The Loneliest Frog On Earth Dies, Marking The End Of Yet Another Species

The loneliest frog on Earth is dead, taking with him the hope of an entire species. Toughie was a famed Rabbs’ fringe-limbed tree frog and the last known member of his species. He had mottled brown skin and a strange bird-like call. He was described as “handsome,” had his own Wikipedia page and won the hearts of race car drivers and movie directors. The United Nations projected Toughie’s image onto its headquarters in New York City in 2014, as part of a campaign to raise awareness about the world’s sixth mass extinction ― a period scientists warn we’re about to enter. Toughie was “a symbol of the extinction crisis,” National Geographic said Friday. The frog was found dead on Sept. 26 in his home at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, where he’d lived since 2005.  The extinction of any species is a tragedy, with rippling effects that impact not just fragile ecosystems but people’s communities as well. And Toughie’s death serves as a reminder of the many species that have been wiped out “before we even knew that they were there,” notes Mark Mandica, who worked with the amphibian and whose young son named the frog. Scientists did not identify Toughie’s species, Ecnomiohyla rabborum ― a type of frog known for being excellent climbers and gliders ― until 2005. That was the year a group of researchers went to central Panama in a race to collect live anim...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news