越長越小的青蛙

The Pseudis Paradoxa is the Benjamin Button equivalent of the amphibian world. The paradoxical creature starts off as a 25-cm-long tadpole and shrinks as it grows. ending up as a small tropical frog, about a quarter of its original size.

奇異多指節(jié)蛙是和《返老還童》里的Benjamin Button類似的兩棲類動物，它是一種反常的生物。當(dāng)它還是蝌蚪的時候身子長度差不多有25厘米，但是等它成年后變?yōu)榍嗤芎髤s只有蝌蚪狀態(tài)的四分之一長。

When biologists discovered the paradoxical frog in the South American wild,they were understandably confused. At first, they thought the adult frogs were actually the babies, which later grew into giant tadpoles, exactly the opposite of how every other frog species in the world develops. They later figured out that the 11-inch tadpoles were indeed the juveniles, but still couldn’t explain the bizarre phenomenon.

當(dāng)生物學(xué)家第一次在南美洲野外發(fā)現(xiàn)這種青蛙時，他們也和一般人一樣感到非常困惑。起初他們懷疑其實成年青蛙才是它們的嬰幼兒時期，而蝌蚪是它們的成年狀態(tài)，也就是和普通青蛙完全相反的進(jìn)化過程。但后來他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，25厘米長的蝌蚪的確是它們的未成年狀態(tài)，只是仍然還無法解釋為什么會出現(xiàn)這樣奇怪的現(xiàn)象。

Luckily for Pseudis Paradoxa females, they don’t give live birth. Instead, the lay normal size eggs which later hatch into tadpoles that grow continuously for four months. As they morph into froglets, the giant babies lose their tales, which make up most of their overgrown bodies. Adult paradoxical frogs measure around 2.5 inches, pretty standard for tropical frogs.

雌性奇異多指節(jié)蛙很幸運地不需要把活生生的生命產(chǎn)下來，它們只需要把正常大小的卵子下到水里，卵子受精后化成蝌蚪，再連續(xù)在水里游四個月。在這之后，巨大的蝌蚪的尾巴會消失，而尾巴是它們身體長度的主要組成部分，成年奇異多指節(jié)蟾大概長2.5英寸(6.35厘米)，這個長度是熱帶青蛙的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)長度。

The green frog with dark green stripes is a species of hylid frog from South America. It inhabits ponds, lakes and lagoons from northern Argentina through the Pantanal, Amazon, and the Guianas, to Venezuela and Trinidad.

奇異多指節(jié)蛙身上有深綠色條紋，是來自南美洲的一種青蛙，棲息于阿根廷北部、潘塔納爾濕地、亞馬遜河域、圭亞那、委內(nèi)瑞拉和特立尼達(dá)的池塘、湖泊及咸水湖。

Pseudis Paradoxa feed on larvae, small insects, and tiny invertebrates. As nocturnal creatures, they spend most of their lives in water. Their croaks supposedly sound like pigs’ oinks, adding to their paradoxical nature.

它們的食物有小蟲、幼魚和極小的無脊椎動物。作為夜間活動的生物，它們大部分時間都待在水里。叫聲聽起來很像豬叫，又成為它們“奇異”的一點。