The fossils were discovered in 45-million-year-old swampy coastlands.
Sex can be a death trap for modern toad and frog species. Individuals are regularly overcome by exhaustion and drown. Female frogs and toads are at higher risk of drowning as they are often submerged underwater by one or more males. Even today, mass toad graves are found on migration routes and near or in mating ponds. This was likely to be the same situation for the Geiseltal specimens.
The most likely explanation for why there are several groups of frogs, each numbering in the hundreds, that died almost at the same time in different ponds is that their enthusiastic mating killed them. It explains why similar mass graves have been found in different parts of the world.was closed for decades but recently reopened to the public and scientists. It is an incredible time capsule of over 50,000 fossils from the former lignite opencast mine in the Geiseltal.
The fossils include crocodiles, huge snakes, giant flightless birds, and dog-sized primeval horses. Many of the Geiseltal fossils are so well preserved they show remarkable details, including bones, scales, skin, internal organs, and gut contents.Don’t take frogs for granted While these mating deaths sound extreme, a far more common cause of frog and toad mortality is humans destroying their homes, polluting water sources, and spreading disease.
Frogs and toads survived several climate changes and extinction events on earth. However, some species have gone extinct. In 2021 one of theA
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