Author: Jeremy Rehm / Source: Science News
Save for one “lonely” survivor in captivity, the Sehuencas water frog hadn’t been seen in the wild since 2008. That’s when its numbers collapsed, primarily due to chytridiomycosis, a fungal disease that has devastated frog populations worldwide. Fearing the species might be extinct, some scientists spent 10 years searching the Bolivian mountain forests for the amphibians. Now, they’ve found a tiny population of five.
“It’s just incredible,” says herpetologist Robin Moore, communications director at Global Wildlife Conservation in Austin, Texas. He was among the scientists who announced the discovery on January 15.
With no current way to get rid of the lethal chytrid fungus in the wild, scientists are keen to study the survivors, Moore says. The five Sehuencas water frogs (Telmatobius…
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