The extinction of hundreds of fossil frog in a swamp 45 million years ago was caused by their inability to mate.
Over 50,000 ancient beasts were killed by the watery death trap in central Germany. The former coalfield of Geiseltal is considered a scientific treasure trove because of its unique geological features and thousands of fossils.
The area of Geiseltal was a tropical forest with ancestors of the horse, crocodiles, giant snakes, lizards and birds.
According to previous studies, the Geiseltal frog died due to the desiccation of lakes. It has been a mystery what killed these animals.
The team was able to narrow down the options by studying the bones of the frog. "As far as we can tell, the fossil frog were healthy when they died, and the bones don't show any signs of predator or scavengers, there's also no evidence that they were washed in during floods, or died because the swamp dried up." Most of the fossil frog species spend their lives on land and only return to the water to breed. The only plausible explanation is that they died during sex.
Today, this phenomenon is common in the frog. Female frog are at higher risk of being drowned as they are often submerged by one or more males. It's interesting that fossil frog from other sites also show these features, suggesting that the mating behaviors of modern Frogs have been in place for at least 45 million years.
Papers in Palaeontology is a journal.
More information: Falk et al, "The skeletal taphonomy of anurans from the Eocene Geiseltal Konservat-Lagerstätte, Germany: insights into the controls on fossil anuran preservation", Papers in Palaeontology (2022). DOI: 10.1002/spp2.1453
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