One-in-a-Million Blue Frog Found at Corkscrew Swamp

Reprinted from Audubon Advocate

Volunteer naturalists at Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary recently noticed an unusual frog along the Sanctuary's boardwalk and quickly alerted natural resources manager Mike Knight, a Ph.D. candidate in vertebrate ecology who specializes in reptiles and amphibians. Knight identified the frog (at right) as a Green Treefrog, a common denizen of Corkscrew Swamp. But this was no ordinary Green Treefrog!

So why is it blue? The normal green coloration of frogs is actually the result of overlapping yellow and blue pigments. Very rarely, a genetic anomaly results in an absence of one or more color pigments. In this case, the absence of all yellow pigmentation has resulted in a totally blue frog instead of a green one. "You are more likely to win the lottery, or even find an albino frog, than to discover a blue frog in nature. I'm surprised she survived in the wild," said Knight.

For more information on visiting Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, call (239)-348-9151 or learn more online at http://www.corkscrew.audubon.org.