In the latest episode of Human Footprint on PBS, host Shane Campbell-Staton (PhD 15') visits OEB Professor and Curator of Herpetology James Hanken. The episode, “The Replacements”, explores the surprising science and unexpected histories of five animal and plant species that made allies of humans, and grew to dominate the planet alongside us.
Professor Hanken explains why the African Clawed Frog, or Xenopus, joined the ranks of The Replacements when a quirk of its biology made it indispensable: hormones in a pregnant woman's urine make female Xenopus lay eggs – they’re living pregnancy tests! Xenopus have multiplied in laboratories and invaded ecosystems around the world, in spite of an amphibian pandemic (to which Xenopus is immune) that has devastated wild frog populations.