Item #: SCP-1325

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: All 111 specimens of SCP-1325 currently in the Foundation's possession are housed in a large paludarium at Bio-Research Area 7. The temperature and humidity of the paludarium are to be kept constant at ranges of 25-30°C and 50-60%, respectively, and the specimens are to be fed 2-3 times a week on crickets, locusts, earthworms, and baby mice. Any eggs laid by the specimens during Easter are to be given to research staff, whereupon they will either be used for research, fed to Class D personnel (in order to propagate SCP-1325), or destroyed.

Description: SCP-1325 is a species of frog which resembles the Australian green tree frog (Litoria caerulea). Genetic analysis confirms that it is closely related to L. caerulea. Foundation zoologists have named it the Easter frog (Litoria pascha). All specimens are anatomically and genetically male. As such, it does not sexually reproduce. On Palm Sunday (as defined by the start of the week before the first full moon after March 21st), an egg will start to grow from the back of every adult specimen of SCP-1325. The egg will develop over the course of the Holy Week, until early morning of Easter Sunday, when it will detach from SCP-1325's back.

The egg will always begin to develop on Palm Sunday, and be laid on Easter Sunday, regardless of which dates these holidays fall on any given year. Most cases of SCP-1325 have been in countries (Australia, New Zealand, and the USA) where the vast majority of the population celebrates Easter, and does so on the date of the first full moon after March 21st. The only exceptions are two cases in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. While Easter is not celebrated (in any form) in most of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby has adopted western culture to a considerably greater extent than the rest of the country, and thus this does not rule out the possibility that SCP-1325's reproductive cycle is determined by the local culture.

The hard, protective shell of the egg consists of a thick layer of a substance which is identical to chocolate in taste, appearance, and texture, presumably in order to promote human consumption. Inside the egg is a cluster of more than a dozen small, jellylike eggs (similar to those of a normal amphibian) which are nourished and sustained by the yolk sac and albumen. Given that they are clones of the parent, all eggs are genetically identical. Traces of the benzodiazepine derivative drug Prazepam have been detected in the yolk sac and albumen. It is thought that Prazepam's anxiolytic and sedative properties facilitate human consumption by rendering subjects oblivious to the egg's contents.

When the egg is fully developed and ready to detach, SCP-1325 will seek out sites where it is likely to attract human consumption (typically among similar-looking confectionery) before depositing it. The fact that SCP-1325 is able to strategically position its eggs (combined with the fact that it is able to time its reproductive cycle to coincide with Easter) suggests that it is unusually intelligent for an amphibian. However, its behavior outside of its reproductive cycle is identical to that of L. caerulea.

The egg will remain viable for 2-4 days after being detached from SCP-1325. If and when it is ingested by a human subject, the eggs within that survive ingestion will hatch into tadpoles in response to the temperature and pH of the stomach. The tadpoles then attach themselves to the wall of the stomach via small hooks on the tips of their tails to prevent themselves from passing through the pylorus into the duodenum along with the chyme. Over the following 10-12 days, the tadpoles will feed on the partly digested food in the chyme as they grow and metamorphose into mature specimens of SCP-1325. During this period, the human host will likely experience abdominal discomfort, diarrhea, and loss of appetite to varying degrees of severity.

When SCP-1325 specimens are fully developed and able to survive outside the stomach, they will secrete emetic toxins from their skin, thereby inducing heavy vomiting in the host, which allows them to exit the stomach. They will also secrete large volumes of mucus in order to lubricate their passage up the esophagus. The host will experience Boerhaave's syndrome (esophageal rupture) in around 25% of cases.1 Once the specimens have exited the host, they will continue to grow for around six months before reaching adult size.

Footnotes

1. This figure is probably an underestimate, because it is largely based on data derived from Class D personnel. As all Class D personnel are adults, and the vast majority are in their 20s and 30s, there is little data on children and the elderly (groups which can reasonably be expected to be more vulnerable), which skews the statistics downwards. The likelihood of Boerhaave's syndrome is greater in cases where the host contains a large number of SCP-1325 specimens (due to a high proportion of the eggs having survived ingestion), and cases where the specimens have remained in the stomach for longer than is typical (and have thus grown quite large). In cases where both these factors are present, the likelihood of Boerhaave's syndrome is close to 100%.