"The Frogs in Prague Defy Catalog"

According to a research team at Charles University in Prague, the local amphibians have very peculiar migratory habits. In recent years, a new sub-species have been identified which is not native to the area around the Czech capitol. The research has been carried out with the help of many students and locals who have volunteered to contribute information about sightings and descriptions of these curious frogs, and upload this information to the research team's online catalog where it can be categorized and evaluated. This sort of grassroots (or perhaps toadstool) approach to data collection has been viewed by many skeptics as unorthodox, but it has yielded fast results. In the last few months, the team has been able to establish the spread of the new frogs throughout the surrounding community, but has yet to discover their origin or method of transportation.

"Frogs are not typically great migrators," says Professor Jacob Kroka, "They require large amounts of water for breeding and for food supply purposes. They do not travel easily over dry or mountainous areas."

Professor Kroka has suggested that perhaps predatory birds are responsible for the introduction of the unidentified species into Prague's streams and ponds.

"Obviously we're not talking about sparrows here. It would have to be a large bird like a heron or pelican that feed at the waters edge. It seems unlikely, but possibly a few live frogs or perhaps some frog eggs escaped the meal and made it back into the ecosystem." Kroka continues, "What I believe we have here is a hybridization of two species--one native and one from a neighboring area."

Early DNA results seems to corroborate Kroka's hybridization theory. While the two species that interbred have not been definitively identified, they have narrowed down the geographical scope. One of the parents, as per Kroka's suspicion, appears to be local. As for the other parent, Kroka states "It seems from our DNA analysis that they are all a tad Polish."