A group of Spanish zoological researchers in The Conversation were intrigued by the strange black frogs found near the exclusion zone because these animals often have a graceful green coloration.

In 2016, after the first dusky amphibian was found, a team from Spain’s University of Oviedo and the Doñana Biological Station decided to investigate the eastern tree frog. They found that the animals in the reserve now range in color from dark black to light green, as the researchers’ pictures show.

Color spectrum of the eastern tree frog in Chernobyl / Photo Germán Orizaola/Pablo Burraco, CC BY-SA

Zoologists said they caught 200 male eastern tree frogs, known as “St. Anthony” or “San Antonio” frogs, from 12 separate breeding pools “throughout a wide degree of radioactive pollution.”

They found that in the 36 years since the tragic accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, eastern tree frogs in the areas surrounding the now abandoned nuclear reactor had undergone a type of rapid evolution that caused them to produce more melanin to cope. increased and prolonged radiation from the disaster.

As researchers Herman Orizaola and Pablo Burraco write in their paper in the journal Conversation based on the results recently published in the journal Evolutionary Applications, they believe that dark-skinned frogs, which are generally a genetic minority, are better protected from the virus. radiation from the accident, because they have more melanin in their skin. In turn, they reproduced more successfully, creating more and more dark tree frogs.

Contaminated zone within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone / ArcticCynda

According to the researchers, we are watching the unfolding of natural selection before our eyes. Very nice.

More than ten frog generations have passed since the accident, and the classical process of natural selection, albeit very rapid, may explain why these toads are the dominant species in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
– write researchers.

Also detailing the astonishing biodiversity of the Chornobyl region in 2019, the researchers added that they “hope the current war in Ukraine will end soon” because it hinders scientific research in the region for obvious reasons.