Scientists discover red-eyed tree frog embryos can sense predator attack

Scientists say red-eyed treefrog embyros can rapidly escape predators by hatching out of their eggs, while most other frog species’ embryos take days to hatch.

Research teams from Boston University and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute found that the tiny escapologists release a gooey, jelly-like egg membrane from their snouts, which creates a hole in the structure through which their embryos can quickly escape if they are being attacked by a snake or other predator.

This can even occur before they are fully developed.

“This escape hatching is a mechanism for running away from a really important predator,” Karen Warkentin from Boston University told Phys Org.

Their findings were published in Journal of Experimental Biology and demonstrate the red-eyed treefrog’s exception to becoming the hunted, where most other frog embryos lose out to their hunters.

The study found up to 80 percent of the embryos can escape unharmed.