The Vanishing Species
Amphibians are becoming a vanishing species. There are a number of causes for them
dieing. But the most recent and worst cause has been discovered. It is responsible for
killing off our amphibians. They are dieing by the thousands. They were able to
survive and hold on through past extinction spasms, surviving even when 95 percent of
other animals died out. They even stayed alive when the dinosaurs disappeared. If
amphibians could live longer than dinosaurs, then why are they dieing now?
The number one cause for our amphibians dieing is a form of fungal infection. It is
called: chytridiomycosis (chytrid for short). This is not the first time this disease has
been known to kill our amphibians. Chytrid was wiping out amphibians in Costa Rica
back in the 1980s. But nobody knew it at the time. When frogs started dying in big
numbers in Australia and Central America in the mid-1990s, scientists discovered the
fungus was to blame.
This fungus attacks the amphibian’s keratin. The keratin is a key structural protein in an
animal's skin and mouthparts. Scientists think it may also perhaps be hampering oxygen
exchange and control of water and salts in the body. Then the frog (amphibian)
ends up dieing from the fungus. But first the amphibian obviously suffers and
spreads the fungus to all of the other frogs in the area. It is a vicious cycle that
that likely will not end until all of our amphibians our extinct!
Scientists believe the fungus came from African clawed frogs. These frogs were exported
widely for pregnancy tests beginning in the 1930s. They may have been the initial
carriers of the fungus.
.
Chytrid is now reported on all continents where frogs live. That is in 43 countries and 36
U.S. states. The deadly fungus survives at elevations from sea level to 20,000 feet. It
does not just kill frogs either. The deadly Chytrid fungus also kills animals that are
dieing. But the most recent and worst cause has been discovered. It is responsible for
killing off our amphibians. They are dieing by the thousands. They were able to
survive and hold on through past extinction spasms, surviving even when 95 percent of
other animals died out. They even stayed alive when the dinosaurs disappeared. If
amphibians could live longer than dinosaurs, then why are they dieing now?
The number one cause for our amphibians dieing is a form of fungal infection. It is
called: chytridiomycosis (chytrid for short). This is not the first time this disease has
been known to kill our amphibians. Chytrid was wiping out amphibians in Costa Rica
back in the 1980s. But nobody knew it at the time. When frogs started dying in big
numbers in Australia and Central America in the mid-1990s, scientists discovered the
fungus was to blame.
This fungus attacks the amphibian’s keratin. The keratin is a key structural protein in an
animal's skin and mouthparts. Scientists think it may also perhaps be hampering oxygen
exchange and control of water and salts in the body. Then the frog (amphibian)
ends up dieing from the fungus. But first the amphibian obviously suffers and
spreads the fungus to all of the other frogs in the area. It is a vicious cycle that
that likely will not end until all of our amphibians our extinct!
Scientists believe the fungus came from African clawed frogs. These frogs were exported
widely for pregnancy tests beginning in the 1930s. They may have been the initial
carriers of the fungus.
.
Chytrid is now reported on all continents where frogs live. That is in 43 countries and 36
U.S. states. The deadly fungus survives at elevations from sea level to 20,000 feet. It
does not just kill frogs either. The deadly Chytrid fungus also kills animals that are