ISRAEL: Frog species didn't croak after all, say scientists

Record ID: 397802

  • Title: ISRAEL: Frog species didn't croak after all, say scientists
  • Date: 5th June 2013
  • Summary: HULA LAKE HULA VALLEY, ISRAEL (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF 'HULA PAINTED FROG' IN AQUARIUM
  • Embargoed: 20th June 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Environment,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVABVWZV767BJ33DV8O4S2AFDV7E
  • Story Text: They thought it had croaked. But missing for a half-century and listed as extinct in 1996, the Hula painted frog is alive and well and has been classified this week by conservationists as a "living fossil".
    Israel's Hula painted frog, with its distinctive black and white spotted belly, had not been seen since the 1950s, when most of the valley's marshes were drained in efforts to eradicate malaria and make the land arable. In 2011 one was found lurking in a patch of swampy undergrowth. The biologists who discovered it knew they had made an interesting find but further DNA tests, revealed this week in the journal Nature Communications, showed that it was a Hula painted frog.
    Hebrew University Institute of Archaeology student Rebecca Biton was part of the team that made the discovery. "We found some amphibian, some frog bones in those archaeological sites and when we looked at them closely with the microscope, we discovered that they belonged to the Hula painted frog that was recently found in the Hula valley, re-found in the Hula valley," Biton said.
    It took time, patience and a visit to the National History Museum in Paris to identify the amphibian.
    "At first when I discovered (it) I suspected that it was not Discoglossus but Latonia I went to Paris to the National History Museum and then sitting with both of them we suddenly decided that definitely it was a Latonia and this is why it is so special," Biton said.
    The researchers said it was now vital to ensure the species' future survival. There are now plans to divert more water to parts of the valley to restore the original swamp habitat after the ecological damage caused when the marshes disappeared. This may allow expansion in population size and a secure future for the painted frog.
    "Definitely now that we have discovered not only that it hasn't died and didn't disappear sixty years ago but it is an even more important creature, more important amphibian since it is a living fossil. I think that we must do anything we can to preserve this amphibian in it is natural environment in the Hula valley, in the ancient... in the Hula Lake," Briton added.
    Only five Hula painted frogs have ever been collected. Four were found in 1940 and one in the 1950s. Part of the wetlands was turned into a nature reserve, but fruitless searches for the frogs over the years led experts to conclude that the species 'Discoglossus nigriventer' had not survived the blow to its habitat.
    In 1996, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources declared the Hula painted frog extinct. Blaming habitat loss and fungal disease, the IUCN believes nearly a third of the world's amphibian species are endangered or extinct.
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