All about Wallace’s flying frogs whose babies look like poop as a nature’s smart trick

Wallace’s flying frog juveniles sport a striking red and white pattern, mimicking poop to deter predators. Researchers confirmed this unusual camouflage strategy, finding that models resembling the juvenile frogs’ coloration were attacked significantly less by birds. This adaptation allows the vulnerable young frogs to survive by being perceived as inedible.

Nature loves a good disguise, and one type of baby frog has nailed one of the grossest forms- looking like poop!That might sound like an AI-generated inspiration, but nature is way ahead!These unique creatures are Wallace’s flying frogs, those vibrant gliders from Southeast Asia’s rainforests, which start life as tiny survivors betting on camouflage.Named after explorer Alfred Russel Wallace who found the first specimen in the 1800s, these frogs glide between trees with webbed feet.But something even more interesting about their juveniles is that they have a bright red body dotted with white spots, resembling poop!

Why do these frogs have a poop-like appearance?

Wallace’s flying frogs

Researchers at Vienna’s Schönbrunn Zoo, the world’s oldest zoo, collaborated with the University of Vienna on a study of Wallace’s flying frog.Led by Susanne Stueckler, the team published their work in the journal, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. They examined the unusual colour patterns of juvenile frogs that have red bodies with white dots, which appear highly visible yet effectively keep predators away.“The young frogs probably count on the fact that they will be seen but considered something inedible,” Stueckler explained. Adults change to iconic green camouflage after a year, and spots fade as they glide confidently. Because juveniles are too vulnerable to fly far, they need ground cover to hide from predators.

Researchers tested this technique with wax models

To test the hypothesis, researchers created wax models in frog colours: plain red, green, and red with white spots, matching the juveniles. They placed these in the zoo’s rainforest house, which keeps birds that hunt using colour vision.According to the research, it was found that plain red models faced high attack rates. Green models experienced fewer attacks, as they blended with leaves. Red-with-white-spot models saw attacks drop by half.“We show that the unusual colour pattern of juveniles likely functions as a masquerade of animal droppings,” the authors stated. They described it as an “anti-predator strategy… so that predators misidentified them as inedible objects.”

But why poop?

Predators avoid feces, due to disease risk and bad taste. The red-white is similar to bird or mammal droppings common in jungles.