They are also popular with the public and play a big part in the culture of humans. It can be something positive or negative. For example, having lots of frogs in an area tells us that the environment is healthy and complete for the frogs. If, for some reason, frogs are suddenly missing from an area or their population is declining, then this is telling us that their environment is changing. Back to Top Malformations in Amphibians Malformation is the process of disrupting a normally formed organ or body part during the original stages of development.
Malformations occur within all plants and animals.
Amphibians are estimated to have a normal rate of malformations at about 1 percent. In the summer of 1995, school students on a field trip to a farm pond in Minnesota discovered large numbers of frogs with malformations. About 50 percent of the northern leopard frogs they found that day had misshapen, extra, or missing limbs, and some were missing eyes. Since then, malformations in amphibians have been detected in unprecedented numbers, and in 42 states across the country. In certain study sites, as many as 60 percent of the amphibians studied had some kind of malformation.