posted on Jul, 8 2010 @ 05:03 AM
Faye Sweeney was attempting to move the amphibian from a path into the shade at the Attenborough Nature Reserve in Nottinghamshire when she noticed it
had an extra limb.
The 27-year-old, a regular visitor to the reserve, made the discovery last week and reported it to charity Froglife.Ms Sweeney, from Chilwell,
Nottingham, said: ''I was just out on the path walking down with three dogs so didn't want it to get trampled or dry out in the sun.
''When I picked it up I saw it had an extra front leg so I took a couple of photos and popped it in the undergrowth.
''It didn't seem in trouble at all, once I picked it up it was wriggling around."
Erin McDaid, communications manager at Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, said the report was the first he had heard, and it was more likely to be a
unique mutation rather than something caused by pollution.
He said: ''It's the first I have heard of something like this.
''With it being one I wouldn't even want to have a guess as to why it had happened, it could just be a mutation, a glitch in its transformation.
It's just an interesting little idiosyncrasy.''