Chernobyl's resilient frogs: Nature's unexpected survivors
The frogs of Chernobyl demonstrate that the impossible does not exist. These small amphibians have shown resilience against the radiation that has greatly impacted plants, animals, and humans following the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power station.
7 November 2024 14:44
The Chernobyl nuclear power station disaster will be discussed for centuries. The nuclear reactor accident in 1986 led to the contamination of approximately 12,500 to 14,600 hectares, resulting in the relocation of around 350,000 people. The residents of Chernobyl and nearby towns fled their homes, but wild animals, unaware of the immense danger, remained in the area.
Chernobyl frogs are resistant to radiation
Scientists from the Spanish Estación Biológica de Doñana decided to study the frogs living in Chernobyl to understand the reactor accident's impact on wildlife. The researchers were particularly interested in the eastern tree frogs inhabiting the area. Samples for the Spanish researchers' studies were collected between 2016 and 2018. In total, scientists gathered over 200 frogs from areas covering the full range of contamination. In laboratories, they determined the "age of the animals, the amount of radiation absorbed by them, the level of the stress hormone (corticosterone), and also assessed the rate of ageing, using the length of telomeres for this purpose."
One of the study's authors, Pablo Burraco from Estación Biológica de Doñana, said in an interview with "IFLScience": “The results showed no difference in longevity, ageing rates, or corticosterone levels between the tree frogs in Chernobyl and those from outside the contaminated area, used as a control group in this study. I believe that the radiation levels present in the Exclusion Zone are not sufficient to cause significant harm to the local wildlife species' organisms, at least in most areas of Chernobyl.”
Radiation has changed the colour of eastern tree frogs
Researchers noticed that the colour of eastern tree frogs living in the contaminated zones differs significantly from the typical shade of this amphibian species. Tree frogs are usually bright green, while the frogs inhabiting the area around Chernobyl are black. Scientists explain that "dark pigmentation is typical for frogs from the areas most contaminated at the time of the reactor explosion. It involves melanin, which can absorb and diffuse some of the radiation."
