Scientists have discovered that female European common frogs would fake their own death to avoid getting unwanted attention from frisky male frogs. Heroes. Yes, a female did produce this story. [00:00:16] [LAUGH] Female European common frogs were observed engaged in tonic immobility, essentially feigning their own death to avoid mating, according to a study published Wednesday in Royal Society Open Science. [00:00:32] Why are they trying to avoid these pesky males, you might be asking yourselves, if you're interested in the sex lives of frogs. I definitely am. The phenomenon seems to evolve in order for females to survive an intense and potentially dangerous mating season, according to Carolyn Dittrich, [00:00:49] an evolutionary and behavioral ecologist who conducted the research. European common frogs engage in an explosive breeding season, a short season in which males fiercely compete for access to females, which results in scrambling and fighting. [00:01:06] Males also may harass, coerce or intimidate females into mating, according to the study. Amid the chaos, female frogs are at risk of getting trapped in mating balls, in which several males cling to them to vie for their attention, which could lead to their death. [00:01:24] I mean, I did not know frogs did gang bangs. That is wild. The mating- >> Apparently. >> Speaker 1: Apparently so. The mating looks something like this, and this video, too, may be disturbing. >> Speaker 2: The poor females, you got to feel sorry for them because all these males have only one thing on their mind right now. [00:01:46] She's on the edge of the pond and she's thinking, will I? Won't I? And when she makes that final jump in, all hell breaks loose. And these little males, what they're trying to do is they're trying to grab the female. They have special pads on their little hands. [00:02:03] And what they're trying to do is get into the right position. They will wrestle each other. And she is stuck in the middle. >> Speaker 1: Wow. >> Speaker 3: Luckily they're not intelligent enough to be offended. [00:02:21] >> Yeah but you could still see fully the male horny faces and the female skeptical not into it face. They were all the guys in the river were like come on, come on. And the girl was like, mm, I don't know. Wow. >> Speaker 1: Rather than being passive and helpless, we find that females can use [00:02:37] three key strategies for avoiding males they didn't want to mate with, either because they aren't ready to breed or do not want to mate with a certain male. Been there. Among the avoidance behaviors the females exhibited included a turning motion in which they turn and twist their bodies to get out of the grip of males, a technique [00:02:54] used more successfully by smaller females, as well as engaging in a call that is similar in the frequency and structure to the calls that males make. However, the most astonishing behavior females exhibited to avoid male attention was tonic immobility or feigning their own death, Dittrich said. [00:03:10] The researchers observed female European common frogs stretching their arms and legs straight from the body in a way that could appear similar to rigor mortis. To be fair, the researchers say that although it appears as if the female is playing dead, they can't prove it's a conscious behavior. [00:03:26] Rather, it could just be an automatic response to stress. But either way, their avoidance strategies worked pretty well. Overall, 46% of females who were mounted by a male successfully escaped. [00:03:42] What a story. >> Speaker 4: I like the scientists who have to count that up. Did she escape? Did that one escape? All right, we're up to 46% that. >> Speaker 1: Frog might have already, I don't know. >> Speaker 3: And how many experiments did they have to do to really get to a reliable number, you know what I'm saying? [00:03:59] >> Speaker 4: Yeah. So apparently the male frogs are probably pretty happy about those experiments. So look, we've learned important words like mating balls and tonic immobility. So you're welcome, America, for this public service announcement. [00:04:16] And now you know that. And apparently some of the frogs also feigned sleep and headaches to get out of sex. [LAUGH] >> Speaker 3: How similar we all are. We think we're so intelligent, but really we can barely get off this rock and we do everything that everything else does. [00:04:33] >> Speaker 1: There's also been a huge uptick recently in male frogs just opting for AI frog girlfriends. >> Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly. >> Speaker 4: 46%. >> Speaker 3: They need something, they got to leave with something, you know what I mean? >> Speaker 4: Yeah. Okay, so look, guys, to Jackson's point, [00:04:51] we are very similar to other animals. You know why? Because we are animals. And I know that trips us out, but it's true. And so I'm going to tell you something about the male anatomy that's going to concern you. >> Speaker 1: I'm concerned about that whole first half of the sentence. [00:05:08] >> Speaker 4: Yeah. So now it's going to get graphic. >> Speaker 3: It is what it is. >> Speaker 4: And if you, like later, people will probably use it against me because I'm explaining something scientific. But I had a guest on here now probably about a decade ago, and he wrote about human sex habits, right, and [00:05:26] the origins and where it comes from and our DNA, et cetera. First of all, DNA itself, of all the different animals is super trippy. I mean, remember the praying mantis, right? So the male, imagine if they were conscious, right? [00:05:42] The male is like, all right, well, now we're going to have sex and then afterwards she's going to bite my head off. But I'm good with it. >> Speaker 1: It's worth it. I'm good with it, worth it. >> Speaker 4: Okay. Now for the human anatomy, this scientist explained to me that the male penis is designed as both a shovel and a vacuum. [00:06:00] Okay? And there's a reason for that. Because in the way that we're structured and apparently this is what we did in the old days, we would also have these, in a sense, mating balls. And women would have sex with so many different men that there would be [00:06:18] competition within the vagina among the different sperm that was in there. And that is why with the foreskin, the male genitalia is supposed to suction out the other semen, both with the foreskin and [00:06:34] the shape of the head, which is kind of shaped like a shovel. And the point of our penises looking like that is so that it shovels and sucks out the other guy's semen before it ejects its own. [00:06:49] So if you think that the frogs are trippy, wait till you get a load of us. >> Speaker 1: Check, please. Check. Thank you. [LAUGH] >> Speaker 3: We freak it, and we realize, you know what I'm saying? Those desires and urges you have in you, they natural, don't be ashamed of them. [00:07:06] >> Speaker 1: Yeah, but, I mean, control them. >> Speaker 3: Just control them. >> Speaker 1: Holy, what a strange it's Friday. >> Speaker 3: What a way to go into the weekend. >> Speaker 1: This story brings new meaning to, you got to kiss a lot of toads. >> Speaker 4: Well, apparently, so do the toads. [00:07:22] >> Speaker 1: Yeah, no kidding. >> Speaker 4: But ladies out there, if you were ever like, I had to feign the sleep or the headache to get out of sex, at least you're not a frog. I mean, they're so bothered by the guys in their species that they're like, let's just pretend to be dead and be done with the whole thing. [00:07:40] So nature is an amazing, amazing thing. So tip of the hat to the female frogs who got to deal with the male frogs. >> Speaker 1: Wow. >> Speaker 4: Yeah. Is it horny as a toad? Is that a saying? >> Speaker 1: Horny as a toad is a saying. >> Speaker 4: Now we know why, okay. [00:07:56] >> Speaker 1: Yeah. >> Speaker 3: Now we know what it means. Now we know what it actually means. >> Speaker 1: This is true. >> Speaker 3: I don't know what it was supposed to mean at first, but this is just what it means to me now. >> Speaker 1: And also, you know the method that frogs most commonly use to remove their condom after sex? They rib it. [00:08:11] [SOUND] Thank you so much.