Vanishing Frogs

Vegas Valley leopard frog (Rana fisheri)

Description: Olive green above with honey yellow hind limbs, this leopard frog had pale stripes on the folds between its back and sides. Its legs were short and stocky.
Distribution: Las Vegas Valley, Clark County, Nevada.
Habitat: This medium-size (two to three inches from nose to rear) leopard frog lived in seeps, springs, creeks, and the adjacent narrow corridor of riparian habitat (cottonwoods, willows, and tules) at an elevation of about 2,000 feet.
Diet: Probably ate insects, spiders, and other invertebrates, as well as small vertebrates, including fish and their own young.
Reproduction: Vegas Valley leopard frogs may have bred in springs and streams where the adults lived much of the year, as water temperatures permitted. Young frogs appeared from April through August.
Status: Last seen in the wild in 1942.
Possible culprits:
Loss of habitat (springs were capped and groundwater was pumped to supply a growing Las Vegas with water)
Introduced aquatic predators (bullfrogs and crayfish)

Israel painted frog (Discoglossus nigriventer)

Description: Ocher, rust, gray, and black made up the painted frog’s colorful back. Small white spots dappled its dark belly.
Distribution: Northern Israel and possibly adjacent parts of Syria.
Status: Last seen in the wild in 1955.
Possible culprits:
Loss of habitat (draining wetlands for farmland)
Mountain mist frog (Litoria nyakalensis)

Description: Olive-brown or gray-brown above and cream below, this medium-size (up to two inches from nose to rear), smooth-skinned frog had fully webbed toes with large discs on its toes, a characteristic of climbing tree frogs.
Distribution: Coastal ranges and scarps of the Cairns region, northeastern Queensland, Australia.
Habitat: Fast-flowing streams in upland rain forests.
Diet: Unknown.
Reproduction: Mountain mist frogs usually perched on rocks or low vegetation hanging over fast-flowing streams. During breeding season (October to March), males repeatedly emitted a soft, slow, popping growl to call mates. The females laid eggs under rocks in riffles. The pale brown tadpoles had large mouths with suction lips that enabled them to cling to rocks in swift water.
Status: Last seen in the wild in 1990.
Possible culprits: Unknown
Gastric-brooding frog (Rheobatrachus silus)

Description: Brown to almost black on top and whitish underneath, this medium-size (up to two inches from nose to rear) frog had a blunt snout and slender, fully webbed toes.
Distribution: Blackall and Cannondale Ranges of southeastern Queensland, Australia.
Habitat: Rocky mountain streams and pools in rain forest and tall, open forest with an understory.
Diet: These nocturnal stream dwellers hid under rocks during the day and on top of rocks or partly submerged at night. They fed on small insects.
Reproduction: Gastric-brooding frogs mated between October and December, depending on on the summer rains. The male emitted a loud staccato call. The female swallowed the fertilized eggs or young tadpoles and nurtured up to 25 offspring in her stomach. Hormones produced by the young shut down the female’s digestive process, and she didn’t eat during the gestation period. Six to seven weeks later she opened her mouth, and tiny, fully formed frogs hopped out. Scientists had hoped that studies of the gastric brooders’ ability to shut down enzyme production in the stomach would benefit people with gastric ulcers.
Status: Last seen in the wild in 1981.
Possible culprits: Unknown
Golden toad (Bufo periglenes)

Description: True to its name, the male golden toad was a flaming golden orange. The larger (about two inches from nose to rear) female, ranging in color from dark olive to black, was dappled with bright red splotches edged in yellow.
Distribution: Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, Costa Rica.
Habitat: Undisturbed elfin cloud forest at elevations from 6,500 feet to 6,900 feet.
Diet: Little is known about the feeding habits of these secretive frogs, which hid underground except during the short breeding season. Because of their small size, golden toads probably fed on small invertebrates.
Reproduction: Golden toads gathered at shallow pools that formed during the spring rainy season. Males outnumbered females by as much as eight to one, so males mated with almost anything that moved, including other pairs locked together in the mating embrace. Four to ten males sometimes clung to each other, forming what’s called a toad ball. Females laid a string of 200 to 400 eggs; it took five weeks for the tadpoles to develop into tiny toads.
Status: Last seen in the wild in 1989.
Possible culprits:
Disease
Climate change (prolonged drought, increase ultraviolet radiation)
Pollution (long-distance pesticides, toxins, and pollutants)
Golden coqui (Eleutherodactylus jasperi)

Description: The golden coqui’s skin color, which ranged from olive-gold to pale yellow, had a translucent golden cast that gave it its common name. The transparent skin on the abdomen of this small (less than an inch from nose to rear), smooth-skinned frog revealed the heart, abdominal lining, and gonads.
Distribution: South of Cayey, Puerto Rico, at elevations between 2,300 feet and 2,800 feet.
Habitat: Golden coquis lived in the axils of bromeliads (tropical plants in the same family as pineapples and Spanish moss) that grew less than three feet apart. Two or more adults and two or more juveniles occupied each bromeliad. The adults were territorial, defending their axil from other frogs by shoving and biting.
Diet: Golden coquis probably fed on insects and other tiny invertebrates, especially those drinking the water trapped in the bromeliad.
Reproduction: The golden coqui was the only New World frog known to produce live young instead of laying eggs. The female was probably fertilized internally and incubated three to six eggs in a modified oviduct for about 28 days. At birth the young resembled the adults and stayed with their parents for an undetermined period.
Status: Last seen in the wild in 1981.
Possible culprits:
Loss of habitat
Pollution (acid rain)
Overharvesting
Low reproductive rate
Rancho Grande harlequin frog (Atelopus cruciger)

Description: Cruciger, the scientific name of this slender harlequin frog, comes from the Latin word crux, or cross, referring to the dark cross on its head, shoulders, and back. Its poisonous skin ranged in color from yellowish green to olive. As with many other frog species, males were smaller (1-1.5 inches from nose to rear) than females (1.5-2 inches) and emitted three types of calls.
Distribution: Coastal mountains of northern Venezuela, from the lowlands up to cloud forest.
Habitat: Moist rain forests.
Diet: By day these slow-moving frogs sat along streams, probably feeding on ants, termites, beetles, and other small invertebrates. They spent the night hidden in low vegetation. These harlequin frogs had only one known enemy—a nonvenomous snake immune to the neurotoxins in the frogs’ skin.
Reproduction: Harlequins gathered to mate in the dry season, when there was less chance their eggs and tadpoles would be washed away. Males probably attracted females by calling and with visual displays, such as stamping and hopping. Males stayed with the females up to 19 days. Females laid as many as 270 eggs, which hatched in about three days. Suckers extending from the tadpoles’ mouths enabled them to cling to stream bottoms so they wouldn’t be swept away.
Status: Last seen in the wild in 1982. The Rancho Grande harlequin frog was once so abundant that in certain seasons scientists could collect hundreds in just one hour.
Possible culprits:
Climate change (drought)
Pollution (acid rain)
Welcome to the Vanishing Frogs website Seven species no longer with us Why frogs are vanishing How you can help save frogs Hope for a vanishing frog Test your knowledge of frogs and their plight Frog websites

VICTIMS
Seven species no longer with us

Amphibians are vanishing in several major hot spots, including western North America, Puerto Rico, Central America, the high Andes, and northeast Australia. Five of the seven frogs shown below once lived in these areas. For these frogs it’s probably too late. Extinction is forever.

 
Vegas Valley leopard frog
Painting by Rachel Ivanyi
© National Geographic Society		  

 

 

 

Rancho
Grande
harlequin
frog








 

 

Mountain mist frog

 
 
Gastric-brooding frog
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vegas Valley leopard frog (Rana fisheri)

Description: Olive green above with honey yellow hind limbs, this leopard frog had pale stripes on the folds between its back and sides. Its legs were short and stocky.
Distribution: Las Vegas Valley, Clark County, Nevada.
Habitat: This medium-size (two to three inches from nose to rear) leopard frog lived in seeps, springs, creeks, and the adjacent narrow corridor of riparian habitat (cottonwoods, willows, and tules) at an elevation of about 2,000 feet.
Diet: Probably ate insects, spiders, and other invertebrates, as well as small vertebrates, including fish and their own young.
Reproduction: Vegas Valley leopard frogs may have bred in springs and streams where the adults lived much of the year, as water temperatures permitted. Young frogs appeared from April through August.
Status: Last seen in the wild in 1942.
Possible culprits:
Loss of habitat (springs were capped and groundwater was pumped to supply a growing Las Vegas with water)
Introduced aquatic predators (bullfrogs and crayfish)

Israel painted frog (Discoglossus nigriventer)

Description: Ocher, rust, gray, and black made up the painted frog’s colorful back. Small white spots dappled its dark belly.
Distribution: Northern Israel and possibly adjacent parts of Syria.
Status: Last seen in the wild in 1955.
Possible culprits:
Loss of habitat (draining wetlands for farmland)

Mountain mist frog (Litoria nyakalensis)

Description: Olive-brown or gray-brown above and cream below, this medium-size (up to two inches from nose to rear), smooth-skinned frog had fully webbed toes with large discs on its toes, a characteristic of climbing tree frogs.
Distribution: Coastal ranges and scarps of the Cairns region, northeastern Queensland, Australia.
Habitat: Fast-flowing streams in upland rain forests.
Diet: Unknown.
Reproduction: Mountain mist frogs usually perched on rocks or low vegetation hanging over fast-flowing streams. During breeding season (October to March), males repeatedly emitted a soft, slow, popping growl to call mates. The females laid eggs under rocks in riffles. The pale brown tadpoles had large mouths with suction lips that enabled them to cling to rocks in swift water.
Status: Last seen in the wild in 1990.
Possible culprits: Unknown

Gastric-brooding frog (Rheobatrachus silus)

Description: Brown to almost black on top and whitish underneath, this medium-size (up to two inches from nose to rear) frog had a blunt snout and slender, fully webbed toes.
Distribution: Blackall and Cannondale Ranges of southeastern Queensland, Australia.
Habitat: Rocky mountain streams and pools in rain forest and tall, open forest with an understory.
Diet: These nocturnal stream dwellers hid under rocks during the day and on top of rocks or partly submerged at night. They fed on small insects.
Reproduction: Gastric-brooding frogs mated between October and December, depending on on the summer rains. The male emitted a loud staccato call. The female swallowed the fertilized eggs or young tadpoles and nurtured up to 25 offspring in her stomach. Hormones produced by the young shut down the female’s digestive process, and she didn’t eat during the gestation period. Six to seven weeks later she opened her mouth, and tiny, fully formed frogs hopped out. Scientists had hoped that studies of the gastric brooders’ ability to shut down enzyme production in the stomach would benefit people with gastric ulcers.
Status: Last seen in the wild in 1981.
Possible culprits: Unknown

Golden toad (Bufo periglenes)

Description: True to its name, the male golden toad was a flaming golden orange. The larger (about two inches from nose to rear) female, ranging in color from dark olive to black, was dappled with bright red splotches edged in yellow.
Distribution: Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, Costa Rica.
Habitat: Undisturbed elfin cloud forest at elevations from 6,500 feet to 6,900 feet.
Diet: Little is known about the feeding habits of these secretive frogs, which hid underground except during the short breeding season. Because of their small size, golden toads probably fed on small invertebrates.
Reproduction: Golden toads gathered at shallow pools that formed during the spring rainy season. Males outnumbered females by as much as eight to one, so males mated with almost anything that moved, including other pairs locked together in the mating embrace. Four to ten males sometimes clung to each other, forming what’s called a toad ball. Females laid a string of 200 to 400 eggs; it took five weeks for the tadpoles to develop into tiny toads.
Status: Last seen in the wild in 1989.
Possible culprits:
Disease
Climate change (prolonged drought, increase ultraviolet radiation)
Pollution (long-distance pesticides, toxins, and pollutants)

Golden coqui (Eleutherodactylus jasperi)

Description: The golden coqui’s skin color, which ranged from olive-gold to pale yellow, had a translucent golden cast that gave it its common name. The transparent skin on the abdomen of this small (less than an inch from nose to rear), smooth-skinned frog revealed the heart, abdominal lining, and gonads.
Distribution: South of Cayey, Puerto Rico, at elevations between 2,300 feet and 2,800 feet.
Habitat: Golden coquis lived in the axils of bromeliads (tropical plants in the same family as pineapples and Spanish moss) that grew less than three feet apart. Two or more adults and two or more juveniles occupied each bromeliad. The adults were territorial, defending their axil from other frogs by shoving and biting.
Diet: Golden coquis probably fed on insects and other tiny invertebrates, especially those drinking the water trapped in the bromeliad.
Reproduction: The golden coqui was the only New World frog known to produce live young instead of laying eggs. The female was probably fertilized internally and incubated three to six eggs in a modified oviduct for about 28 days. At birth the young resembled the adults and stayed with their parents for an undetermined period.
Status: Last seen in the wild in 1981.
Possible culprits:
Loss of habitat
Pollution (acid rain)
Overharvesting
Low reproductive rate


 Rancho Grande harlequin frog (Atelopus cruciger)

Description: Cruciger, the scientific name of this slender harlequin frog, comes from the Latin word crux, or cross, referring to the dark cross on its head, shoulders, and back. Its poisonous skin ranged in color from yellowish green to olive. As with many other frog species, males were smaller (1-1.5 inches from nose to rear) than females (1.5-2 inches) and emitted three types of calls.
Distribution: Coastal mountains of northern Venezuela, from the lowlands up to cloud forest.
Habitat: Moist rain forests.
Diet: By day these slow-moving frogs sat along streams, probably feeding on ants, termites, beetles, and other small invertebrates. They spent the night hidden in low vegetation. These harlequin frogs had only one known enemy—a nonvenomous snake immune to the neurotoxins in the frogs’ skin.
Reproduction: Harlequins gathered to mate in the dry season, when there was less chance their eggs and tadpoles would be washed away. Males probably attracted females by calling and with visual displays, such as stamping and hopping. Males stayed with the females up to 19 days. Females laid as many as 270 eggs, which hatched in about three days. Suckers extending from the tadpoles’ mouths enabled them to cling to stream bottoms so they wouldn’t be swept away.
Status: Last seen in the wild in 1982. The Rancho Grande harlequin frog was once so abundant that in certain seasons scientists could collect hundreds in just one hour.
Possible culprits:
Climate change (drought)
Pollution (acid rain)