Author: Jeremy Rehm / Source: Science News for Students
Scientists feared this frog was extinct. No one had seen a Sehuencas water frog in the wild since 2008. Just one “lonely” survivor, nicknamed Romeo, remained in captivity. A fungal disease has been wiping out frog populations worldwide, and scientists suspected it had killed off this one, too. But after 10 years searching Bolivian mountain forests for the long-lost amphibians, scientists have finally turned up a tiny group of five.
“It’s just incredible,” says herpetologist Robin Moore. A herpetologist studies reptiles and amphibians. Moore is the communications director at Global Wildlife Conservation in Austin, Texas. He was among the scientists who announced the rediscovery of this species on January 15.
Sehuencas water frogs (Telmatobius yuracare) live only in the Bolivian mountain cloud forests, where the climate is moist and cool. And that’s where researchers found the five. Unfortunately, this frog’s native habitat also provides the ideal conditions for the growth of a fungal infection with an ungainly name: chytridiomycosis (Kih-TRIH-dee-oh-my-KOH-sis). Most scientists just refer to it (and the fungus that causes it) as chytrid (KIH-trid).
The disease has killed off most…
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