World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments

Fourteen new species of frog, all members of the genus Micrixalus, or “dancing frogs,” were recently discovered in southern India. The male frogs “dance” as part of a mating ritual, and the females lay their eggs in streams.

Upon discovery, the dancing frogs were classified as endangered. Their habitats are being destroyed by human activity. Nezhukumatathil contrasts the “sobering thought” of their precarious situation with the fact that “frogs are the great bioindicators of this planet,” and therefore their discovery is “indicative of the health of the biosphere itself” (51).

Nezhukumatathil describes the physical appearance and diet of vampire squids: They have eight tentacles and “two long ribbons of skin” and eat “bits of sea dander that are actually decomposing particles of animals who died hundreds of feet above the midnight zone” (53). If a vampire squid senses danger, it can flee very quickly. It “discharges a luminescent cloud of mucus” that “temporarily baffles the predator” (54).

Nezhukumatathil refers to her junior year of high school as her “cephalopod year.” She moves from Western New York to a suburb of Dayton, Ohio, and avoids interacting with other students in her new school as much as possible. Eventually, she opens up, makes friends, and participates in more school activities.