Colombian Frogs Believed Extinct Found Alive

04/11/2006 00:00:00 Discovery Shows Some Species Can Survive Fungus Decimating Amphibians
Washington, D.C. – Researchers exploring a Colombian mountain range found surviving members of three species of frog believed extinct due to a killer fungus wiping out amphibian populations in Central and South America.

The discovery of what could be the last population of the painted frog (Atelopus ebenoides marinkellei), the Santa Marta harlequin frog (Atelopus laetissimus) and the San Lorenzo harlequin frog (Atelopus nahumae) indicates the species have survived the fungus, providing hope that other species also might avoid elimination from the epidemic caused by a pathogenic fungus of unknown origin. Professor Carlos Rocha made the discovery of the painted frog in early May in the deserts of Sarna and Toquilla in Boyacá in eastern Colombia.

The painted frog, which is found only in the deserts of Colombia’s highlands, was last seen in 1995 in the area of Siscunsi, in the same region as Boyacá. After 11 years without a sighting, scientists considered the species extinct because of a lethal skin fungus, known as chytridiomycosis, and other hazards threatening the survival of a third of all amphibian species around the world.

Scientists recently found the other two Critically Endangered frogs – the Santa Marta harlequin frog (Atelopus laetissimus) and the San Lorenzo harlequin frog (Atelopus nahumae) – for the first time in 14 years in the El Dorado Nature Reserve established in March on the northwest slope of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta massif, on the Caribbean coast of Colombia.

The reserve is an important home for threatened species, and its protection was a top priority of the Alliance for Zero Extinction – a 62-member group of conservation organizations battling global extinctions. In March, alliance members Conservation International (CI) and American Bird Conservancy (ABC) helped Fundación ProAves of Colombia purchase the 1,600-acre site to protect it as a nature reserve.

Neither of these rediscovered frog species had the deadly fungal disease chytridiomycosis, raising hopes that the species can be saved in the new protected area or through captive breeding. The fungus has been found as close as 40 kilometers (25 miles) away on the other side of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and scientists will study the frogs to learn how they have avoided it. 'The scientific importance of the finding must motivate us to adopt urgent measures toward saving the last of these amphibians, both in the wild and through captive breeding programs,' said Fabio Arjona, executive director of Conservation International in Colombia. 'That will require a lot of support from the local and international communities.'

The painted frog is one of 110 species of a diverse group of neo-tropical amphibians that live mostly in Colombia. The country’s amphibian population is considered among the most diverse on Earth and key in the conservation efforts to protect amphibian species worldwide. So far, 42 of the 113 species of Atelopus found in the Tropical Andes Hotspot that includes parts of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela have experienced population declines of up to 50 %. Frogs provide innumerable ecosystem services by consuming insects and serving as indicators of overall environmental health of an ecosystem. The disappearance of amphibians could cause numerous consequences, including an increase in illnesses such as malaria due to the disappearance of amphibians that feed on mosquitoes carrying the disease. An extinction crisis among amphibians indicates drastic environmental changes caused by human impact such as deforestation and global warming.

The research was conducted as part of the Atelopus Initiative, a regional program that monitors the state of amphibian populations in the Tropical Andes Hotspot. CI will work with partners on extending Atelopus conservation initiatives into Peru and Bolivia under the Amphibian Conservation Action Plan created in 2005 as result of the 2004 Global Amphibian Assessment.

© 2006 Conservation International