Disappearing Frogs

waltky · Feb 29, 2016

Save the frogs!...

Scientists find new weapon in fight against deadly amphibian fungus
Tuesday 1st March, 2016 - Washing infected frogs in an anti-fungal drug bath reduced mortality rate and extended lifespan of population, and could buy valuable time to save species from extinction, research shows

Scientists have for the first time found a successful short-term treatment for amphibians infected with a deadly fungus in the wild. Although the treatment would not save them from being reinfected and dying at a later date, it could greatly extend the time needed to save an amphibian population from extinction in the face of epidemic disease, according to the study led by scientists from the Zoological Society of London and published in the journal Biological Conservation.

A team of researchers on a last-ditch mission to save the critically endangered mountain chicken frog (Leptodactylus fallax) from extinction on Montserrat found that washing amphibians affected with chytridiomycosis in an anti-fungal bath reduced the mortality rate and extended the lifespan of the population by more than a year.

In early 2009, a global pandemic ravaging amphibian populations worldwide and caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis reached Montserrat and reduced the population of tens of thousands to around 200 within months. In August the same year, scientists tried to save the last few hundred frogs - which are found only on the islands of Dominica and Montserrat - at their last remaining site in a ravine.

Over 16 weeks, the team treated 80 frogs individually for five minutes at a time by washing them in a bag containing the anti-fungal drug itraconazole. Another group was washed with only water and another left untreated. The scientists were in the middle of assessing the impact of the treatment when the Soufriere Hills volcano erupted and the team was evacuated. When they returned, only two frogs were found to be remaining.

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sawyer · Mar 1, 2016

waltky said: ↑

Save the frogs!...

Scientists find new weapon in fight against deadly amphibian fungus
Tuesday 1st March, 2016 - Washing infected frogs in an anti-fungal drug bath reduced mortality rate and extended lifespan of population, and could buy valuable time to save species from extinction, research shows
Click to expand...

I doubt frogs will go extinct from this. Nature has its ways and some frogs will have a natural resistance to it and will repopulate the species.man messing around with natural evolution may do more harm than good

waltky · Mar 9, 2016

New frog species discovered in Colombia

Frog species with yellow eyebrows found in Colombia
Wed, 09 Mar 2016 - A new species of terrestrial frog with yellow eyebrows is discovered in the high-altitude moorlands of Colombia.

Researchers say they have discovered a new frog species with distinctive yellow eyebrows in Colombia. The frog has a dark camouflage pattern which allows it to blend in with the rocky soil on which it dwells. Researchers with the Humboldt Institute found the frog, which they named Pristimantis macrummendozai, in the Iguaquen Merchan moorlands, in central Boyaca province.

Froggie went a-courtin', a-ha!

Colombia is one of the world's most biologically diverse countries. Researchers said that the species was well adapted to its moorland surroundings. They said that female Pristimantis took advantage of the moist soil to lay their eggs in the ground.

According to their studies, the Pristimanti's preferred breeding environment was at high altitude, above 3,500m (11,500ft). Environmentalists in Colombia have been fighting for the country's moorlands to be protected. Last month, they celebrated when Colombia's constitutional court banned mining in the moorlands, arguing that it could cause irreversible damage to their fragile ecosystem.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-35763229
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waltky · Oct 18, 2016

10,000 Titicaca water frogs die mysteriously in Peru...

Peru investigates death of 10,000 Titicaca water frogs
Tue, 18 Oct 2016 - Peru's environmental agency is investigating the deaths of some 10,000 frogs whose bodies have been found in a tributary of the Titicaca lake.

A campaign group says pollution in the River Coata is to blame for the deaths. It says the government has ignored pleas for the construction of a sewage treatment plant in the area. The Titicaca water frog is an endangered species that is found only in the huge freshwater lake shared by Peru and Bolivia and its tributaries. The Committee Against the Pollution of the Coata River told the AFP news agency that the Peruvian authorities had failed to address a serious pollution problem.

Activists took about 100 dead frogs to the central square in the regional capital, Puno. "I've had to bring them the dead frogs. The authorities don't realize how we're living, protest leader Maruja Inquilla told AFP. "They have no idea how major the pollution is. The situation is maddening."

Giant Titicaca Lake frog, Telmatobius culeus

Peru's National Forestry and Wildlife Service (Sefor) said it was investigating what happened. "Based on local residents' statements and samples taken in the days after the incident, it is believed that more than 10,000 frogs were affected over about 50km (30 miles)," it said in a statement.

The Titicaca water frog (Telmatobius culeus) has enormous folds of skin, which increase its surface area and help the amphibian absorb more oxygen from the surrounding air. As a result of their baggy skin, they are sometimes called Titicaca scrotum frogs. The frogs are critically endangered because humans have collected too many to eat, their habitat is being lost and invasive species are taking over what remains of it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-37686285
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APACHERAT · Oct 18, 2016

The frogs are

critically endangered because humans have collected too many to eat,
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Sounds like Peru has a problem with to many French tourist.

Deckel · Oct 18, 2016

Let's keep blaming Monsanto instead of the yuppie gated communities destroying habitat

waltky · Mar 14, 2017

If ya eat one, will it make yer belly glow inna dark?...

World’s first fluorescent frog found in Argentina
Wed, Mar 15, 2017 - ALL THINGS BRIGHT: In normal light the polka-dot tree frog found in Argentina’s Amazon basin has a dull complexion, but under ultraviolet light it glows bright fluorescent green

The world’s first fluorescent frog has been discovered in the Amazon basin in Argentina. Scientists at the Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum in Buenos Aires made the discovery by accident while studying the pigment of polka-dot tree frogs, a species common to the rainforest. In normal light the frog appears to have a dull, mottled browny-green skin with red dots, but under ultraviolet (UV) light it glows a bright fluorescent green.

Fluorescence — the ability to absorb light at short wavelengths and re-emit it at longer wavelengths — is uncommon in creatures that live on land. The translucent frog was found to use a combination of lymph and glandular emissions to fluoresce. The researchers, who published their discovery on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that the trait enhanced the brightness of the frog by between 19 and 29 percent depending on the level of ambient light in its surroundings.

The compound causing the blue-green glow of the polka-dot tree frog was not previously thought to exist in vertebrates and its discovery has excited researchers. “This is very different from fluorophores found in other vertebrates, which are usually proteins or polyenic chains,” Maria Gabriella Lagoria, a photochemist at the University of Buenos Aires and study coauthor, told Chemistry World.

The discovery opens up the possibility that other amphibians might be able to fluoresce, particularly those with translucent skin similar to that of the tree frog. Speaking to the journal Nature, which first published news of the fluorescent frog, coauthor Julian Faivovich expressed his hope that the discovery would inspire interest in the phenomenon, adding that he hoped scientists would “start carrying a UV flashlight to the field.”

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2017/03/15/2003666822
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DennisTate · Apr 7, 2017

sawyer said: ↑

I doubt frogs will go extinct from this. Nature has its ways and some frogs will have a natural resistance to it and will repopulate the species.man messing around with natural evolution may do more harm than good
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AboveAlpha identified the primary culprit as Sulfur Dioxide in another discussion.

AboveAlpha said: ↑

I remember when I was a kid on a spring night when it rained if we were driving all you would see is millions and millions of frogs and other amphibians all over the wet roads.

There would be just so many and as I got older I noticed how each year there would be less and less and now hardly any.

This is of course because the amount of Sulfer Dioxide that is being pumped into the atmosphere by man.

When Sulfer Dioxide mixes with the water vapor in our atmosphere it comes down as Acid Rain and this acidity kills and degrades the eggs of frogs and other amphibians and animals.

As well when I was a kid when mowing are large lawn I would accidentally kill 2 to 4 snakes every time I mowed.

Now I hardly see snakes anymore.

AboveAlpha
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waltky · Apr 2, 2018

New Hope for Frog Once Thought to be Extinct in Australia...

New Hope for Frog Once Feared Extinct in Australia
April 02, 2018 — Sydney's Taronga Zoo has released a specially-bred group of critically endangered yellow-spotted bell frogs into the wild. Yellow-spotted bell frogs were thought to have become extinct until a chance discovery a decade ago. It allowed scientists to breed a so-called insurance population' in captivity to help the species recover.

Historically, yellow spotted-bell frogs were found in two separate highland ranges in the north and south of New South Wales state in eastern Australia. But disaster struck in the 1970s following an outbreak of an infectious disease that affects amphibians around the world. For 30 years there were no recorded sightings of yellow-spotted bell frogs and scientists thought they were extinct. However, a small group of these rare frogs was found near the New South Wales town of Yass in 2009 on the Southern Tablelands. Researchers moved quickly to harvest eggs and they became part of a so-called insurance population. It has been a success.This week experts from Taronga Zoo in Sydney released 200 juvenile frogs back into the area near Yass in an attempt to re-establish a wild population.

Michael McFadden is a supervisor at the zoo. "In the Northern and Southern Tablelands this species used to be extremely common up until the late 1970s and at that time the species almost went extinct over a couple of years. So it disappeared, it was thought to have gone extinct. The reason for that decline was due to the introduction of an introduced pathogen called chytrid fungus. Unfortunately for this species they showed very little immunity and as a result they were wiped out over a period of one or two years," he said.

Yellow-spotted bell frog

Insurance populations' of endangered Tasmanian Devils have also been bred in captivity in Australia. In the wild, the world's largest surviving carnivorous marsupial has been devastated by a contagious facial cancer that was first recognized in the 1990s. A small number of animals bred in captivity have been released into the wild, fueling hopes this iconic species can recover.

There are hopes, too, the yellow-spotted bell frogs can do the same. Chytrid fungus causes chytridiomycosis, which has been described by scientists as one of the most devastating wildlife diseases ever known. It has devastated frog populations in Australia, Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe.

https://www.voanews.com/a/new-hope-for-frog-once-feared-extinct-in-australia/4326451.html
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kazenatsu · Apr 2, 2018

Because of their thin permeable skin, frogs are very sensitive to even small levels of pollution in their watery habitats.
These mainly include pesticides in runoff and estrogens in the sewer ultimately originating from birth control pills. But sewage and fertilizers could be feeding algal blooms that could also be damaging to frogs.

wyly · Apr 3, 2018

sawyer said: ↑

I doubt frogs will go extinct from this. Nature has its ways and some frogs will have a natural resistance to it and will repopulate the species.man messing around with natural evolution may do more harm than good
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many species have gone extinct without man messing around with them, there's no reason to doubt we could lose many frog varieties...which wouldn't be good because they play an important role in the environment...

waltky · May 10, 2018

Chytrid fungus killin' frogs...

Origins of amphibian-killing fungus uncovered
10 May`18 - A deadly fungus that has ravaged amphibian populations worldwide probably originated in East Asia, new research suggests.

A study in Science journal supports an idea that the pet trade helped spread killer strains of the chytrid fungus around the globe. The fungus is a major cause of the devastating declines experienced by frogs, toads, newts and salamanders. There is no known effective measure for controlling the disease. The authors of the report highlight the need to tighten biosecurity along country borders, including a potential ban on the trade in amphibians as pets.

The frog Bombina orientalis was imported to Europe from South Korea

The chytrid fungus, known as Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or Bd, was first identified as a problem in the 1990s, said co-author Dr Simon O'Hanlon, from Imperial College London. "Until now we haven't been able to identify exactly where it came from," he explained. "In our paper, we solve this problem and show that the lineage which has caused such devastation can be traced back to East Asia."

The American bullfrog is more-or-less immune to the chytrid fungus, but it helps transmit the disease to other, susceptible amphibians

Bd causes a disease called chytridiomycosis, which attacks the animal's skin, interfering with their ability to regulate levels of water and electrolytes (salts and minerals that are essential for vital biological functions). This can lead to heart failure. Some species are affected more than others: while the American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) appears to be effectively immune, other populations experience near-100% mortality. The team gathered samples of the fungus from across the globe and sequenced the genomes of these samples. They combined this information with data from previous studies of Bd genomes, building a set of 234 samples.

'Ground zero'

The team members then looked at the relationships between the different forms of the fungus. They identified four main genetic lineages, three of which appeared to be distributed globally. But a fourth type was restricted to the Korean peninsula. This Korean form appeared to be native to the region and showed more genetic overlap with the global population of chytrid fungus than any other lineage. Named BdASIA-1, it most closely resembled the ancestor of all other modern Bd. The researchers next used the genome data to estimate when the killer strain diverged from its most recent common ancestor. Rather than dating back thousands of years, as had previously been thought, the disease appears to have emerged in the early 20th Century, coinciding with the commercial trade in amphibians.

The chytrid fungus has been having a devastating effect on critically endangered Corroboree frogs, native to the Southern Tablelands of Australia

Co-author Prof Matthew Fisher, also from Imperial College London, said: "Our research not only points to East Asia as ground zero for this deadly fungal pathogen, but suggests we have only uncovered the tip of the iceberg of chytrid diversity in Asia. "Therefore, until the ongoing trade in infected amphibians is halted, we will continue to put our irreplaceable global amphibian biodiversity recklessly at risk." A study published in Science journal earlier this year suggested some frogs might be developing resistance to the disease. But researchers also warned that it was too early to celebrate any signs of recovery.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-44075687
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yiostheoy · May 10, 2018

waltky said: ↑

Chytrid fungus killin' frogs...

Origins of amphibian-killing fungus uncovered
10 May`18 - A deadly fungus that has ravaged amphibian populations worldwide probably originated in East Asia, new research suggests.
Click to expand...

The mosquitoes are probably glad about this.

waltky · May 16, 2018

Granny freaks out when a frog jumps on her...

Grab your earplugs. Invasive coqui frogs gain foothold in California
Jun 8, 2017 - I can remember when the nighttime sounds of forests on the Big Island in Hawaii were filled only with the unique songs of native insects. Having studied native Hawaiian crickets for nearly three decades I’ve become familiar with the deep, cow-bell pulses of the Hawaiian tree cricket and the soft, sleigh-bell pulses of Uhini iki, the Hawaiian swordtail cricket. Today, they can barely be heard.

In the past few years, a population explosion of the invasive coqui frog (Eleutherodactylus coqui) has transformed the acoustic landscape of Big Island forests into a monotonous din, masking these native songs. Tens of thousands of amphibian voices, calling “ko-keee, ko-keee, ko-keee,” mask the songs of native endemics. So dense and widespread are the populations on the island that state officials have deemed the goal of permanent removal unfeasible there, focusing instead on eradication efforts for the remaining islands where the coqui has yet to deeply establish itself. Now the coqui has arrived in California. With few, and relatively small infestations, California should act immediately to eradicate this destructive invasive species. The coqui may look innocent, and even sound sweet to some, but its brief history in Hawaii tells a tragic story of how delayed action can have devastating consequences for biodiversity and human well-being.

The coqui frog may look innocent, and even sound sweet to some, but its brief history in Hawaii tells a tragic story of how delayed action can have devastating consequences for biodiversity and human well-being.

Although native to Puerto Rico, the coqui invaded vulnerable island habitats by hitching rides on commercial nursery plants. In Hawaii, home to thousands of endemic species, the coqui has had catastrophic impact following its introduction in the late 1980s. Unlike in their native range, coqui have achieved astonishing densities, often as high as 20,000 frogs per hectare (or 2 frogs per square meter), and sometimes over four times that number. These high densities likely arise because the frogs have escaped their natural predators and diseases, factors that regulate coqui numbers in Puerto Rico. The coqui is a predator itself, and its high numbers are bad news for native Hawaiian arthropod species, which the frogs consume with voracious appetites. Each frog consumes about eight prey animals per day, and thus, in that one square meter, on any given night, a loss of between thirty and seventy invertebrates can be expected. To put this threat on a human scale, such a density would equate to approximately 20 Tyrannosaurus rex’s per square kilometer. Admittedly, a T. rex might eat just one human per day; nevertheless, we wouldn’t stand a chance.

For the Big Island’s endemic arthropod species, this analogy suggests a grim future—and sadly, it is more than just a suggestion. In the last decade, frog populations have steadily expanded upslope from Hilo toward the Kilauea summit, such that now the night-time acoustic landscape is filled with a coqui cacophony, revealing massive populations of frogs. As recently as five years ago, native cricket numbers were healthy on Kilauea’s northeast slope. Further surveys are urgently needed, but in the vicinity of Glenwood, where there once were hundreds of thousands of crickets, they are now completely gone. And what of the other tiny forest creatures that do not reveal their losses so readily through the disappearance of sound? One must conclude that they too have been vacuumed up by the voracious coqui.

Common Coqui (Eleutherodactylus coqui) is a small tree frog averaging 1-2 inches in length. They are classified as an invasive species in California.

There are also well-known human impacts. Coqui are loud, disturbing residents’ sleep, eliciting visitor complaints at hotels and resorts, and depressing real estate values in infested areas on the Big Island. In addition, Hawaiian nurseries have repeatedly exported frog-infested ornamental plants, only to suffer economic loss when their shipments are destroyed or returned. For the Big Island’s endemic arthropod species, this analogy suggests a grim future—and sadly, it is more than just a suggestion. In the last decade, frog populations have steadily expanded upslope from Hilo toward the Kilauea summit, such that now the night-time acoustic landscape is filled with a coqui cacophony, revealing massive populations of frogs. As recently as five years ago, native cricket numbers were healthy on Kilauea’s northeast slope. Further surveys are urgently needed, but in the vicinity of Glenwood, where there once were hundreds of thousands of crickets, they are now completely gone. And what of the other tiny forest creatures that do not reveal their losses so readily through the disappearance of sound? One must conclude that they too have been vacuumed up by the voracious coqui.

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Spooky · Jun 22, 2018

sawyer said: ↑

I doubt frogs will go extinct from this. Nature has its ways and some frogs will have a natural resistance to it and will repopulate the species.man messing around with natural evolution may do more harm than good
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Australia can't get rid of the Cane Toad no matter what they do.

They even hold hunts and pay people to bring in the frogs corpses and it still doesn't dent their takeover.

Poison doesn't work, predators don't work, nothing does.

Natural selection.

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