How Marion Anstis became the tadpole whisperer

Marion Anstis pursued her love of tadpoles and frogs on afternoons and weekends, writing papers for scientific journals despite not studying zoology at university.

When she retired from her job as a music teacher, she finally had the time to pack her campervan and travel the country, chasing wet seasons and documenting the frogs she found.

The result of that fastidious research venture is her PhD and the froggy bible, Tadpoles and Frogs of Australia.

In 2022 her contribution to the field was recognised with the genus Anstisia named after her, a group of frogs that lay their eggs on the ground.

Featuring:

• Dr Marion Anstis, herpetologist and author

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Rebecca McLaren, Producer
• Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer

This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.

Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.