Editing Frog (section)

==Human uses==
===Culinary===
{{Cookbook|Frog}}{{Main|Frog legs}}
[[File:2012 Froschschenkel anagoria.JPG|thumb|French ''cuisses de grenouille'']]

[[Frog legs]] are eaten by humans in many parts of the world. Indonesia is the world's largest exporter of frog meat, exporting more than 5,000 tonnes of frog meat each year, mostly to France, Belgium and Luxembourg.<ref name="abc news">̺{{cite news|url =https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=6688391&page=1 |newspaper =abc news |title =Appetite For Frogs' Legs Harming Wild Populations|date =January 20, 2009| first= Catherine |last =Brahic}}</ref> Originally, they were supplied from local wild populations, but overexploitation led to a diminution in the supply. This resulted in the development of [[Aquaculture|frog farming]] and a global trade in frogs. The main importing countries are France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the United States, while the chief exporting nations are Indonesia and China.<ref name=Warkentin>{{cite journal |author1=Warkentin, I. G. |author2=Bickford, D. |author3=Sodhi, N. S. |author4=Corey, J. A. |year=2009 |title=Eating frogs to extinction |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=1056–1059 |doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.01165.x |pmid=19210303 |bibcode=2009ConBi..23.1056W |s2cid=1837255 }}</ref> The annual global trade in the [[American bullfrog]] (''Rana catesbeiana''), mostly farmed in China, varies between 1200 and 2400 tonnes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/fishery/culturedspecies/Rana_catesbeiana/en |title=Cultured Aquatic Species Information Programme: ''Rana catesbeiana'' |publisher=FAO: Fisheries and Aquaculture Department |access-date=July 5, 2012}}</ref>

The [[Leptodactylus fallax|mountain chicken frog]], so-called as it tastes of chicken, is now endangered, in part due to human consumption, and was a major food choice of the [[Dominica]]ns.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/01/160128-mountain-chicken-frog-endangered-animals/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129185426/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/01/160128-mountain-chicken-frog-endangered-animals/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 29, 2016|title=The Mountain Chicken Frog's First Problem: It Tastes Like...|author= Ryan Schuessler|date=January 28, 2016|work=National Geographic News}}</ref> [[Raccoon]], [[Virginia opossum|opossum]], [[partridges]], [[Greater prairie chicken|prairie chicken]], and frogs were among the fare [[Mark Twain]] recorded as part of American cuisine.<ref name="TwainWarner1904">{{cite book|author1=Mark Twain|author2=Charles Dudley Warner|title=The Writings of Mark Twain &#91;pseud.&#93;.: A tramp abroad|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sKdGAQAAMAAJ&q=mark+twain++possum,+coon+and+prairie+hen&pg=PA263|year=1904|publisher=Harper & Bros.|page=263}}</ref>

===Scientific research===
{{See also|Animal testing on frogs|Frogs in captivity}}
In November 1970, [[NASA]] sent two bullfrogs into space for six days during the [[Orbiting Frog Otolith]] mission to test weightlessness.

Frogs are used for [[dissection]]s in high school and university anatomy classes, often first being injected with coloured substances to enhance contrasts among the [[biological system]]s. This practice is declining due to [[animal welfare]] concerns, and "digital frogs" are now available for virtual dissection.<ref>{{cite news |title=California Schools Leading Race to Stop Dissections |url=http://awionline.org/content/california-schools-leading-race-stop-dissections |newspaper=Animal Welfare Institute |date=April 25, 2011 |access-date=June 17, 2012}}</ref>

Frogs have served as [[Animal testing|experimental animals]] throughout the history of science. Eighteenth-century biologist [[Luigi Galvani]] discovered the link between [[electricity]] and the [[nervous system]] by studying frogs. He created [[Frog galvanometer|one of the first tools]] for measuring [[electric current]] out of a frog leg.<ref>{{cite book |title=The science of common things: a familiar explanation of the first principles of physical science. For schools, families, and young students |last=Wells |first=David Ames |year=1859 |publisher=Ivison, Phinney, Blakeman |page=290 |url={{Google books|ajQAAAAAYAAJ|page=290|plainurl=yes}} }}</ref> In 1852, H. F. Stannius used a frog's heart in a procedure called a [[Stannius ligature]] to demonstrate the ventricle and atria beat independently of each other and at different rates.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Stannius_ligature |title=Stannius ligature |date=October 3, 2005 |work=Biology online |access-date=August 5, 2012}}</ref> The [[African clawed frog]] or platanna (''Xenopus laevis'') was first widely used in laboratories in pregnancy tests in the first half of the 20th century. A sample of urine from a pregnant woman injected into a female frog induces it to lay [[egg]]s, a discovery made by English zoologist [[Lancelot Hogben]]. This is because a hormone, [[human chorionic gonadotropin]], is present in substantial quantities in the urine of women during pregnancy.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Sarkar | first1 = S. | title = Lancelot Hogben, 1895–1975 | journal = Genetics | volume = 142 | issue = 3 | pages = 655–660 | year = 1996 | doi = 10.1093/genetics/142.3.655 | pmid = 8849876 | pmc = 1207007}}</ref> In 1952, [[Robert William Briggs|Robert Briggs]] and [[Thomas J. King]] cloned a frog by [[somatic cell nuclear transfer]]. This same technique was later used to create [[Dolly (sheep)|Dolly the sheep]], and their experiment was the first time a successful nuclear transplantation had been accomplished in higher animals.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pnas.org/site/misc/classics4.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014105435/http://www.pnas.org/site/misc/classics4.shtml |archive-date=October 14, 2012 |title=Nuclear Transfer: Bringing in the Clones |author=Brownlee, Christen |work=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |access-date=October 21, 2012}}</ref>

Frogs are used in cloning research and other branches of [[embryology]].  Although alternative pregnancy tests have been developed, biologists continue to use ''Xenopus'' as a [[model organism]] in [[developmental biology]] because their embryos are large and easy to manipulate, they are readily obtainable, and can easily be kept in the laboratory.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://people.ucalgary.ca/~browder/frogsrus.html |title=''Xenopus'' as a Model System in Developmental Biology |editor1=Browder, L.|editor2=Iten, L.|year=1998 |work=Dynamic Development |publisher=University of Calgary |access-date=June 17, 2012}}</ref> ''Xenopus laevis'' is increasingly being displaced by its smaller relative, ''[[Xenopus tropicalis]]'', which reaches its reproductive age in five months rather than the one to two years for ''X. laevis'',<ref>{{cite web | url=http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-HD-01-008.html | title=Developing the potential of ''Xenopus tropicalis'' as a genetic model |author=Klein, S.|publisher=Trans-NIH Xenopus Working Group |  access-date=March 9, 2006 }}</ref> thus facilitating faster studies across generations.

Genomes of ''Xenopus laevis'', ''X. tropicalis'', ''Rana catesbeiana'', ''Rhinella marina'', and ''Nanorana parkeri'' have been sequenced and deposited in the [[National Center for Biotechnology Information|NCBI]] Genome database.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome/browse/#!/overview/Amphibia|title=Genome List – Genome |website=NCBI |access-date=April 7, 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713120919/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome/browse/#!/overview/Amphibia |archive-date= July 13, 2019 }}</ref>

===Pharmaceutical===
[[File:Schrecklicherpfeilgiftfrosch-01.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Golden poison frog]] (''Phyllobates terribilis'')]]

Because frog toxins are extraordinarily diverse, they have raised the interest of biochemists as a "natural pharmacy". The alkaloid [[epibatidine]], a painkiller 200 times more potent than [[morphine]], is made by some species of [[poison dart frog]]s. Other chemicals isolated from the skins of frogs may offer resistance to [[HIV]] infection.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=VanCompernolle |first1=S. E. |last2=Taylor |first2=R. J. |last3=Oswald-Richter |first3=K. |last4=Jiang |first4=J. |last5=Youree |first5=B. E. |last6=Bowie |first6=J. H. |last7=Tyler |first7=M. J. |last8=Conlon |first8=M. |last9=Wade |first9=D. |last10=Aiken |first10=C. |last11=Dermody |first11=T. S. |last12=KewalRamani |first12=V. N. |last13=Rollins-Smith |first13=L. A. |last14=Unutmaz |first14=D. |display-authors=9 |date=2005 |title=Antimicrobial peptides from amphibian skin potently inhibit human immunodeficiency virus infection and transfer of virus from dendritic cells to T cells |journal=Journal of Virology |volume=79 |issue=18 |pages=11598–11606 |doi=10.1128/JVI.79.18.11598-11606.2005 |doi-access=free |pmid=16140737 |pmc=1212620}}</ref> Dart poisons are under active investigation for their potential as therapeutic drugs.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Phillipe |first1=G. |last2=Angenot |first2=L. |date=2005 |title=Recent developments in the field of arrow and dart poisons |journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology |pmid=15993556 |volume=100 |issue=1–2 |pages=85–91 |doi=10.1016/j.jep.2005.05.022|url=http://orbi.ulg.ac.be/handle/2268/16897 }}</ref>

It has long been suspected that pre-Columbian [[Mesoamerica]]ns used a toxic secretion produced by the cane toad as a [[hallucinogen]], but more likely they used substances secreted by the [[Colorado River toad]] (''Bufo alvarius''). These contain [[bufotenin]] (5-MeO-DMT), a [[psychoactive drug|psychoactive compound]] that has been used in modern times as a [[recreational drug]]. Typically, the skin secretions are dried and then smoked.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Lyttle, T. |author2=Goldstein, D. |author3=Gartz, J. |year=1996 |title=''Bufo'' toads and bufotenine: fact and fiction surrounding an alleged psychedelic |journal=Journal of Psychoactive Drugs |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=267–290 |pmid=8895112 |doi=10.1080/02791072.1996.10472488 |citeseerx=10.1.1.688.5926 }}</ref> Illicit drug use by licking the skin of a toad has been reported in the media, but this may be an [[urban myth]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Lyttle, T. |year=1993 |title=Misuse and legend in the "toad licking" phenomenon |journal=International Journal of the Addictions |volume=28 |issue=6 |pages=521–538 |pmid=8486435 |doi=10.3109/10826089309039645}}</ref>

Exudations from the skin of the [[golden poison frog]] (''Phyllobates terribilis'') are traditionally used by native Colombians to poison the darts they use for hunting. The tip of the projectile is rubbed over the back of the frog and the dart is launched from a [[blowgun]]. The combination of the two alkaloid toxins [[batrachotoxin]] and [[homobatrachotoxin]] is so powerful, one frog contains enough poison to kill an estimated 22,000 mice.<ref name=dartpoison>{{cite journal |author1=Myers, Charles W. |author2=Daly, John W. |author3=Malkin, Borys |year=1978 |title=A dangerously toxic new frog (''Phyllobates'') used by Emberá Indians of western Colombia, with discussion of blowgun fabrication and dart poisoning |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |volume=161 |pages=307–366 |hdl=2246/1286 |hdl-access=free}}</ref>  Two other species, the [[Kokoe poison dart frog]] (''Phyllobates aurotaenia'') and the [[black-legged dart frog]] (''Phyllobates bicolor'') are also used for this purpose. These are less toxic and less abundant than the golden poison frog. They are impaled on pointed sticks and may be heated over a fire to maximise the quantity of poison that can be transferred to the dart.<ref name=dartpoison/>
[[File:Toadlarcomuseum.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Moche culture|Moche]] frog sculpture]]

=== Cultural significance ===
{{Main|Frogs in culture}}
Frogs have been featured in mythology, [[fairy tale]]s and popular culture. In traditional Chinese myths, the world rests on a giant frog, who would try to swallow the moon, causing the [[lunar eclipse]]. Frogs have been featured in religion, folklore, and popular culture. The [[ancient Egyptian]]s depicted the god [[Heqet]], protector of newborns, with the head of a frog. For the [[Mayan civilization|Mayans]], frogs represented water, crops, fertility and birth and were associated with the god [[Chaac]]. In the [[Bible]], [[Moses]] unleashes a [[Plagues of Egypt|plague of frog]]s on the Egyptians. Medieval Europeans associated frogs and toads with evil and [[witchcraft]].<ref name=culture>{{cite book|author=Mattison, Chris|year=2011|title=Frogs and Toads of the Worlds|publisher=Princeton University Press|pages=91–92|isbn=978-0-691-14968-4}}</ref> The [[Brothers Grimm]] fairy tale ''[[The Frog Prince]]'' features a princess taking in a frog and it turning into a handsome prince.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sleigh, Charlotee|year=2012|title=Frog|publisher=Reaktion Books|pages=40–42|isbn=978-1-86189-920-0}}</ref> In modern culture, frogs may take a comedic or hapless role, such as [[Mr. Toad]] of the 1908 novel ''[[The Wind in the Willows]]'', [[Michigan J. Frog]] of [[Warner Bros. Cartoons]], the [[Muppet]] [[Kermit the Frog]] and in the game ''[[Frogger]]''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sleigh, Charlotee|year=2012|title=Frog|publisher=Reaktion Books|pages=167–175|isbn=978-1-86189-920-0}}</ref>
{{clear}}