Ancient Frogs In Mass Grave Died From Too Much Sex

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Frogs once lived alongside dinosaurs. About 45 million years ago, the North Sea covered half of Germany. It's incredible to think these little creatures survived the dinosaurs' extinction. But a lower level mass death did take place in what is now called the Geiseltal region in central Germany and the cause has long remained a mystery.

Hundreds of frog fossils were found in a mass grave in Geiseltal's 45-million-year-old swampy coastlands, and their reason for being there has confounded scientists for decades. But my team's study found an explanation: they died from exhaustion while mating.

[...] Other scientists thought the Geiseltal frogs and toads died when lakes dried up and oxygen levels decreased rapidly. But our research showed this was unlikely as the frogs could have easily made their way to nearby water bodies. We also found evidence the frog carcasses floated in the water for some time before they sank to the lake bottom. So the lake didn't dry out.

Our comparisons of Geiseltal skeletons with modern frogs revealed most Geiseltal frogs were actually toads. Toads follow a land based lifestyle, except when they return to ponds to mate. They mated with numerous other toads during the very short mating season which, in some modern tropical species, lasts for just hours.

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