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Brian Gratwicke / Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
A baby limosa harlequin frog, the target of a big conservation effort, sits atop a U.S. quarter.
By Douglas Main
LiveScience
Several teeny-tiny frogs, one big hop for amphibian conservation.
Scientists have successfully bred a certain type of endangered Panamanian amphibian — the limosa harlequin frog — for the first time. The development is key because populations of the itty-bitty frog, which is smaller than a quarter as a baby, are declining in its native country.
"This new generation is hugely inspiring to us as we work to conserve and care for this species and others," said Brian Gratwicke, international coordinator for the project and a research biologist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, one of six partners in the effort.
To get the small amphibians to mate, researchers went to great lengths. They built a rock platform to mimic the underground caves in which the frogs breed, and piped in oxygen-rich water between 72 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit (22 and 24 degrees Celsius), according to a release from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.
Young frogs only feed on algal mats coating rocks. So scientists with the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project, which bred the frogs, also painted the rock platforms with spirulina algae and then let it dry. When placed inside the enclosure, the algae grew and fed the animals.
Young frogs can fit easily on a U.S. quarter with room to spare, and adults don't get much bigger, growing to slightly larger than an inch in length.
For all their trouble, the scientists were rewarded with hundreds of tadpoles from one pair of frogs, and nine youngsters from another, the release noted. These frogs are of the "chevron-patterned" variety; there are also plain-colored forms of limosa harlequin frogs that scientists are trying to breed.
The frog is threatened by habitat loss, development, water pollution and climate change, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Amphibians are also threatened by chytridiomycosis, a fungal disease that kills the animals; due in part to the disease, up to one-third of amphibian species are threatened worldwide.
The Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project has successfully bred other challenging endangered species, including crowned treefrogs, horned marsupial frogs and toad mountain harlequin frogs, the release noted.
The frogs will eventually be released into the wild, where the scientists hope they will help replenish the animal's dwindling numbers.
Email Douglas Mainor follow him @Douglas_Main. Follow us @OAPlanet, Facebook or Google+. Original article on LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet.
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Leave a Comment:
Need to show them froggy porn too.. it's for the good of the species!
There is enough porn to go around in the beltway, and especially in our Congressional Halls.
The author of this article FAILED TO MENTION how much this "BREEDING" effort cost the American taxpayers.
A lot less than highly profitable Yahoos tax refund check did.
boom-chica-crowk-wa-wa
I hear the movie "Marshland Tramps" has all the frogs croaking.
Ido, much of this type of research is funded by private organizations devoted to protecting biodiversity. Your assumption that it costs the American taxpayers money is based on your political ideology therefore your opinion is worthless.
awesome! save all the endangered species of everything.
Bet the caveman are happy we weren't around...............
There would be big cats & mammoths everywhere........
Probably a lot less of us?
oh great, now its gonna die from metal/copper poison and all the germs that come with money...
Spiralina algae makes me hot too.
The Rock makes me hot...
Those scientists must have had a very, very small penis's.
"How can we be so arrogant? The planet is, was, and always will be stronger than us.
We can't destroy it; if we overstep the mark, the planet will simply erase us from its surface and carry on existing.
Why don't they start talking about not letting the planet destroy us?
Because "Saving the planet" gives a sense of power, action and nobility.
Whereas "not letting the planet destroy us" might lead us to feelings of despair and impotence, and to a realisation of just how very limited our capabilities are.
Let’s be humble. Let’s respect Mother Earth because if She becomes furious with our behavior, we are in trouble." Paulo Coelho
Isn't that what the whole climate debate is about? We are tipping the balance and the planet will eventually correct the situation, be eliminating us? I would say that's worth preventing!
Sam, make no mistake about it- we are perfectly capable of ruining the biosphere. Of course, we can't really destroy the planet, but we can start chain reactions that will eventually render it incapable of supporting the vast majority of life. Possibly, ALL life. We need to stop our "experiments" with this planet. We can't even foresee the end result, much less control it. Reduce, reuse, recycle are what common folks like us can do, and we must do it. We need to speak to industry with our wallets; and keep after our elected officials to make environmentally sound decisions.
We should manage the planet as though our lives depended on it.
If climate change and this fungus is killing them off in the wild, then guess what's gonna happen to this batch when it it is freed into the wild? They will die too! Which is why we need to address the underlying cause of this animal's endangerment - human caused global warming.
Well technically this batch almost certainly won't get released to the wild. It will probably be held as part of a captive-breeding program. Ideally the plan would be to breed more of them while working on a solution for the fungus, then release them after the other problems are solved.
Not so sure it will work, though. The success of captive breeding programs is iffy, at best. But I do wish them the best of luck.
Pat, what they know is that the frog's numbers are dwindling. They have identified several factors that are probably contributing to it, including habitat loss, the fungus, and climate change. They have not suggested that they understand that a clear cause-effect relationship exists or the relative importance of the factors they have proposed. Additional research will shed additional light.
I thought this story was about Pelosi and Reid.
Damn, cons are stupid!
Toads and frogs are different critters.
Couldn't be. The world would be WORSE off if the frogs were to die. Besides that, the frogs are appealing!
Great human interest article for a local weekly rag. The question is why this is so earth shattering as to be included in a science column? Unless you happen to have a cave in Panama and have some perverse interest in toads ........
There is a thread about frog porn up above. Plenty of perverted humor.
I think we are in the age where any and every story is making it's way online. It's not just really importnant news, it's as much news as they can find. More news means more ads viewed. More income.
.....by tiny scientist.
Somebody's acually doing something constructive????? I'am impressed!
my question??? will the world come to an end if this frog dies out, and is the cost of saving it worth it????
Legitimate question, in my opinion, the answer is No!
Since the majority of these comments are failed attempts at humor using middle school material (omg frogs totally DID IT tee hee hee) I'm just going to say congratulations to science. Any step towards correcting all wrong we have done to this planet is a good one in my book.
Is anyone concerned that we will be the next extinct species if we don't slow down the use of fossil fuels and making junk we don't need.
Okay, they used a lot of money in convincing this frog, tiny as it is, to reproduce, and they will return them to the wild. However, they mentioned the fungus that is killing off a lot of amphibians around the world lately, so my question is......We propagated this frog at considerable expense, now we will put it out into the deadly fungual environment?
There is a lot of research focus on this fungus in hopes of reducing its impact on frogs.
Show them nudie pictures of Miss Piggy. That will perk those little frogs up and make them super horny.
They probably spent hundreds of thousands of dollars (If not more) propogating F***ing frogs that by natural selection, were due for extinction. In the meantime, American children go hungry????
Phil, what you know about frogs and natural selection could fit in less space than one of these frogs.
How wonderful good thing we don't waste money on humans just abort them.
who gives a dam about frogs, is there not enough bigger problems to be solve?
Waitress: I'll have the frog legs, and hop to it!