Is it worth dying for great sex? In the case of some amphibians, their lives are on the line when the deed is complete.
Ancient frogs are passionate creatures with a thriving orgy sex life where they act out their natural impulses with many other mates. Monogamy will not cut it for frogs and toads, even if orgy will have deadly consequences.
In 1932, German paleontologists found hundreds of 45-million-year-old frog and toad fossils. It was strange as they all died together but no one could determine the cause behind their massive death tolls. Then, a recent study came up with a plausible reason — the frog boners come with a doom spell that wipes out their existence.
Daniel Falk and his team of scientists from the University College Cork in Ireland set out to figure out the historic mystery behind the frogs. Falk’s team began their study by analyzing the bones the frogs left behind.
The skeletons had dispersed over time. According to researchers, the bones didn’t reveal any traces of stress, disease, or damage. “As far as we can tell, the fossil frogs were healthy when they died, and the bones don’t show any signs of predators or scavengers,” Falk said.
He added: “There’s also no evidence that they were washed in during floods, or died because the swamp dried up.”
If natural disasters or hunting cannot explain their deaths, what is the reason?
During their bone study, Falk and his team had an important insight. They matched up the bones to two different categories of frogs. Frogs that reside predominately in the water and frogs that leave their water comforts to explore the land. The frogs that make it out to the dry land only return to their birth ponds to carry on their genes.
Falk concluded: “By process of elimination, the only explanation that makes sense is that they died during mating.”
The frogs go hard with their mating style. Intense sex often leads to over-exhaustion and a death sentence. If they don’t die during the mating process, the stress after the sex makes them more susceptible to attracting other diseases.
Researchers have put an end to the mystery. After all, sex is a more dramatic climax to their lives than floods or predators. At least their stories ended off with an eventful bang.