England, March 5 -- Researchers at the University of Bristol discovered that ancient frog ancestors survived the biggest mass extinction of species by eating on freshwater prey that evaded terrestrial predators.

The study suggests the amphibians' success lay in their generalist feeding ecology, which enabled them to feed on a wide variety of prey despite the array of environmental changes happening all around them through the Triassic.

Broader examination of Triassic ecosystems also indicates that the freshwater habitats they preferred provided them with a relatively stable variety of food resources, allowing them to thrive while strictly terrestrial predators made do with meagre, unstable resource availability on land.

The end-Permian...