What is it about?
Certain colors help animals blend into their surroundings, allowing them to avoid detection by predators or prey. In many species, multiple color morphs coexist, offering camouflage advantages across different habitats. However, the evolutionary mechanisms that maintain this color diversity within species and its role in driving species diversification remain poorly understood. Our study reveals that in frogs, multiple color morphs can persist for millions of years, and this diversity is linked to increased speciation and shifts in habitat use.
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Photo by Michael Steinman on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Our findings suggest that having multiple camouflaging colors helps frog and toad species survive and spread into new environments. This color diversity can make populations more adaptable, helping them persist through environmental changes.
Perspectives
I hope this paper shows that even the most common and not-so-flashy species, like green and brown frogs, can reveal exciting evolutionary stories. These widespread colors offer important insights on how frog and toad populations move, adapt, and persist over time and across different environments. By paying closer attention to what seems ordinary, we can gain a deeper understanding of the forces that shape biodiversity.
Sandra Goutte
New York University Abu Dhabi
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Long-term evolutionary persistence of a cryptic color polymorphism in frogs, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, September 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2425898122.
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