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Science

Three Headed Frog 135

Posted by michael from the with-picture dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Children in a nursery were shocked when they spotted a three-headed frog hopping in their garden."
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Three Headed Frog More

Three Headed Frog

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  • Obligatory (Score:5, Funny)

    by spood ( 256582 ) on Friday March 05, 2004 @12:53PM (#8476924) Homepage Journal
    Did they name it Blinky?
  • Well, there goes my goddamned lunch. Shoulda read the subtitle first.
    • if that makes your appetite go away why, oh why, are you reading slashdot?

      the pic of the frog isnt that disgusting even and like said on the article they're primitive animals(I'm pretty sure a mammal would have died of complications way much earlier). besides, siamese twins are much more 'disgusting' and happen on humans every now and then(albeit very rare).

      curious happening. hardly stuff that matters though.

      • Re:ugh (Score:5, Funny)

        by TwistedGreen ( 80055 ) on Friday March 05, 2004 @03:30PM (#8478636)
        curious happening. hardly stuff that matters though.

        What do you mean? It does matter! If anything, it's damn cool-looking. Mutants are neat.

        Think of it as a biological memory leak. ;)

      • Re:ugh (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Crazy Eight ( 673088 )
        Well, you've hit a strange subject that touches nether regions of the psyche there. To me, Siamese twins aren't nearly as "disgusting" as this creature, though one lower body with two torsos might come close. There's something about nature's mistakes when they happen at this level of sophistication -- between plant and mammal -- that hit me right in the creepy zone. As soon as I clicked the tab on the BBC story I clicked away before I could really grasp what this abomination looks like. There's a chthonic,
        • well some years ago there was a documentary on tv here about one(or two? two upper bodies iirc) such russian womans.

          Really strange though.

          but this frog doesn't really compare to them at all.

    • This is /. You're not supposed to RTFA.

  • Kermit and Piggy's Babies (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05, 2004 @12:56PM (#8476965)
    ....so this is what happens when a pig and a frog do the nasty?

  • Sad. (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I find it really sad that they're just going to keep it around living like this. I mean, I feel bad about killing it, but I think that it needs to be done. How can a creature with three heads and six legs like that thing, in the way it is put together, possibly have a comfortable life - even for a frog? It just looks confusing and painful and a terrible existance. It seems the humane thing to do would be to euthanize it..

    • Re:Sad. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by RCO ( 597148 ) on Friday March 05, 2004 @01:14PM (#8477162) Journal
      I don't know, it's seems to be doing pretty well as it is... Don't assume it's a terrible existence just because it's different from the norm.

      I'm sure that if you or I were thrown into an existence like that it might be unbearable, but things would become easier as we learned to cope, these frogs, as well as some humans, have never known another existence, therefore it isn't so unbearable to them.

    • That was my first reaction too.

    • Re:Sad. (Score:2, Interesting)

      by ag0ny ( 59629 )
      Don't forget we're talking about a frog. Something like this might be a real tragedy for a human being, because or our own social behaviour. But, from the social standpoint of a frog (if there's such a thing), I don't thing this is going to be a problem.

      I guess the definition of "happiness" for a frog would be something like "being healthy and well-fed". This one looks quite happy to me.
    • I find it really sad that they're just going to keep it around living like this. I mean, I feel bad about killing it, but I think that it needs to be done.

      Well, it's not like they had much of a choice. They kept it confined for a while, but then it hopped away on its own when it had the opportunity. Seems like it's doing it's froggy best to express a will to live...
    • It escaped, didn't it? If it can make it "over the wall", I'd say it's healthy enough. The only true evidence of survivability is actual survival. Unless you are a puppy or a baby seal, then the secret is to have a face that looks like a human baby.

      Note the reflexive conclusion in the article about pollution. A thousand years ago, gullible people might have thought a two headed goat was a sign the world was in danger. But in this enlightened time, we think a three headed frog is a sign that ... the e

  • If you listen closely... (Score:5, Funny)

    by NickDngr ( 561211 ) on Friday March 05, 2004 @12:59PM (#8476995) Journal
    ...you can hear them say "Bud-," "-weis-," "-er.'

  • Lake District (Score:1, Flamebait)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Is this in the Lake District, where you get all the radioactive Rain from the Irish Sea?

    There's this Nuke Refurbishing plant that dumps lots of radioactive junk into the Irish Sea in Shellafield (sp? geo?), so the Irish Sea is full of it, and Cancer rates along the Beaches have gone way up. Any connection, anyone?

  • I wonder.... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by SuDZ ( 450180 )
    Does it have three brains, the sets of other inards? Lets cut thtat froggy open and find out.

    SuDZ
    • I am afraid the children in the nursery actualy did try the separation surgery and now they have to resort to excuses like:

      "The mystery amphibian is currently the subject of a frog-hunt after it hopped away and disappeared as staff at the nursery showed it to curious parents."

  • Frogs Three (Score:5, Funny)

    by Undefined Parameter ( 726857 ) <<fuel4freedom> <at> <yahoo.com>> on Friday March 05, 2004 @01:05PM (#8477038)
    Relax, everyone, it's just the beta for Frogger 3.0.

    ~UP

  • OK, that's freaky (Score:5, Informative)

    by dacarr ( 562277 ) on Friday March 05, 2004 @01:05PM (#8477039) Homepage Journal
    I'm not exactly the squeamish type, but that kinda made me a bit queasy. Please be warned - this appears to be an odd fusion of three frogs.

  • Democracy meets Biology (Score:3, Funny)

    by stuffduff ( 681819 ) on Friday March 05, 2004 @01:07PM (#8477060) Journal
    I wonder how it decides where to go next? Each head has it's own tongue, so which fly to catch is not an issue, but:

    Where do you want to go today?

    Is a whole other question!

    • Re:Democracy meets Biology (Score:5, Funny)

      by Cy Guy ( 56083 ) * on Friday March 05, 2004 @01:27PM (#8477285) Homepage Journal
      I wonder how it decides where to go next?

      Obligatory Holy Grail [amazon.com] quote:
      ALL HEADS:
      You're a Knight of the Round Table?
      ROBIN:
      I am.
      LEFT HEAD:
      In that case, I shall have to kill you.
      MIDDLE HEAD:
      Shall I?
      RIGHT HEAD:
      Oh, I don't think so.
      MIDDLE HEAD:
      Well, what do I think?
      LEFT HEAD:
      I think kill him.
      RIGHT HEAD:
      Oh, let's be nice to him.
      LEFT HEAD:
      Oh, shut up.
      ROBIN:
      Perhaps I could--
      LEFT HEAD:
      And you. Oh, quick! Get the sword out. I want to cut his head off!
      RIGHT HEAD:
      Oh, cut your own head off!
      MIDDLE HEAD:
      Yes, do us all a favour!
      LEFT HEAD:
      What?
      RIGHT HEAD:
      Yapping on all the time.
      MIDDLE HEAD:
      You're lucky. You're not next to him.
      LEFT HEAD:
      What do you mean?
      MIDDLE HEAD:
      You snore!
      LEFT HEAD:
      Oh, I don't. Anyway, you've got bad breath.
      MIDDLE HEAD:
      Well, it's only because you don't brush my teeth.
      RIGHT HEAD:
      Oh, stop bitching and let's go have tea.
      LEFT HEAD:
      Oh, all right. All right. All right. We'll kill him first and then have tea and biscuits.
      MIDDLE HEAD:
      Yes.
      RIGHT HEAD:
      Oh, not biscuits.
      LEFT HEAD:
      All right. All right, not biscuits, but let's kill him anyway.
      ALL HEADS:
      Right!
      MIDDLE HEAD:
      He buggered off.
      RIGHT HEAD:
      So he has. He's scarpered.


  • It just looks like a big pile of frog parts, all mashed together!

  • really freaky... (Score:5, Informative)

    by advocate_one ( 662832 ) on Friday March 05, 2004 @01:09PM (#8477100)
    watching on tv last night on the local section of the news...

    It's not a hoax, there really are three heads and most of three bodies merged on that animal... but only two forelegs but I was unable to determine exactly how many rear legs there were... but then again frog's bums don't exactly appeal to me either...

  • Sure looks to me like the more common 2-headed frog sitting on top of the ususal 1-headed model...note all the extra feet/legs.
  • I saw an episode of the x-files...Where UFO radiation caused anything touching to become one thing when it flew over them. There was a lizard with it's head stuck in a rock, a gas station attendant got stuck to the floor. The funniest though was a couple of horny teenagers that got their heads entangled while making out.

    The picture looks more like 3 frogs got 'stuck' together rather than a frog with 3 heads.

  • Three heads is fine, but... (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ...how many asses [techiehost.com] does it have?

  • it's still alive... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by runswithd6s ( 65165 ) on Friday March 05, 2004 @01:16PM (#8477180) Homepage
    If this isn't a hoax (it's not April 1st yet), it's quite amazing that the frog has lived as long as it has. That frog is lucky, I tell ya.
    • Lucky to be alive? Some would say that killing it would be an act of mercy.
    • From the article: The mystery amphibian is currently the subject of a frog-hunt after it hopped away and disappeared as staff at the nursery showed it to curious parents.

      I'd give it a day or two before declaring that it's real, to give them time to recapture the frog and study it. Even if there were lots of eyewitnesses, the strength of super glue is really quite amazing.

  • Mythological Typographical Error (Score:5, Funny)

    by roberto0 ( 242247 ) <roberto0 AT gmail DOT com> on Friday March 05, 2004 @01:23PM (#8477244) Journal
    Is this the frog that guards the gates of Hades? No, that's three-headed dog.

    Maybe this is the guy who guards the gates of Froggy-Hell!!!

  • And I will call you Cerberus... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Big Sean O ( 317186 ) on Friday March 05, 2004 @01:28PM (#8477298)
    Obviously we're very close to the entry of Amphibian Hell.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerberus.

    Be on the lookout for a Newt called Heracles!
  • One more location that I won't drink the water. Two heads is enough for me.

  • Canaries in the coal mine baby! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Inexile2002 ( 540368 ) * on Friday March 05, 2004 @01:29PM (#8477310) Homepage Journal
    Frogs are more sensitive to environmental pollutants and toxins because they're able to absorb many of them directly through their skin. They're developmentally simple animals so mutations show up more easily in their external morphology. Interestingly, since frogs eggs are separate cells and the membrane (which also absorbs toxins) would probably prevent three developmental frogs from sticking, this is one frog that has developed three frogs - not some sort of conjoined twin thing. (Although the difference there is a matter of degree, not kind.)

    This is the most dramatic example of what I've seen yet but frog mutations are extremely common. Check out this [state.mn.us], or this (warning more gross pics) [state.mn.us]. Does anyone but me wonder why we tolerate this level of contamination in our environment? I'm not a Green but I do object to being poisoned for some companies bottom line.
    • Um, maybe because of the first line of your post? Frogs are hypersensitive to this stuff. What mutates a frog doesn't even make a human baby burp.

      ---
      Ruling people is easy. Make them terrified then offer to deliver them from their fear.

      • Re:Canaries in the coal mine baby! (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Hadean ( 32319 ) <`hadean.dragon+s ... `at' `gmail.com'> on Friday March 05, 2004 @02:31PM (#8477960)
        So when do we stop? When snakes start to grow heads at both ends? When deer start getting extra legs? Pollution is a cumulative thing - if there's enough now to cause mutations in frogs to this degree, pretty soon it WILL start affecting mammals such as ourselves (if it hasn't already).

        I never understood why people just don't care about this type of thing, even though there's horrible proof right in their faces.

        It's like a friend driving his Hummer down the smog-filled street (and not capable of seeing the tops of the skyscrapers) but telling me that pollution is just a big scare by all the environmentalists and that there's nothing wrong - HE'S HEALTHY. Although I'm not Green either (like the grandparent post), I can't understand the reasoning. What will it take to change their minds?

        Whoa. /rant off.
        • We keep going till there are chickens with ten pairs of drumsticks and thighs. ;) Maybe then KFC would lower the darn price on their 20-pc buckets.

          Or in software terms:
          One man's bug is another's feature. (mutation or wide-scale genetic engineering?)
        • Hadean sez: "So when do we stop?"

          At very latest, when there are so few left that we no longer can have a significant impact on the ecosphere. Frankly I doubt we'll stop until the situation ensures that outcome, although it hadn't occurred yet.

    • No cause have been found for those frogs in MN, other than random mutation. There is no more or less polution in that area then other places where frogs live normally. The mutation doesn't strongly stop the ability of frogs to breed, so you get more of them.

      If this was a different discussion you would call them proff of evolution.

      • Re:Partially discredited (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Inexile2002 ( 540368 ) * on Friday March 05, 2004 @03:28PM (#8478615) Homepage Journal
        Can you supply some references? Because who it's been discredited by and who paid for the studies (assuming you're siting studies) matters in these things. Frankly, I don't buy it. There are frog mutations all over (not just in England or MN) and dramatic increases in them that coincide with the rise of toxins in the environment. I'm going to go dig up the article I read about it and post a link in a bit. Got to get back to work now though.
        • Because who it's been discredited by and who paid for the studies (assuming you're siting studies) matters in these things.

          That's an ad hominem attack, and one common among liberals. Can't fight the facts? Fight the "motivation" of the people who presented them.

          The same technique could be applied to the page you linked, ya know. State bureaucracies only grow when they have something that "needs doing", so of course a state environmental agency will find problems in the environment. That's the reason for
          • That's an ad hominem attack, and one common among liberals. Can't fight the facts? Fight the "motivation" of the people who presented them.

            Both the people commonly called "liberals" and "conservatives" view other worldviews with a high degree of suspicion, and so this sort of attack is rather common in both camps.

            State bureaucracies only grow when they have something that "needs doing", so of course a state environmental agency will find problems in the environment.

            This is roughly equivalent to saying

    • Green in a nutshell (Score:5, Interesting)

      by ghostlibrary ( 450718 ) on Friday March 05, 2004 @02:45PM (#8478094) Homepage Journal
      >I'm not a Green but I do object to being poisoned for some companies bottom line.

      Err, I think you summarized the entire Green platform with that last bit. Beware, due to pollution and toxins, you might mutate into a Green, oh no!

      Myself, I'm not a libertarian, I just want less government. I'm not a republican, I just want lower taxes. I'm not a democrat, I just want a lower debt. And I'm not an anarchist, I just post to slashdot occassionally :)

      • True that an exception to being poisoned is part of the Green platform... and just saying that out loud makes me feel weird... I mean, who's for being poisoned. Just that the "Green" ideology embraces much more than a strong objection to toxins in our environment.

        Not that I disagree with most of it - most of what the environmentalists say makes sense on at least some levels. But that doesn't mean that that's the core of my politics and I believe that sometimes other things do take precedent over conserva
        • Actually I think the statement "I'm not a Green but I do object to being poisoned for some companies bottom line." pretty much is the Green party line. Blaming all the worlds problems on big business is what the green party is all about, not environmentalism.
      • >I'm not a Green but I do object to being poisoned for some companies bottom line.

        Err, I think you summarized the entire Green platform with that last bit.

        Hardly. There's nothing inherently Green about wanting a clean environment. I know I do. Now if he had insisted that be go back to an agrarian society, or more accurately, a Stone-age society, then he would be a Green.

        • Now if he had insisted that be go back to an agrarian society, or more accurately, a Stone-age society, then he would be a Green.

          May I suggest you read up on Bruce Sterling's "Veridian Green" movement [viridiandesign.org]? May I suggest you consider the existence of Green technophiles? (Do you think the people who put up Green Party websites [google.com] want to return to the neolithic?)

          The key values of the Green party [gp.org] are: grassroots democracy, social justice and equal opportunity, ecological wisdom, non-violence, decentralization,

          • The key values of the Green party are: grassroots democracy, social justice and equal opportunity, ecological wisdom, non-violence, decentralization, community-based economics and economic justice, feminism and gender equity, respect for diversity, personal and global responsibility, and future focus and sustainability.

            Yes, and each and every one of those terms is so broad and vague that they could apply to almost every political party on the planet.

            Who would argue with "social justice" or "equal opportu
            • Yes, and each and every one of those terms is so broad and vague that they could apply to almost every political party on the planet.

              Follow the link [gp.org]. Ask yourself how the Republicans and the Democrats stack up against these values.

    • Chernobyl mice [antenna.nl] are changing due to pollution, just a lot faster. The link discusses how mice have mutated more in the last 20 years than in the last 15 million, points out that pollution does have its effect. This is just anonter example of how life is changing, for the better or for the worse. I would guess that due to pollution, we are getting more copies of DNA in sensitive animals for redundency, but if those copies all express themselves, you might get more legs as an example.

      Another though

  • sensationalism... bleh... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Free_Meson ( 706323 ) on Friday March 05, 2004 @01:31PM (#8477335)
    The creature - which has six legs - has stunned BBC wildlife experts who warned it could be an early warning of environmental problems.


    When there are a few hundred documented cases of this it's time to be alarmed. Here, it looks like a few eggs failed to adequately separate. I doubt the frogs even have the same DNA. The fact that their pond was 2-3 Kelvin warmer than it would have been 50 years ago has nothing to do with this freak occurance.

  • The next thing you know... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Muad'Dave ( 255648 ) on Friday March 05, 2004 @01:36PM (#8477412) Homepage

    You'll see these suckers in tanks in French restaurants like seafood places have lobsters. Oo-la-la! Ze Seks leg'ed frog!

  • nature didn't remember the game well...
    it's supposed to be a three headed MONKEY
  • does that mean you need 3 bicycle pumps to inflate it then?..
  • Yes, but does it have five asses?!

  • The real question is (Score:4, Interesting)

    by doconnor ( 134648 ) on Friday March 05, 2004 @02:01PM (#8477669) Homepage
    What did it look like when it was a tadpole?
  • Bat-Boy has been photographed out on the town with Lisa-Marie!

    Hm.

    Well, two-headed snakes are not all that exceedingly rare. I've not heard of three-headed reptiles or amphibians, but I have seen frogs with six or more legs, had a friend who was born with a six fingers on each hand, and once had a pet cat with three extra paws. The system seems pretty well written, but there are still some bugs.

  • I could imagine....
    "Oh no! We're STUCK!"
  • transcription errors from its journey to Midieval France.

  • Wonder if you get a bonus if you lick that frog.

  • Is this even real? (Score:3, Informative)

    by jpsowin ( 325530 ) on Friday March 05, 2004 @03:08PM (#8478376) Homepage
    The photo is fake. The news article says that some people saw it but it got away. So they are merely going on what a few people said and now they are showing a fake frog picture to "prove" it. They're currently "looking" for the frog that was spoken of.

    Fishy?
    • The news article says that some people saw it but it got away.

      And after they took all those pictures they didn't think to take it inside? What really makes me suspicious is that a 3-frog fusion managed to get away and hide from a whole daycare full of kids and their parents. How fast could it possibly go?

    • Well, if it's a fake it's a really good one. Saw a film of it on the news (in the UK) last night. Breathing like a normal frog, well... three normal frogs.

  • Frog Just Doing What Comes Naturally (Score:3, Informative)

    by cmjensen ( 30043 ) * <cjensen@acm.org> on Friday March 05, 2004 @03:08PM (#8478382)
    That's not a mutant frog. That's frog porn.

    Doesn't anybody remember this [meepzorp.com] hoax which turned out [frogs.org] to be pretty much the same thing? Here [livejournal.com] is a good discussion of the issue

  • 3 big mouths (Score:4, Funny)

    by oever ( 233119 ) on Friday March 05, 2004 @03:32PM (#8478654) Homepage
    I bet Steve Balmer is jealous: 3 big mouths and good legs for jumping around.

  • More Pictures! (Score:5, Informative)

    by dnahelix ( 598670 ) <slashdotispieceofshit@shithome.com> on Friday March 05, 2004 @03:34PM (#8478688)
    This is truly freaky!

    More Pictures Here. [local6.com]
  • It's a set of congenital ("Siamese") triplet frogs. I saw the media describe a pair of human siamese twins that way pretty recently too (two-headed child or something to that effect). I couldn't help thinking how offended I would be if (hypothetically speaking) my Siamese-twin brother and I were collectively referred to as a single two-headed person. But then, I doubt the frogs care.
  • Clearly, somebody's having BrundleFly issues.
  • Why were the shocked? It is uncommon, but not unknown. .
  • It is very possible that the three headed frog is actually three separate frogs. The one on the bottom would be a female and the two on her back would be males. This how frogs mate. The two male frogs are simply holding onto the female, waiting for her lay her eggs. Once she does that, they will fertilize the eggs. Usually, only one male frog gets to do the honors, but in this case there were two. Maybe they were buddies.
    • You mean a gang-bang? Boy, wanna see a frog with 5 heads? Get her to do the DVDA shot.
    • >It is very possible that the three headed frog is >actually three separate frogs. The one on the >bottom would be a female and the two on her back >would be males. This how frogs mate. Actually I saw a video of the frog on CNN which is how I heard about it. It's actually a singular entity... Conjoined twins as one poster pointed out. You can see in the video as the skin on one of the heads merges seemlessly with another one of the frogs... The skin color even changes in a slight fade. When it
  • It wouldn't bump its asses when it hopped.

  • Twins (Score:1)

    by NeGz ( 629279 )
    I took the liberty of not reading the majority of previous posts, but this didn't seem like that big of a deal to me.

    When someone first (belatedly) spoke of a three headed frog on IRC I assumed they meant a three headed parasitic twin type affair (ie. two useless heads growing out of a frog) but it seems more like siamese triplets to me. I mean, I'm more a tech geek than a science one, but don't most people cover thant kind of stuff in high school? Incorrectly separated embryos and all that.

    Incidentally
  • It's not so much a 3 headed frog as it is 3 frogs stuck together. Frogs lay a "gob-o-eggs" which stick together for a while (presumably to make them easier to fertilize) then drift apart after fertilization (presumably to make it more difficult for something to eat ALL of them). Aparently something, either chance or environment, made 3 of these eggs stick together. Frogs are pretty simple critters so things that might kill some other critter doesn't kill a frog. So it's not that frogs are really more pr
  • Being a frog like that might not be all that bad to some people. Dates automatically qualify as orgies. Heck, even masturbation could be an orgie... Oh I feel so sick right now.

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