Date: September 27, 2017
Source: University of Zurich
Iconic species likely to be
wiped-out by amphibian fungus, despite lack of obvious short-term evidence.
The Darwin's frog (Rhinoderma darwinii) is the latest
amphibian species to face extinction due to the global chytridiomycosis
pandemic, according to an international study published today in the journal
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B.
The study has found that Darwin's
frogs are infected with the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium
dendrobatidis (Bd), and despite an absence of obvious mortality researchers
have noted population declines, leading them to believe that these infected
populations are at a serious risk of extinction within 15 years of contracting
the disease.
Populations of this unique
species, currently known as highly threatened, were previously considered to
have remained relatively stable in the face of the disease that has ravaged
many amphibian species worldwide, but the frogs may have been infected over a
decade ago, with the impacts only recently observed.
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