Frog with no lungs discovered in Indonesia

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Researchers find the first frog that has no lungs and breathes through its skin. Photo: EFE

Researchers say they have identified for the first time a frog in Indonesia that has no lungs and breathes through its skin, a discovery that could provide further incite into what drives evolution in certain species.

David Bickford, an evolutionary biologist at the National University of Singapore, says the aquatic frog Barbourula kalimantanensis was found in two rivers in a remote part of Indonesia's Kalimantan province during an expedition in August 2007.

Bickford said Thursday it's likely the frogs have developed this unusual trait to adapt to their hostile surroundings, which are mostly fast-moving waterways that are rich in oxygen.