Alaskan Wood Frog

Alaskan wood frogs push freeze tolerance beyond their southern relatives, surviving temperatures to -18°C (0°F) through enhanced cryoprotectant production. While all wood frogs freeze solid in winter, Alaskan populations have evolved higher concentrations of glucose and urea that protect cells from ice crystal damage. The longer, colder Alaskan winters selected for more extreme capability.

This population-level variation demonstrates how the same basic strategy can be enhanced under stronger selection pressure. The physiological mechanisms are identical to southern wood frogs; only the degree differs. Harsher environments produce more extreme versions of the same adaptation rather than fundamentally different approaches.

For business strategy, Alaskan wood frogs illustrate how competitive environments intensify existing strategies rather than creating new ones. Companies in highly competitive markets develop more extreme versions of their core capabilities—lower costs, faster delivery, better service—rather than fundamentally different approaches. Selection pressure amplifies rather than transforms.

The geographic variation also demonstrates local adaptation within species. Alaskan frogs wouldn't do better than Ohio frogs in Ohio—their extreme capability is unnecessary there. Similarly, organizations optimized for intense competition may be over-adapted for stable markets, carrying capability costs that less-adapted competitors don't bear.