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Buried Alive!
More Rain On The
Way For the Central Pacific
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Prices Drop, Diesel Jumps At Midnight
San José To Host Film
Festival
‘Extinct’ Frog
Rediscovered in Costa
Rica |
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‘Extinct’ Frog
Rediscovered in Costa
Rica
A critically endangered
frog, thought to have
become extinct, has just
been rediscovered in
Costa Rica by Manchester
Museum Curator Andrew
Gray and local
naturalist Mark
Wainwright.
After receiving special
permission from the
Costa Rican authorities
to work in the famous
Monteverde Cloud Forest
Preserve, they were
there on to work with
rare Green-eyed Frogs,
Rana vibicaria, at their
last known breeding
site.
Many amphibian species
have disappeared
completely from such
high altitude areas over
the last twenty five
years, where a changing
climate and fungal
infection are suspected
to be the causes. A
significant crash in the
amphibian population
occurred at Monteverde
in the late 80’s, when
many species disappeared
without trace, including
the Golden Toad, Bufo
pereglines.
16 hour trek
During the 16 hour
trek into the remotest
part of the reserve,
they faced some
challenging weather
conditions which made
some sections of the
mountain trail
particularly trecherous.
At one piont, Andrew and
Mark, had to cross the
middle of a massive
landslide where the
slightest slip could
have proved fatal. Even
after an arduous trek,
they chose to go looking
for frogs at night. It
was a decision they did
not regret, as this was
when they heard a
totally unrecognizable
frog call.
The frog in question was
calling from a high
branch and so Andrew had
to scale the slippery,
moss-covered trunk in
his wellington boots,
extending his reach
precariously along the
bough in his effort to
retrieve the vocalizing
male.
First sighting for 20
years
He said ‘One look at the
specimen in my hand and
I knew I had caught
something very special’.
And so he had, for the
beautiful brown and
metalic-green treefrog
was Isthomhyla rivularis
- a nocturnal species.
The species had
disappeared from
Monteverde along with
the Golden Toad, almost
20 years ago, and,
no-one had seen it
since.
Although Andrew could
have collected the prize
specimen, he decided it
would only be right to
leave it in the wild
and, after taking
several unique
photographs, he released
the frog exactly where
it was found. The
significant find has
excited biologist and
conservationists around
the globe, many of whom
have been searching for
such a species at
Monteverde themselves.
It also provides new
hope that other species
considered to be
extinct, such as the
Golden Toad, may have
also survived and await
similar discovery.
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Isthomhyla rivularis,
rediscovered by Andrew Gray and Mark
Wainwright in Costa Rica. © The
Manchester Museum. |
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