Common Puerto Rican forest frogs (called coqui) are very important to the tropical forest, because they are one of the forest's primary insect predators. This type of frog is active and hunts at night because it is extremely susceptible to dehydration during the day. The frog's eggs must also be kept from drying out. Researchers have found that the frog population is directly related to the number of sheltered spots available. The female coqui cannot protect her eggs after laying them, because she has totally expended her available energy and must leave to find insects to replenish herself. The eggs are laid on land and would die within hours without immediate attention. The dedicated father immediately moves in to keep the eggs moist at all times and safe from predators. To do this, the male coqui will sit on the eggs 23 hours a day for up to three weeks.
One has to wonder how this coordinated effort between the male and female frog could possibly have evolved. How would the male frog know to take on the sacrificial incubation process as soon as the female disappeared? What told the female to abandon its eggs as soon as they were laid? Instincts, even in our fallen world, must have been programmed by a Creator.
From A Closer Look at the Evidence by Kleiss, March 18.
