Most heat-tolerant amphibian

Native to Chinese Taipei and southern Japan, tadpoles of the Japanese stream treefrog (Buergeria japonica) have been found living in hot springs ("onsen") at temperatures as high as 46.1 degrees Celsius (114.9 degrees Fahrenheit) on Kuchinoshima Island, a tiny volcanic island in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.

This research was conducted by scientists from Hiroshima University, in collaboration with SOKENDAI, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, and was published in the journal Amphibia-Reptilia in August 2016.

This species has previously been found living in hot springs in Chinese Taipei, but this was the hottest water that any amphibian tadpole has been recorded in.

It's thought that living in such hot water offers evolutionary benefits to these tadpoles, including expedited growth and advanced immunity, as well as enabling them to survive on small islands with limited sources of natural freshwater.