Frog with Wolverine-style spikes

A rare 'Wolverine' frog that uses combat-ready spikes which protrude from its false thumb for fighting just like the X-Men comic book hero, has been found by Japanese researchers.

The researchers found the Otton frog uses spikes which protrude from a false thumb for both combat and mating.

The study, which is published in the Journal of Zoology, was conducted by Dr Noriko Iwai from the University of Tokyo.

The researchers studied the Otton frog (Babina subaspera), whose habitat is the Amami islands of Southern Japan.

Unlike most other frogs the Otton has an extra digit-like structure, a trait it shares with the five-fingered Hypsiboas rosenbergi frogs of Latin America, the Daily Mail reported.

"Why these 'fifth fingers' exist in some species remains an evolutionary mystery, but the extra digit of the Otton is in fact a pseudo-thumb," Iwai said.

"The digit encases a sharp spine which can project out of the skin, which fieldwork demonstrates is used for combat and mating," she said.

Iwai has studied the rare frogs since 2004 in order to understand the species' distribution, breeding habits and range; all factors which will contribute to any conservation strategy.

Once she began exploring how the Otton's use their pseudo-thumbs, Iwai discovered that while both males and females had the spike, it was only used by males.

Males were found to have larger pseudo-thumbs than the females and Iwai believes that the spikes evolved for anchoring to the female, known as amplexus, the Latin for embrace, during mating.

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