Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Frog Resembles X-Men's Wolverine

Posted by samzenpus on from the magneto-newt-is-not-happy dept.

sciencehabit writes "Scientists have discovered a frog with retractable claws that pierce its skin every time they come out. What's more, the researchers believe the frog heals itself after pulling its claws back in."

59 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. Sweet! by Plazmid · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Now if we could only find the genes responsible for making the retractable claws and get gene therapy to work...

    1. Re:Sweet! by HTTP+Error+403+403.9 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Gonna have to update the X-Men movie.

      "Do you know what happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning? It extracts its claws and starts shredding ass."

      --
      I'm not a Troll, it's reverse psychology.
    2. Re:Sweet! by Renraku · · Score: 1

      Genes just don't work that way.

      Think of genes as a blueprint..the blueprint everyone is familiar with. And you have a five story building on that blueprint.

      You don't build the building from the ground up. First you have to build the structure and foundation, and make sure its all stable. Then you can start working your way from the outside, in. Or from the inside, out in some cases. But the important part is the scaffolding. The scaffold being the egg or the womb or the seed or whatever. A lot of the time what happens is that the part (fingers on hands, for example) are grown as one big outcropping with a few pointy bones inside, and cells die off around the portions that will later be known as fingers.

      I would imagine for something this drastic to be changed, your hands might need to be lopped off and the wound left open and exposed while you're floating in a vat of liquid similar to a womb..maybe even hooked up to a blood oxygenator and nutrient delivery system as well..while your hand healed to its new shape.

      Then you get into the whole business of genes turning on and off..thats where it really gets messy.

      --
      Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
    3. Re:Sweet! by Wandering+Wombat · · Score: 3, Funny

      This is why the Michael Moore X-Men Documentary did so poorly at the box office...

      --
      I like to place meaningful quotes in my sig, so people will know that I know what meaningful quotes are.
    4. Re:Sweet! by rkanodia · · Score: 1

      I'd say a better analogy would be that genes are like a recipe, or a piece of software (same thing?). A blueprint is a diagram of what the finished product will be like. A recipe is a set of processes to follow to create the product.

      Maybe the bone spur was added to the frog's un-Wolverine-like ancestor by inserting "Simmer the small pan for 3 minutes while stirring in sugar" in between lines 62345 and 62346 of the recipe, but it's not that easy to do in humans. After all, who the hell knows what we have in the small pan after completing line 62345, and what will happen to it if it simmers?

    5. Re:Sweet! by OneLeggedNinja · · Score: 1

      Nah, lopping off limbs is so barbaric. A simpler solution is to hit undo several billion times until you get to your "seed" state, next insert your updated code, and then fast forward ... and presto: brand new, claw sporting individual.

      --
      It was hard to write, it should be hard to use...
    6. Re:Sweet! by Heather+D · · Score: 1

      And it's the best frog there is at what it does.

  2. Neat by bobwrit · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now, let's use it as a weapon.

    --
    -- (this is a sig) My Computer Programming Forumhttp://www.programers.co.nr/
    1. Re:Neat by ILuvRamen · · Score: 2, Funny

      hey who says nobody has? Remember the best slashdot story EVER about the australian military being called in to handle an invasion of frogs in part of Australia? (if you don't remember it, seriously go look it up) You don't just send in the military for frogs. Obviously they were clawed war frogs send by terrorists ;)

      --
      Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
  3. But by adona1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Unless the claws help it cross a busy road and jump on logs & the backs of turtles, it probably won't assist frogs in the long term...

    --
    Between the falling angel and the rising ape
  4. How about retractable... by gardyloo · · Score: 3, Funny

    apostrophes? That'd be sweet.

    1. Re:How about retractable... by zippthorne · · Score: 5, Funny

      The frog's name is resemble. The article is about his wolverine doll.

      --
      Can you be Even More Awesome?!
    2. Re:How about retractable... by ari_j · · Score: 1

      Apo'strophe's'

    3. Re:How about retractable... by batquux · · Score: 1

      Please, it's an action figure!

  5. resemble's? by thedak · · Score: 1

    "resemble's"? really now?

    And yeah, definitely have to isolate that gene and get me some gene therapy. What I wouldn't give for some wolverine-style retractable claws.

    1. Re:resemble's? by maxume · · Score: 3, Informative

      With no adamantium you'd have the craze inducing fragile bone claws. I imagine it would hurt a rather large amount.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    2. Re:resemble's? by MarkAyen · · Score: 1

      That's not the worst of it. Without Wolverine's regenerative abilities, having the claws pop out through your skin would be a real limited-use thing.

    3. Re:resemble's? by maxume · · Score: 1

      The summary implies that the frog has extra healing ability, so I was giving the benefit of the doubt to the gene splicers.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
  6. Wolfie? by KilgoreTroutman · · Score: 4, Funny

    A frog that dresses in tight black leather and looks like Hugh Jackman? Are you sure you didn't just discover the French stuntman for the next X-Men movie?

    1. Re:Wolfie? by chill · · Score: 3, Funny

      It was the cigar and bad attitude that gave it away.

      --
      Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
    2. Re:Wolfie? by PipsqueakOnAP133 · · Score: 1

      Wait what? Wolverine is played by Duke Nukem?

  7. Re:Decoy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Loudly and repetitively.

  8. Grammar 101 by BiggerIsBetter · · Score: 4, Funny

    Which of the following are appropriate use of an apostophe?

    1) To form possessives of nouns
    2) To show the omission of letters
    3) To indicate certain plurals of lowercase letters.
    4) Look out! Here comes an s!

    --
    Forget thrust, drag, lift and weight. Airplanes fly because of money.
    1. Re:Grammar 101 by Vectronic · · Score: 4, Funny

      2) To show the omission of letters

      Resemblifies = Resemble's, duhh...

    2. Re:Grammar 101 by LearnToSpell · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's 2, of course, but you forgot it in apost'ophe.

      And, as always, http://www.angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif

      --
      Haida Manga
    3. Re:Grammar 101 by Vectronic · · Score: 2, Funny

      OMG what a capastrophe!!

    4. Re:Grammar 101 by jonadab · · Score: 2

      I'm just waiting for people to start putting apostrophes in possessive personal pronouns: her's, hi's, it's... Oh, wait, they already do that last one.

      --
      Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
    5. Re:Grammar 101 by MagicM · · Score: 2, Informative

      5) As a glottal stop.

      Ko'tal.

    6. Re:Grammar 101 by Brynath · · Score: 1

      I'm just waiting for people to start putting apostrophes in possessive personal pronouns: her's, hi's, it's... Oh, wait, they already do that last one. That is called "it is" which is a valid word.
    7. Re:Grammar 101 by immcintosh · · Score: 1

      Or for maybe a more familiar example, Hawai'i. Although in that example the apostrophe has come to actually be neglected most of the time. (Hawaiian language is full of glottal stops; almost every island has one in its name)

    8. Re:Grammar 101 by jonadab · · Score: 1

      Yes, and that ought to be obvious, but I'm afraid sometimes people get them confused and use it's for the possessive by analogy with nouns.

      I've also seen "your's" occasionally, which for some reason doesn't bother me as much as switching "your" with "you're". I haven't yet seen me's. I've seen I's and they's, but not as possessives. (The uses of those that I've seen were contractions for "I is" and "they is", respectively, subject-verb agreement rules notwithstanding).

      --
      Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
    9. Re:Grammar 101 by AhtirTano · · Score: 1

      Except for the fact that we don't generally write glottal stops in English. In one of the few cases were we do, we use a hyphen: uh-oh (and not everyone does that).

    10. Re:Grammar 101 by Brynath · · Score: 1

      Yuck!! I's sick at the thought of that
      err I mean
      I is...
      I am...
      No really I am.

    11. Re:Grammar 101 by geekoid · · Score: 1

      5) In a way the irritate's the grammar police the worst.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  9. I see the lawsuit now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Marvel Comics Group sues nature for $1.5 Billion

    1. Re:I see the lawsuit now by bobwrit · · Score: 1, Funny

      ...and wins

      --
      -- (this is a sig) My Computer Programming Forumhttp://www.programers.co.nr/
    2. Re:I see the lawsuit now by Supurcell · · Score: 2, Funny

      Nature files for bankruptcy.

    3. Re:I see the lawsuit now by dpilot · · Score: 1

      Then nature "offers" to release a gigaton or so of methane hydrates unless the ruling is overturned.

      As long as you don't have large-scale space transportation, colonies, etc, you can't beat Planet Earth.

      --
      The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
  10. Obligatory... by J'ai+Friedpork · · Score: 5, Funny

    Famous Last Words

    --
    Took this comment seriously, did you?
  11. Frog like wolverine? by jollyreaper · · Score: 2, Funny

    Guess he doesn't like Cyclops, either.

    --
    Kwisatz Haderach
    Sell the spice to CHOAM
    This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
    1. Re:Frog like wolverine? by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 2, Funny

      He does keep stalking that red-haired fox.

  12. New Addition to Frog Vocabulary by AbsoluteXyro · · Score: 1

    What do froggies say? SNIKT!

  13. Additionally by Fieryphoenix · · Score: 2, Funny

    Also, the frogs grow mutton chops.

    1. Re:Additionally by Mr.+Competence · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You mean like this?
      Males of the species, which grows to about 11 centimetres, also produce long hair-like strands of skin and arteries when they breed.

      --
      Those who open their minds too far often let their brains fall out.
    2. Re:Additionally by norminator · · Score: 1

      Wow, according to the article you linked to, the frogs actually break their own bones to pop the claws out.

      These frogs really are badass.

    3. Re:Additionally by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Meh, I've done worse to get laid.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  14. What's more... by bchernicoff · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What's more, the researchers believe the frog heals itself after pulling its claws back in.

    If the frog didn't heal after pulling the claws back then the claws wouldn't be piercing its skin

    1. Re:What's more... by aXis100 · · Score: 1

      I thought that too at first, but then realised:

      1) The first time they're used, the claw will pierce the skin
      2) The claws may not retract, and even if they do the wound may or may not heal
      3) If they do retract, subsequent times they might come out the same open wound.

    2. Re:What's more... by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 1

      I know, I have to tear new holes in my forearms every time I get into a bar fight. Stupid healing factor! Ribbit!

      --
      You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
  15. Am I the only one... by BattleApple · · Score: 1

    that was expecting to see a frog with enormous sideburns?

    I'm actually kinda disappointed.

  16. Superpowers by H0D_G · · Score: 1

    Wait, so Toad should have claws instead?

    --
    Kids! Bringing about Armageddon can be dangerous. Do not attempt it in your home!
    1. Re:Superpowers by Petrushka · · Score: 1

      Wait, so Toad should have claws instead?

      Ye gods and little fishlets! Let Badgers, Rats, and Moles everywhere watch out.

  17. New 2008 Stocking stuffer by EEPROMS · · Score: 1

    I can see this as the must have pet this Christmas..

    Little Kid" Meh, its just a frog (SWOOOSH!!) COOOL!! CLAAAWS!!...(evil glint in eyes), Hey sis want to see my new pet"

  18. Resembles Wovlerine? by Qbertino · · Score: 1

    Well, I personally think the eyes are a bit big, the mouth a little to wide and it lacks the sideburns but then again the only version of Wolverine I know and care about is the one played by Hugh Jackman in the recent X-Men movies.
    Maybe the older comic version of Wolverine are closer to the mark ... that would explain why I'm not really interested in them. :-)

    *Ta-Dum!* *Crash!* *Thud!* ... Thank you, thank you, I'm here all week. Try the fish.

    --
    We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
  19. I'm the Duke of Wellington, you insensitive clod! by Bloke+down+the+pub · · Score: 1

    You don't just send in the military for frogs.
    Depends which kind of frogs. There's one kind that are timid, slimy, disorganised creatures with little capacity for organised aggression, and then there's the ones that are a bit like toads.
    --
    It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.
  20. From birth by Thelasko · · Score: 1

    So, are this frog's claws present at birth, or are they a side effect of an experiment involving adamantium?
    end sarcasm

    --
    One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
  21. Wrong pic by Cowclops · · Score: 2, Informative

    The stock frog picture in the article isn't even an African Clawed Frog. They look more like this: http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/frogs/gallery/featured.php?image=6&page=featured/index

    And live underwater.

    1. Re:Wrong pic by BioTeX · · Score: 1

      No, they're not talking about clawed frogs (family Pipidae), which have ordinary non-retractable, keratin claws. These Artholeptidae frogs have claws made of sharpened bone that pierce through the skin, something really unprecedented. So yeah, African frog with claws != African clawed frog

  22. Obligitory... by 7Prime · · Score: 1

    Hello my baby,
    Hello my darlin'
    Hello my rag time gal!

    --
    Multiplayer Gaming (defined): Sitting around, discussing single-player games with my friends, at the bar.