Whatos this?

Hi Al, guess what I don't know either. I do know though that it was common in garden populations in London.. I haven't seen it out here in Essex at all.

I can only guess it has something to do with melanophores.. the cells that produced melanin.

I would really like to know if this has always been recorded in common frogs or if it is something new. Something tells me it just isn't quite right

You hit the nail on the head there Al, that is what bugs me, frogs were not like this when I was little!

Or were they?

I see lots of frogs now that just don't look right. Those visiting our garden pond have been just like the beasties I remember from childhood though, so it isn't happening everywhere.

I saw a lot of frogs with this weird melanism, and frogs that just looked plain odd in and around London. I can't helping thinking it is a reaction to something in the environment, perhaps causing the pigment cells to be over active?

I wish someone would take a serious look at these issues.