NS 3034: Catherine Brahic: Meet the Lazarus toads that bring hope for amphibians

Sunday, August 16, 2015

NS 3034: Catherine Brahic: Meet the Lazarus toads that bring hope for amphibians

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22730340-500-meet-the-lazarus-toads-that-bring-hope-for-amphibians/
12 August 2015

Catherine Brahic is a feature editor at New Scientist

Climate change, habitat loss and the deadly chytrid fungus are
wiping out frogs and toads worldwide. But in Central America some
species are fighting back


In March 2013, Twan Leenders and a student were hiking in the
Cocobolo reserve in central Panama when they spotted a precious
jewel: a delicate string of white pearls floating at the bottom of a
rocky puddle at a stream's edge. "That was absolutely tremendous,"
says Leenders. "Everything fit for Atelopus, there was nothing else
it could be."

Leenders, a herpetologist at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of
Natural History in Jamestown, New York, has spent his career
studying tropical frogs and toads. That had mostly meant documenting
their astonishing decline. Climate change and human encroachment on
the amphibians' favoured habitats were a major part of the problem -
as was the advance of the deadly chytrid fungus.

Since the chytrid strain Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis was
identified in 1999, it has been seen in amphibian populations across
Europe, Africa, Australia and Central and South America. The fungus
accumulates in the outer skin layers of amphibians, overstimulating
production of the protein keratin and hardening the skin. That
prevents the uptake of water and essential minerals - and is
normally lethal.

The tiny, colourful toads of the Atelopus genus - known colloquially
as harlequin frogs - suffered badly. "Harlequin frogs were
particularly hard hit by the fungus, and dozens of species
disappeared rapidly in the 1980s and 90s," says Robin Moore of
Global Wildlife Conservation and the Amphibian Survival Alliance,
both based in Austin, Texas.

More:
http://stirling-westrup-tt.blogspot.com/2015/08/tt-ns-3034-catherine-brahic-meet.html
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Environment & Energy:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/112789927