
Water beetles that survive being swallowed by frogs - zenit-mf-1
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/after-being-swallowed-alive-water-beetle-stages-backdoor-escape-from-frogs-gut/
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noman-land
"In most of the experiments, the beetles reappeared within six hours, slipping
out of a frog's anus, or vent. Though muscles typically hold the vent tightly
shut, those muscles loosen up when the frog poops; the beetles could be
stimulating the frogs' defecation reflex in order to temporarily open this
unusual emergency exit, according to the new study."

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ycombinete
Possibly a first evolutionary step to becoming an internal parasite.

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justinclift
Also, a way for the intestinal flora of frogs to be spread to other frogs.

Which may be fairly unique in itself?

That could have all kinds of other weird and wonderful follow on effects for
the frog population.

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thaumasiotes
> Also, a way for the intestinal flora of frogs to be spread to other frogs.

> Which may be fairly unique in itself?

Considering the number of diseases that are spread, human to human, by oral
consumption of feces - probably not.

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akiselev
There are mammals like rabbits that eat their own feces to get a second pass
at digestion. Evolution has created an unbelievable amount of diversity in the
natural world - it's a mistake to judge it by our own immune systems.

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buran77
GP may have been objecting to the _uniqueness_ of the trait, not its
existence.

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justinclift
Nah, I'd just not been able to think off hand of an example of intestinal
flora being shared (potentially widely) among members of a species.

The rabbits example is a good one to illustrate it already does happen. :)

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thaumasiotes
Again, it is already known to be very common in humans.

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justinclift
You seem to be saying oral consumption of other people's faeces is _common_ in
humans. What's the evidence for this?

Personally, I'm aware of
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_feces#Fecal_transplants](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_feces#Fecal_transplants),
but that's all.

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thaumasiotes
It is the only reproductive strategy of several major diseases, most notably
cholera. So yes, obviously it is common. You know how cholera is notorious for
spreading through communities very quickly? Guess how that happens.

 _Intentional_ consumption of other people's feces is rare, but that's not
relevant to anything. If you eat something, it doesn't matter at all whether
you wanted to eat it.

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justinclift
Interesting, thanks. :)

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ChuckMcM
That would make an interesting update to Beatrix Potter's Jeremy Fisher story
:-).

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justinclift
Heh Heh Heh.

Common movie trope: The Protagonist, swallowed whole, heroically cuts their
way out of the monsters' gullet.

Reality: The Protagonist, swallowed whole, holds their breath and tickles the
monsters sphincter from the inside...

Doesn't have the same ring to it. ;)

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phyzome
> dank and airless internal tunnel

It can't be "dank" if it's entirely liquid filled, come on.

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serf
>It can't be "dank" if it's entirely liquid filled, come on.

'disagreeably damp, musty, and typically cold.'

I imagine I'd describe visiting a predators GI tract as 'disagreeably damp',
among other things.

An aside : I agree that I haven't heard it used in the context of submerging,
but the definition seems to allot for it?

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ultrarunner
I wouldn't expect a "dank basement" to require SCUBA gear. I agree with GP
that this word use struck me as odd and distracting. Not sure what I expected
to read about a beetle navigating an intestinal tract, but still.

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daxfohl
Maybe this is the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

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wiradikusuma
"I used a video camera to record the behavior" \-- and no video in the
article?

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JoBrad
Found it, on another (insecure) site:
[http://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/13609620](http://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/13609620)

