County Fair Bullfrogs are Better Jumpers: Why Rosie the Ribbiter Leaps so Far (Video)

Every year, bullfrog "jockeys" at the Calaveras County Jumping Frog Jubilee encourage their frogs to jump the furthest. This display of amphibian prowess isn't just a fun event to watch, though, it may also have implications for science. Researchers have found that these jockeys can make their frogs jump much further than those that are used in studies, which means that scientists haven't been reporting the true maximal performance of the animal.

"It was sort of shocking; we worried about it," said Thomas Roberts, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Maybe we were missing something but we also had a little bit of uncertainty and skepticism."

Scientific studies have reported that bullfrog's longest jump is just beyond 1.3 meters. Yet this pales in comparison to the record set by Rosie the Ribeter, a bullfrog that starred in the county event. She hopped more than 2.1 meters in just one, spectacular leap.

In order to study exactly why these frogs were making such amazing leaps, the researchers decided to conduct measurements at the event itself. They selected the best locally sourced frogs that were also used by the "jockeys." Yet it quickly became clear that these frogs weren't any more successful than lab frogs. So what exactly was going on?

The scientists also measured the actual jumps from frogs in the competition. It turned out that the average amateur jockey averaged just 1.1 meters with their frog, whereas professional frog jockeys averaged 1.5 meters. This seemed to show that the secret behind the frog jumps wasn't the frogs themselves, but rather the jockeys.

"Several of the people mentioned to us that the frog knows the will of the jockey," said Henry Astley, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Their point was the frog senses whether you are a scientist hoping it's going to jump well or a deadly reptilian-like predator who is going to eat it."

The findings reveal that bullfrogs certainly do have a larger potential than what scientists have been working with. Whether or not a frog jumps further all depends on whether or not the handler knows the proper technique in order to accomplish the feat.

The findings are published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

Want to see the frogs jumping for yourself? Check out the video below, courtesy of Brown.