Unfroggetable: endangered Bolivian amphibians get long-awaited first date

APRIL 2, 2019

Happily, the first date between Romeo, once the last-known Sehuencas water frog, and Juliet, who was discovered deep inside a Bolivian cloud forest, went so well the two have been living together in the male's aquarium since

The fate of a species may just rest on this love story.

Happily, the first date between Romeo, once the last-known Sehuencas water frog, and Juliet, who was discovered deep inside a Bolivian cloud forest in January, went so well the two have been living together in the male's aquarium since.

According to a statement by Global Wildlife Conservation (GWC) on Monday, the pair were introduced on March 1 after being cleared of chytridiomycosis, which has decimated amphibian populations throughout the Neotropics region.

After a period of observation, they were moved into Romeo's aquarium, where he made a mating call for the first time since 2017: a clear sign he is eager to breed.

"Romeo has been really sweet to Juliet, following her around the aquarium and sacrificing his worm meals for her," said Teresa Camacho Badani, chief of herpetology at the Museo de Historia Natural Alcide d'Orbigny in Bolivia, which is working on the project with the GWC.

"After he's been alone for so long, it's wonderful to see him with a mate finally."

Continued

Romeo and Juliet: the last hopes to save Bolivian aquatic frog

January 16, 2019 by José Arturo Cárdenas

Julieta, an aquatic Sehuencas frog, was found in a Bolivian cloud forest and now it is hoped that she will mate with Romeo, a bachelor for the last 10 years

Almost a year after conservationists sent out a plea to help save a species of Bolivian aquatic frog by finding a mate for the last remaining member, Romeo, his very own Juliet has been tracked down deep inside a cloud forest.

Not only did the wildlife conservation team return with a potential mate for Romeo, who had been 10 years a bachelor, but also another four members of the Sehuencas water frog species, boosting hopes to save the tiny amphibians from extinction.

After previous failed expeditions to the same area over the last decade, a joint expedition between Global Wildlife Conservation (GWC) and the Alcide d'Orbigny Natural History museum finally scored a success in the Bolivian wilderness.

And the good news came about after securing funding following a Valentine's Day appeal last year to help find Romeo his Juliet.

"It is an incredible feeling to know that thanks to everyone who believes in true love and donated for Valentine's Day last year, we have already found a mate for Romeo and can establish a conservation breeding program with more than a single pair," said Teresa Camacho, the museum's chief of herpetology and the expedition leader.

Romeo had been found in that same cloud forest a decade ago and it was feared that he was the last survivor in his species.

With a lifespan of 15 years, time was running out to find Romeo a mate to ensure the survival of the species, although the frog himself never gave up hope, continuing to call out for a mate during his 10 years in captivity.

Read more at: 

Bolivian bees under threat from coca pesticides

January 4, 2019

High up in the Bolivian cloud forest, a woman tends to her bees, smoker in hand, working from hive to hive under a canopy of leaves to delicately gather panels of honeycomb. It's a bucolic scene that experts say won't last, for the bees are dying.

The culprit—as in so many other cases across the world—is pesticide. The difference in Bolivia is that pesticide use, along with the coca plantations it is being used to protect, is on the rise.

Environmentalists and beekeepers like Rene Villca say the bee population is being decimated by massive and intensive use of chemical pesticides to protect the region's biggest cash crop.

Here in the idyllic Nor Yungas region north of the cloud-high capital La Paz, the pesticides are taking a toll on Villca's hives.

"Of the 20 hives I have, 10 are producing normally and 10 are not."

On another part of the mountain where Nancy Carlo Estrada tends to her bees, a canopy of protective netting around her head, Exalto Mamami wades through a waist-high coca plantation, pumping out liquid pesticide from a canister on his back, face covered with a long cloth against harmful blowback from the spray.

Read more at: 

Paleontologists ID two new Miocene mammals in Bolivia

Litopterns: Extinct hoofed mammals similar to small moose

Date:  June 27, 2018

Source:  Case Western Reserve University

Summary:

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University and two other universities have discovered the 13-million-year-old fossils of a pair of new species of extinct hoofed mammals known as "litopterns" from a site in Bolivia.

The animals, which look similar to small moose or deer in a paleoartist's rendering, are being dubbed Theosodon arozquetai and Llullataruca shockeyi, ungulates native only to Bolivia. They lived in the latter part of the middle Miocene epoch, a time interval from which relatively few fossils have been collected in South America.

Read on 

Romeo might be one of the last members of his species. Won't you help him find a mate? Bolivian Sehuencas water frog – via Herp Digest

Mother Earth Network, 2/13/18

We thought Lonesome George was a sad case. But now, there's Romeo.

Romeo is a Sehuencas water frog, and he is quite possibly the only member of his species alive today. Possibly.

Researchers haven't given up hope and are using this Valentine's Day to tug on our heartstrings to help find Romeo a lover.

In an odd-yet-perfect collaboration, Global Wildlife Conservation, Match — the world’s largest relationship company — and the Bolivian Amphibian Initiative have teamed up on a fundraising campaign to find a mate for Romeo. The goal is to get researchers in the field to find out if any other Sehuencas water frogs exist, and if any do, to find a potential mate.

Romeo has his own dating profile on Match, and the campaign aims to raise $15,000 by Valentines Day, money that will be used to fund 10 field expeditions by the Bolivian Amphibian Initiative. From basic field equipment to transportation and guides, the funds will be essential in the search for individuals and to keep this species in existence.

"When biologists collected Romeo 10 years ago, we knew the Sehuencas water frog, like other amphibians in Bolivia, was in trouble, but we had no idea we wouldn’t be able to find a single other individual in all this time," said Arturo Muñoz, founder of the Bolivian Amphibian Initiative and GWC associate conservation scientist. "Romeo started to call for a mate about a year after he was brought into captivity, but those calls have slowed in the last few years. We don’t want him to lose hope, and we continue to remain hopeful that others are out there so we can establish a conservation breeding program to save this species.”

You don't have to kiss this frog to help him

Romeo has been calling out for a mate — to no avail. (Photo: Dirk Ercken and Arturo Muñoz/Global Wildlife Conservation)

Match will match each donation from Feb. 9 until Valentine’s Day. While that day might seem like a cute publicity push, there’s a reason for gaining funds as soon as possible. The species has faced a severe decline through combination of climate change, habitat loss, pollution, the deadly chytrid amphibian pathogen, and the introduction of trout. And now may come the final blow.

According to GWC, "The Bolivian government plans to build a dam in a forested area where the Sehuencas water frog was once so common it became its namesake: Sehuencas. In addition to looking for Sehuencas water frog adults and tadpoles, the expedition team will test the water of streams and rivers at key sites for traces of DNA from the frogs, confirming that they are there to be found even if team members don’t see them immediately.”

Finding and conserving any Sehuencas water frog individuals is critical before the dam goes up. And who wouldn't want to help preserve a species with such a sweet face?

Since 2010, Romeo has lived in an aquarium in a shipping-container-turned-amphibian-ark in the Museo de Historia Natural Alcide d’Orbigny in Cochabamba City, Bolivia. It's been a lonely life. So if you'd like to help out Romeo and the entire species, visit Romeo's profile and make a donation toward the scientific expeditions.

The Sehuencas water frog isn't the only amphibian species in need of protection. As a highly sensitive indicator species, frogs around the world have faced severe declines for the same reasons: pollution, habitat loss, and the chytrid amphibian pathogen. The loss of frogs indicates the decline of an ecosystem.

If you'd like to learn more about the importance of frogs and help preserve all amphibians, explore information and conservation resources at Global Wildlife Conservation and Amphibian Survival Alliance.

            

Three new species of extinct South American marsupials discovered

Findings show the family, Palaeothentidae, was once widespread across the continent but add to extinction doubts

Date: April 11, 2017

Source: Case Western Reserve University

The discovery of three extinct species and new insights to a fourth indicates a little-known family of marsupials, the Palaeothentidae, was diverse and existed over a wide range of South America as recent as 13 million years ago.

The finding, however, complicates the question: why did these animals go extinct?

"It was previously assumed this group slowly went extinct over a long time period, but that's probably not the case," said Russell Engelman, a biology MS student at Case Western Reserve and lead author of a new study on the group. "They were doing very well at the time they were supposedly on death's door."

Discovering new fossil sites may be the only way to learn the answer, researchers say.

Engelman; along with Federico Anaya, professor of geological engineering at Universidad Autónoma Tomás Frías, in Potosí, Bolivia; and Darin Croft, anatomy professor at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, describe the animals, where they fit in the family, and their paleoecology and paleobiology in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.

Fossils of the new species were found at Quebrada Honda, a high elevation fossil site in southern Bolivia. They are about 13 million years old (from the middle Miocene epoch), placing them among the youngest known palaeothentid fossils.

Continued 

Bolivia begins fumigation against locust plague

12 February 2017

Bolivia has started chemical spraying in its eastern grain region to fight a plague of locusts which is endangering thousands of hectares of crops. 

The locusts were first reported in January and have already taken over 1,000 hectares in the province of Santa Cruz. 

Bolivian President Evo Morales said it was the first time his country had seen locusts.

Neighbouring Argentina has suffered with them since the 1920s. 

The government has set up a new unit to deal with the challenge and has asked the Argentine government to provide expertise and advice.

The government and local farmers in Santa Cruz say they plan to fumigate up to 17,000 hectares to prevent the locusts from spreading and endangering the food supply. 

Image copyright Reuters Image caption The government said it would help farmers start distributing fumigation equipment 

Local producers said they were desperately trying to identify where the eggs and locust nymphs were so that they could control the initial stages of the plague more effectively.

Bolivia is normally self-sufficient in grain production, and for the moment the area affected by locusts represents only a small fraction of the 100,000 hectares planted with grains in Santa Cruz. 

The locusts follows a severe drought in Bolivia which led to water rationing and conflicts over water use.

Producers in Santa Cruz, one of Bolivia's wealthiest areas, have for years lobbied the government to allow the use of genetically-modified seeds which they say will help produce crops that are resistant to plagues and adverse climate conditions.

Source