How do certain amphibians survive being frozen solid in winter? What physiological adaptations prevent ice from damaging their cells?

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Frogs for example. they are like Aang from the Avatar movie lol, how can they survive being frozen and coming back to life? Aren’t they hungry or whatever?

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3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

They don’t really freeze solid. Not entirely anyway. They can’t survive indefinitely. However up to 65% of the water in their body can freeze during winter.

With some species of frogs:

1. They gather glycerol during the autumn/fall.

2. When a frog starts to freeze, its liver can turn the glycerol into glucose.

3. The glucose is then circulated to the frog’s organs so that ice crystals do not form in its tissues.

4. Now the most vital cells are protected from rupturing when they partially freeze.

It’s important to note that not all amphibians do this, many just get really slow but are still active

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