Isolated aberration?!? Dude, you haven't been paying attention. Amphibian deformities have been rampant for years.

Since 1995, malformations have been reported in more than 60 species, including salamanders and toads, in 46 states. In some local populations 80 percent of the animals are afflicted.

JR is almost certainly correct - see my review of A Plague of Frogs here

Also well worth considering is the grim prospect of amphibial miscegenation

JR:

I was perhaps unclear in my post.

I know a bit about the plight of amphibians. But they are not mutating in great numbers everywhere, only in some places.

In those places where mutations are widespread, an environmental cause must be sought, and then controlled once found.

In those places where mutations are not widespread, they are likely due to "natural" defects. And I do not suspect this particular part of Minnesota is an area with a real mutant-frog problem.

So, if I am correct in this assumption, then this one freak frog was indeed an "isolated aberration" for that area.

And I do not suspect this particular part of Minnesota is an area with a real mutant-frog problem.

I guess it depends on how narrow your definition of "area" is. From the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency:

In August of 1995, students from the New Country School in LeSueur, Minnesota found large numbers of deformed frogs in a wetland they were studying near Henderson, Minnesota. They found many frogs with deformed, missing or extra legs, as well as deformed eyes or other parts.

In the summer of 1996, deformed frogs were reported all over the state. By the end of the year, the MPCA had gotten more than 175 reports of deformed frogs, in two-thirds of Minnesota's counties. Late that summer, we began hearing that deformed frogs were being found in other states as well, even in other countries.

Oh.

My.

Gawd.

RJ, just stop, man. Seriously, just stop.

This kinda shit doesn't contribute much to our.. um.. opinion of your intelligence.

(I guess we could blame the mercury and lead content in your bloodstream...)

BTW: amphibians are 'canaries' in the planetary coal mine.

Which means We're Fucked -- and you're in denial.

Have a nice day.

It's not an "isolated aberration". It's just not.

If it's so common in this area, why was this one deformed frog considered newsworthy enough to report?

If it's so common in this area, why was this one frog the only one they've found yet?

AIDs is a global pandemic. Yet it is pretty much unheard of in Vatican City.

So. If one of the Pope's Swiss Guards was found to be HIV positive, it would indeed be considered an "isolated aberration" as far as the Vatican is concerned.

A single mutant frog in a Minnesota town makes news. No other frogs in the immediate area have been discovered with such mutations.

So. It appears right now, that as far as this particular town is concerned, this one mutant frog is indeed an "isolated aberration" despite there being large-scale problems in many other areas.

Understand yet?

If it's so common in this area, why was this one deformed frog considered newsworthy enough to report?

Military casualties are pretty common in Iraq, but individual incidents are still considered newsworthy. Fatal car accidents are pretty common in my area, but they're still considered newsworthy. Why do you see a contradiction there?

If it's so common in this area, why was this one frog the only one they've found yet?

It wasn't. How hard is it to read any of the links provided before making inaccurate statements?

BTW: amphibians are 'canaries' in the planetary coal mine.

Which means We're Fucked -- and you're in denial.

Here's what I wrote:

"I know a bit about the plight of amphibians. But they are not mutating in great numbers everywhere, only in some places.

"In those places where mutations are widespread, an environmental cause must be sought, and then controlled once found.

"In those places where mutations are not widespread, they are likely due to "natural" defects."

Try reading for context the next time you mock someone else's intelligence, Guppy.

"Military casualties are pretty common in Iraq, but individual incidents are
still considered newsworthy. Fatal car accidents are pretty common in my area, but they're still considered newsworthy."

A deformed amphibian is not as newsworthy as a dead American. If a disfigured frog makes the local papers, it's because it's a relative rarity for that area.

"If it's so common in this area, why was this one frog the only one they've
found yet?"

"It wasn't."

Really?

"Munson says 27 other frogs found by Praska were normal."

So. One frog in 28 is deformed, and the local media report on this aberration.

Yet you claim these kinds of deformities are common in Stewartville, yet they continue to remain newsworthy because an ugly amphibian is somehow at least as important as news of a murdered soldier or Marine in Iraq.

How bizaree, how bizarre...

AIDs is a global pandemic. Yet it is pretty much unheard of in Vatican City.

So. If one of the Pope's Swiss Guards was found to be HIV positive, it would indeed be considered an "isolated aberration" as far as the Vatican is concerned.

A single mutant frog in a Minnesota town makes news. No other frogs in the immediate area have been discovered with such mutations.

So. It appears right now, that as far as this particular town is concerned, this one mutant frog is indeed an "isolated aberration" despite there being large-scale problems in many other areas.

Understand yet?

Uh... no. I honestly don't understand your point. Are you saying that an HIV-infection in the Vatican could be unrelated to the global AIDS epidemic? Like, the same virus is just going to appear by parallel evolution among a population of 921?

Ok, I think I understand the confusion now.

You beleive that this frog is a mutant due to environmental pollutants, which are the probable cause of mutant amphibians in many other areas.

I'm saying that this could very well be the case, but since this one little section of planet Earth does not seem to have a major mutant frog problem, that this is likely (in my opinion) a "natural" mutant, an aberration.

I think some research should be done to determine whether I'm right or you're right. And I'm sure that is going to be done.

I think my use of the word "isolated" was confusing and unclear in this post. Which probably contributed to the disagreement...

A deformed amphibian is not as newsworthy as a dead American.

Perhaps not, but newspapers consider horoscopes newsworthy, so I'd say the bar is pretty low.

I'm saying that this could very well be the case, but since this one little section of planet Earth does not seem to have a major mutant frog problem, that this is likely (in my opinion) a "natural" mutant, an aberration.

This little section of the planet happens to be in a state in which at least two-thirds of the counties have reported mutations, including Olmstead County, where Stewartville is.

Now if Italy (and Switzerland) had no reported cases of AIDS, one might wonder how someone in the Vatican might get infected. But if Italy were an HIV hotspot, wouldn't one resonably suspect the Vatican case was related to the Italian epidemic (particularly if Italians were about as cosmopolitan as frogs)?

I think some research should be done to determine whether I'm right or you're right. And I'm sure that is going to be done.

Maybe. But the MPCA seems to be off the case - the State Legislature eliminated the funding for studying this phenomenon. No doubt it's considered a global pandemic now, and national and/or international agencies are studying (or ignoring) it. I doubt they would look at one this case and think anything other than that it's just part of the larger trend, and therefore not worth looking into any further.

"This little section of the planet happens to be in a state in which at least two-thirds of the counties have reported mutations, including Olmstead County, where Stewartville is."

Reported mutations, or reported WIDESPREAD mutations? There is a difference.