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Biological Miracle – Wood Frog

(www.nps.gov)
503 points thunderbong | 1 comments | 15 Nov 24 18:16 UTC | HN request time: 0.199s | source
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pcthrowaway ◴[15 Nov 24 21:50 UTC] No.42151576[source]▶
Now I'm wondering all kinds of things about their brain. Are they capable of forming memories, and would they retain those memories after a freeze/thaw cycle?

Effectively they're dead when they freeze. I'm assuming there's no brain activity.. Which means when they thaw they're being restored to life. I wonder if any other animals experience this

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card_zero ◴[15 Nov 24 22:07 UTC] No.42151743[source]▶
Reading about them, it seems they migrate in winter (like half a mile uphill), but the adults always return to the same breeding pond in spring, so that information is stored somewhere.
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1. jon_richards ◴[16 Nov 24 00:29 UTC] No.42152971[source]▶
I'm not surprised. There have been studies that show caterpillars retain memories through metamorphosis into a butterfly (a process that basically liquefies them).