, and other vertebrate organ systems.

How do high-altitude frogs adapt to low oxygen and cold?

High-altitude frogs exhibit metabolic rate depression and tissue-specific metabolic regulation. The plateau frog shows downregulation of glycolysis and tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates in the liver, with enhanced oxidative phosphorylation efficiency in skeletal muscle. Gut microbiomes of high-altitude frogs exhibit increased alpha diversity and functional enrichment in biosynthesis pathways that improve tolerance to stressful environments.

What are the main threats to frog populations from pesticides?

Organophosphate pesticides like Diazinon cause time- and stage-dependent toxicity in frog embryos and larvae. Teratogenic effects include axial flexures, irregular borders, wavy tail, microcephaly, malformed mouth, gut miscoiling, underdeveloped gills, and severe hydropsy. Diazinon contents in exposed organisms are time-dependent and stage-dependent, with Hazard Quotients above the USEPA Level of Concern indicating significant ecological risk.

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References and Further Reading

• NCBI Literature Resources. National Center for Biotechnology Information.
• PubMed. National Library of Medicine.
• Innate immunity and the normal microflora.. Immunological reviews, 2000.
• Antibacterial peptides: basic facts and emerging concepts.. Journal of internal medicine, 2003.
• Xenopus explants as an experimental model system for studying heart development.. Trends in cardiovascular medicine, 2009.
• Comparative genomics on Fzd8 orthologs.. Oncology reports, 2005.
• Young children's learning and transfer of biological information from picture books to real animals.. Child development, 2011.
• Patterns of cell motility in the organizer and dorsal mesoderm of Xenopus laevis.. Development (Cambridge, England), 1992.
• The case of The Case of the Midwife Toad.. Behavior genetics, 1975.
• Differential toxicity and uptake of Diazinon on embryo-larval development of Rhinella arenarum.. Chemosphere, 2014.
• Hologenomic rewiring facilitates dietary adaptation to chitin-rich marine resources in the crab-eating frog.. 2026.
• Confusion and human errors in locating synthetic frog calls: Insights into the evolution of a vocal communication signal.. 2026.
• Hologenomic Rewiring Facilitates Dietary Adaptation to Chitin-Rich Marine Resources in the Crab-Eating Frog. 2026.
• Influence of Shelter and Hibernation on the 24-Hour Behavioral Rhythms of Male Dybowski's Frog (&lt,i&gt,Rana dybowskii&lt,/i&gt,) Across Age Groups.. 2026.
• An integrative assessment of Dactylosoma cf. ranarum (Apicomplexa: Dactylosomatidae) from Pelophylax water frogs.. 2026.
• Stage dependent plasticity and the evolution of a non-obligate cave dwelling life cycle in frogs.. 2026.
• The paddy frog genome provides insight into the molecular adaptations and regulation of hibernation in ectotherms. iScience, 2024.
• Meiotic analyses show adaptations to maintenance of fertility in X1Y1X2Y2X3Y3X4Y4X5Y5 system of amazon frog Leptodactylus pentadactylus (Laurenti, 1768). Scientific Reports, 2020.
• Overwintering adaptations and extreme freeze tolerance in a subarctic population of the wood frog, Rana sylvatica. Journal of Comparative Physiology □ B, 2018.
• Metabolic plasticity and gut microbiome synergy underlie high-altitude adaptation in the plateau frog Rana kukunoris: A multi-omics perspective.. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 2025.
• Differential Mitochondrial Genome Expression of Four Hylid Frog Species under Low-Temperature Stress and Its Relationship with Amphibian Temperature Adaptation. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2024.
• Transcriptomes reveal the genetic mechanisms underlying ionic regulatory adaptations to salt in the crab-eating frog. Scientific Reports, 2015.
• Behavioural and physiological adaptations to low-temperature environments in the common frog, Rana temporaria. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 2014.
• Use of xenopus frogs to study renal development/repair. Results and Problems in Cell Differentiation, 2017.
• Influence of High Temperatures and Heat Wave on Thermal Biology, Locomotor Performance, and Antioxidant System of High-Altitude Frog Nanorana pleskei Endemic to Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 2021.
• Activational vs. organizational effects of sex steroids and their role in the evolution of reproductive behavior: Looking to foot-flagging frogs and beyond. Hormones and Behavior, 2022.
• Identification and drug resistance of pathogen of ulcerative skin disease and its immune responses and protective efficacy after vaccination in a giant spiny frog, Quasipaa spinosa. Microbial Pathogenesis, 2024.

This article is educational and does not replace institutional policy, professional advice, or applicable safety and regulatory requirements.