Two Amphibian Species Thought Extinct Rediscovered In Costa Rica, Australia

[hatrack]

Scientists have discovered two rare species of frog that were thought to be extinct alive and well in the wild. An extremely rare female tree frog was seen in Costa Rican cloud forest for the first time in 20 years.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world a frog species not seen for the past 17 years was found in a remote location in the tropical north of Australia.

Frog species have been diminishing in recent years because of a deadly fungus. The chytrid fungus has been blamed for the extinction of one third of the 120 species of amphibian lost since 1980. Scientists behind both discoveries are now going to research how these species have managed to survive the outbreak.

The tiny tree frog Isthmohyla rivularis was discovered by a team from the University of Manchester. Andrew Gray from Manchester Museum had discovered a male last year and was thrilled to find a pregnant female.



The female tree frog from Costa Rica (left) and the Australian armoured mist frog (right)


EDIT

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/09/12/eafrog112.xml

[Crunchy Frog]

1. Wish they would find the Golden Toad.

That loss is really depressing. :cry:

[hatrack]

2. When I saw the article summary at the link site, I was thinking the same thing

Doomed to disappointment again, but still pretty cool news for the two survivors.