Cool new frog named after Led Zeppelin
Pristimantis ledzeppelin was discovered over the hills and far away in southeast Ecuador
Music Features Frog
There’s nothing quite like New Frog Day. No matter how determined we, as a species, are to totally destroy the natural world, scientists keep managing to find previously unidentified amphibians that have somehow hung on long enough for us to snatch them up and name them after musicians like Ozzy Osbourne, Sting, and Freddie Mercury. Now, in what may be the only New Frog Day of the month, we have Pristimantis ledzeppelin, a slimy little guy from southeast Ecuador named after the English band responsible for roughly half of all classic rock radio programming.
Pristimantis ledzeppelin or “Led Zeppelin’s Rain Frog” was discovered in a mountainous region called Cordillera del Cóndo where, as Vice reports, it was spotted hanging out on shrubs above bodies of water by scientists David Brito-Zapata and Carolina Reyes-Puig. (Considering it also goes by “Rain Frog,” we have to wonder if there was an argument between the two scientists, one of whom had to compromise after wanting to name it Pristimantis tomwaitssecondbestalbum.)
To our untrained eyes, the frog just sort of looks like most other frogs who live around the world, trying to avoid being trampled under foot by (um, misty mountain?) hopping from forest to swamp. It’s most remarkable feature, to those of us who can’t pick out its “distinctive scapular fold,” is a pair of red eyes, which help set it apart from the 569 other frogs that belong to the Pristimantis genus.
In the article describing Led Zeppelin’s Rain Frog, Brito-Zapata and Reyes-Puig point out that its habitat, the Cordillera del Cóndor, is “part of one of the most threatened eco-regions in the world” and that “it is important to consider new long-term initiatives for small vertebrate conservation actions” if we want to safeguard species like the Rain Frog.
Our hope is that these conservation actions are taken—and that the Zeppelin frog acts like a 1970s stadium rock band and manages to produce so many children it can’t possibly keep track of them all, thus avoiding the fate of the nearly unfuckable frogs of years past.
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40 Comments
This just in, entire species of frog has been cancelled for sleeping with underage groupies
Think of the tadpoles!
I am!
Oh fuck me, you just lit up the recognitions searchlight.
Don’t worry, they are busy calling for Billie Eilish’s head on a pike for lip syncing an Asian racial slur on a 5 year Tik Tok video when she was 13. You know, normal sane stuff
The mud shark incident ended much worse for the frog this time
Misty Mountain Hopper
That was what I came here to say.
I really hope this thread doesn’t Ramble On.
Hot Dog!
Something Something Black Frog
This has me Dazed and Confused.
Pristimantis Tediousdrumsoloii
I hope that frog doesn’t get..trampled underfoot.
Good GOD no.
Oh yeah, like Screeching Weasel is the apex of quality and originality.
Y’know Tobias, I was gonna give you a star for this. Then I saw that trampled under foot joke.
Compared to the original king of thieves, Zep?Now I’m laughing even harder at you. They still suck.
Laugh away. Obviously you’re easily entertained.
As easily as a Zep fan who thinks over wrought blues riffs are entertaining. Enjoy your “Jock Rock”
Its all about love and longing and also Hobbits.I like Led Zepplin but I know they stole a ton of shit and that its stupid jock rock.
Ooh, you’re so cool, Brewster! I wouldn’t call myself a “Zep fan” by any means, and I spent a good deal of time in my youth listening to Screeching Weasel (and the Queers, Riverdales, et al.). I was more of a My Brain Hurts and Anthem for a New Tomorrow listener, though, and never liked Boogadaboogadaboogada very much. Now, however, I can’t really listen to any of it, and it has nothing to do with Ben Weasel being an ass, but probably more to do with middle-age mellowing.
It’s Brewster McCloud to you, Sir.
Also, that’s a fair assessment of their music. I just hate Zep and that one song has always made my day. The lyrics are just so mean and funny. Also, my three girls will all tell you how “uncool” I am. Although the oldest does steal my vinyl and band shirts from the Mats, Big Star and The Clash the little thief.
Hey, Brewster McCloud is cool! Alright, common ground, we cool.
Finally, Rolling Stone has something to put in the top slot for their 100 Best Amphibians of All Time list.
I actually looked and the last time Rolling Stone ranked artists they put Zeppelin at 14. Number one is the ultimate Boomer wank fest, you can guess who.
What’s number 1? Swordfishtrombones?
Ecuador? They should have waited to use the name until they found a new frog species in D’yer Mak’er.
This frog’s just a rip-off of Pristimantis Williedixon
That species of frog was already named in honor Willie Dixon.
The jokes remain the same
Did Brito-Zapata and Reyes-Puig have to go over the hills and far away to find this frog?
Does this mean we should expect a late sequel to Across the Andes by Frog?
I am pretty familiar with all the Pythons post troop work but I have never seen this show before. I got something to binge this weekend 🙂
The individual episode or have you not seen any of Ripping Yarns? Across the Andes by Frog is probably the weakest episode IMHO. Tomkinson’s School Days is an absolute classic. “I was seventeen miles from Graybridge when I was caught by the school leopard.”
Have not seen any of them but plan to change that this weekend
youtube versions might lose a bit (including the leopard line above). I’m sure you can find more complete versions elsewhere.
Yeah I already sailed the pirate seas and found some DVD rips
Definitely a mixture of the brilliant and the mediocre, but you will enjoy it.