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Chinese Dancing Frog Goes Viral Doing The Worm
An anthropomorphised frog has joined celebrity live-streamers and social media commentators among China's ranks of influencers, as a trend that began with street sellers in Chinese cities takes on a new life online – and raised questions over who, if anyone, owns the intellectual property rights to a dancing amphibian.
Alternatively known as a "frog seller" or "frog influencer", the meme involves a person in a frog suit with a blue neckerchief selling frog-themed products such as balloons and toys.
The magic ingredient for going viral on social media, though, is dancing. One video posted online in November showed a frog seller doing the worm in a gym. In another instance, a frog seller flosses – among other dance moves – to a disgruntled traffic police officer before riding off on a scooter.
The trend is thought to have begun in September 2022, when a woman in Nanjing, surnamed Tong, wore a frog costume to sell frog balloons to passersby. When a video of her stunt was posted online, it quickly spawned imitations.
On Chinese Valentine's Day, in August, an elderly man in Beijing put on a frog seller suit to give his partner a giant teddy bear, prompting comments about "true romance" when the video was posted online.
The trend has also triggered a rather less humorous debate about intellectual property. Tong was accused of stealing the design for her frog suit from Calabash Brothers, a popular 1980s Chinese cartoon series in which one character, Red Toad, is a frog wearing a distinctive red neckerchief.
"I modified the colour, body shape, pattern and head size, but the overall image of the toad in nature is there. No matter how I modify it, it does look very similar at first glance," she said in an interview with China Intellectual Property News.
Commentators have weighed in about who owns the rights to a dancing frog. Long Wenmao, a professor at East China University of Political Science and Law, in Shanghai, said Calabash Brothers' Red Toad and Tong's frog seller were clearly different. Red Toad has an "evil and mischievous air", while the frog seller has a "cute and innocent image", Long said, according to China Intellectual Property News.
Wu Yunchu, one of the original creators of the Calabash Brothers cartoon, said he had no interest in pursuing Tong for a copyright violation.
Other commentators have taken a more philosophical approach. In an essay for China Youth Daily, the journalist Yang Xinyu wrote: "In a sense, the frog costume is an actor's mask and a warrior's armour. While it gives the person outside the mask laughs, it also shields the person inside the mask from the bitterness and sweetness of life."
Additional research by Chi Hui Lin
I Did The 3-minute Frog Pose Exercise Every Day For One Week — Here's What Happened
I hold my hands up and freely admit to using the frog pose during cool-downs and my stretching classes with a certain glee when training clients. It gets met with a groan every time, but it's a brilliant stretch and well worth the dread.
The frog pose is one of my favorite yoga poses to ease nasty symptoms of sciatica, plus it stretches the adductors that run down the inner thighs, the hips and the lower back. Suffering from hip flexor pain? Give this a go.
The frog pose is capable of developing mobility and flexibility around your hips, improving posture, helping you achieve better depth during squats and lunges and easing tightness in the area. But it's a seriously uncomfortable exercise to do for any length of time, and I know plenty of yogis who dread the call for the frog in yin yoga style classes.
Translating as Mandukasana in Sanskrit, the popular yoga pose has been made even more trend-worthy by TikTokkers, who scooped up the frog pose and sent it viral. We're talking over 70 million views under #frogpose. There are many benefits to regularly practicing the frog pose, and despite some of the bolder claims surrounding the pose (an improved libido everyone?), there are a good many rooted in truth.
Grab one of the best yoga mats and read on to find out what happened when I did a three-minute frog pose every day for one week.
How to do frog pose
Walk into any Yin yoga class, and you'll find frog poses cropping up a lot. Frog pose is uncomfortable, looks a bit strange and feels almost unbearable at times, but it's great for the health of your hips, groin and lower back. That said, it's worth checking in mentally to work out if you're in pain or whether the stretch just feels uncomfortable. If it's the former, reduce your range of motion by moving your knees or ankles slightly closer together. Here's what happened when I did it for three minutes every day for one week.
I had to take deep breathsThe frog pose picked up the nickname "the pelvic breaker" because it delivers an intense inner thigh, hip and groin stretch and acts as a deep groin opener. The stretch relies on external hip rotation on both sides of your body, and coupled with a gentle push backward, it can feel mentally and physically challenging. It's especially tough for those, like me, who sit down for long periods.
However, doing it regularly can counteract weak hip flexors and the negative impacts of sedentary lifestyles that cause back pain and tight hip flexors. Because your hips and lower back play a crucial role in posture, a hip flexor stretch could help. And some research has shown that yoga can reduce chronic lower back pain and low-level symptoms, though this isn't specific to frog pose.
Whenever I approach the frog, I take long and deep breaths and use my exhale to deepen the pose. I strongly recommend focusing on your breath and closing down your eyes to help you stay grounded in the moment.
I felt emotionalI know, weird one, right? But it's fairly normal. Yoga teachers call the hips the "seat of emotions," which refers to the hips as a storing place for stress and anxiety. Although the theory isn't backed up by a wealth of research, there's some truth to it.
The adrenal glands are responsible for the "fight-or-flight" stress response when we experience high stress levels. They sit at the top of your kidneys, and the fascia surrounding your psoas (the deep hip flexor muscles) also connect with the kidneys. The psoas can be known as the "fight-or-flight" muscle. It's believed that during stressful times, the psoas muscle contracts and tightens in response. Because the psoas is also attached to the diaphragm, breathing could be affected, so hip stretches can help release tension and reduce feelings of anxiety.
The frog pose picked up the nickname "the pelvic breaker" because it delivers an intense inner thigh, hip and groin stretch.
Many leading yoga schools discuss it, and some studies show that slower-paced Yin Yoga (a yoga style that includes long static stretches like Frog pose) can relieve stress and improve sleep due to its meditative nature and breathwork focus. That said, we're lacking any extensive research in the field.
Personally, I experience all of the feels when performing a frog pose for several minutes. I move through anger and impatience to an emotional place. It's strange, but it happens every time. Eventually, I always meet frog pose with relaxation and calm.
I felt amazingStudies and research aside, I get a deep sense of relaxation from the frog pose, and my hips and groin love me for persevering. Mentally, I find myself more relaxed, while physically, I feel more open. It's a great posture for developing a strong meditation practice, which can just mean a few minutes of breathwork if you don't enjoy it.
Although static stretches should be reserved for post-workout cool-downs, I sometimes add the frog pose into my pre-workout routine alongside a gentle rocking motion to help open my hips and boost flexibility before lifting heavy weights. Coupled with other dynamic and sport-specific stretches, it's a great way to improve the range of motion and counteract the effects of sitting throughout the day.
I also use this stretch with my dad (I train him twice a week), and I've seen marked improvements very quickly in his posture and lower body flexibility using the frog, which goes to show what regular practice can do.
If you find the frog pose unbearable to hold (again, discern between actual pain and feeling uncomfortable), I recommend this 5-minute breathing exercise to take your mind off the stretch.
Bottom lineFrog pose can help those with tight hips or lower back pain, but if you suffer from bad knees, I recommend skipping this exercise and using a yoga for knee pain sequence instead.
If you're ever unsure, speak with a qualified medical professional or yoga teacher before trying any new yoga exercises or training programs. Most importantly, don't rush. The pose takes a while to develop and I recommend moving gradually. Start with your heels close together, then move your knees and heels further apart as you build flexibility. I know many people who prefer to roll a yoga mat underneath the knees or pop a light cushion down for extra support. Personally, I enjoy sitting on a bolster or yoga block to take some weight off.
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Why Do These Mosquitoes Keep Perching On The Nostrils Of Frogs Who Want To Eat Them?
A species of Australian mosquito, Mimomyia elegans, appears to have a predilection for the nostrils of tree frogs, according to new observations published in the journal Ethology. (John Gould)
As It Happens6:28Why do these mosquitos keep perching on the nostrils of frogs who want to eat them?
John Gould had been snapping pictures of mosquitoes on frogs for years before he noticed a trend — the bloodsuckers always seem to land right on the amphibians' noses.
"You would think that a frog would be the worst place to land, because frogs love to eat mosquitoes," Gould, a behavioural biologist at Australia's University of Newcastle, told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.
Nevertheless, Gould has collected more than a dozen photos of mosquitoes in Australia on frog nostrils, leading him to conclude it's a "highly specialized feeding strategy" by the mosquitoes.
The observations — published in the journal Ethology — could even help scientists better understand how a deadly disease spread among frogs, which is key for their conservation.
A sneak attack from a strategic positionGould has observed the insects perching on the nostrils of several different species of Australian tree frogs. But the mosquitoes are all from the same species, Mimomyia elegans. Native to Australia, they feed off many different kinds of animals, including mammals and birds.
"Which makes the observation a bit more interesting," Gould said, "because, for such a generalist feeder, it seems to have such a specialized behaviour when choosing amphibians as a blood host."
So why risk landing on the nose of something that wants to eat you, when there are so many other targets walking around full of delicious blood?
"In all of the occasions that we observed, it seems as if the frog didn't realize that it had a mosquito on top of it…. They were actually quite happy, just sitting idly, while these mosquitoes were feeding on them," Gould said.
"So it might be that the area between the eyes is a bit of a blind spot for the frogs."
Biologist John Gould says the frogs don't appear to notice the bloodsucking insects, making no effort to knock them off or leap away. (John Gould)It's also something of a sneak attack by the mosquitoes.
"Some of the mosquitoes first initially landed on the backs of the frogs," Gould said. "They might avoid being eaten by the frogs by landing away from the head and then walking up to the nostrils to feed."
It's a plausible theory, says amphibian expert Lea Randall, a Calgary Zoo and Wilder Institute ecologist who wasn't involved in the research.
"Frogs have amazing vision, and any mosquito that approached from the front would likely end up as a tasty snack for a frog," she said.
"Landing on the back and making your way undetected to the nostrils is a good strategy."
And the reward may just be worth the risk.
"I could also see the nostrils as being a good place to feed as the skin is very thin and highly vascularized, and thus provides a ready source of blood for a hungry mosquito," Randall said.
Mosquitoes targeting noses is not unheard of, says Bob Hancock, a biologist at Metropolitan State University in Denver. And he should know.
"For decades during our various trips to the New World tropics, we have been attacked on our noses by delicately flying jungle mosquitoes in the genus Sabethes," he told CBC in an email.
"More recently we have been objectively studying the phenomenon in the lab. Specifically, in separate tests we are presenting bloodthirsty females with free access to my head."
So far, he says, the lab mosquitoes bite his nose more when he breathes normally, versus when he plugs his nostrils and breathes through a tube, suggesting they may be attracted to breath.
Conservation implicationsGould admits his friends and loved ones have likely grown weary of hearing him "talking about frogs and nostrils." But for him, it's more than a highly specific scientific obsession; it's about protecting frogs.
His earlier research has suggested that mosquitoes may be a vector for transmitting amphibian chytrid fungus, which is responsible for declines in frog populations worldwide.
That's why he had been amassing photos of frogs and mosquitoes in the first place.
"Now that we know where the mosquito is more likely to land, it might give us a better impression about how the infection spreads along the skin of the frog," he said.
Gould describes himself as a 'vampire scientist' who stays up all night studying nocturnal tree frogs in Australia. 'They're so soft and timid a lot of the times,' he said. 'They're quite a special little, little animal.' (Submitted by John Gould)But more work needs to be done. His frog nostril research, while it encompasses three years' of fieldwork, is a natural history observation, not a laboratory study with controlled variables.
"It would be quite interesting to know whether this particular type of mosquito is transferring the chytrid fungus, and also how the fungus spreads once the mosquito has landed," Gould said.
Randall welcomes any work that sheds light on the deadly fungus.
"It has led to the extinction of some amphibian species and has had a negative impact on many others. We maintain strict protocols within our amphibian breeding facilities to prevent the spread of chytrid fungus, but they are not mosquito-proof," she said.
"This is something I will be sharing within our organization and with our colleagues and I think should be a focus of research in Canada."
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