Bullfrog Skeleton 0002

Topogram of a Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana). Though not visible in this image there was a pattern of deformity visible on this wild caught animal that suggested "a partial failure of development of tympanic pathway tissues, but with a preservation of the opercularis pathway. While a definitive proximate cause of the condition could not be determined, the anomalies show similarities to developmental defects in mammalian middle ear formation" (related publication, Horowitz et al. 2005). Specimen courtesy of Dr. Andrea Simmons, Brown University. (3D animation) (interactive image)