BBC News, London, UK, 11th August 2009: 'Alien scene' of tadpoles feast

[Breeding of endangered Mountain Chicken Frog, Leptodactylus fallax, and how the mother feeds the tadpoles. Follow the link at the end of this message to see an awesome jaw-dropping video of this behaviour. Be warned though, it might be a little stomach-churning if you're not used to frogs! - News Editor note]

"Alien-like" scenes of tadpoles feasting on eggs emerging from their mother have been caught on camera.

The footage marks the success of a captive breeding programme for the critically endangered mountain chicken frog, one of the world's largest frogs.

In April, 50 of the amphibian giants were airlifted from Montserrat after a deadly fungus swept through the island, devastating the population.

Now several breeding programmes are under way to save the frogs.
Once numbers have been boosted in captivity, researchers hope to reintroduce the frogs back into the wild within the next two years.

Continued (with awesome video): BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | 'Alien scene' of tadpoles feast