- By Helen Briggs
- environmental correspondent
3 hours ago
Image source: Isis Ibañez
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The frog has leopard spots
An all-female team has braved 50°C heat and venomous snakes to track down a ‘leopard-print’ frog that is little known to science and figure out how it reproduces.
Argentina’s conservation scientists are fighting to protect the tiny Santa Fe frog, which is under threat as its habitat in one of the world’s driest forests, the Dry Chaco, is being cut.
They discovered that it hides in burrows and only comes out to call for a mate.
And for the first time they found tadpoles of this species.
“It hasn’t been an easy journey so far, but we’re committed to doing whatever we can to secure the future of this wonderful amphibian,” said Isis Ibañez, director of the Santa Fe Frog Project, based in Buenos Aires.
The Santa Fe frog (Leptodactylus laticeps) is largely unknown to science, although it was discovered more than a century ago.
The frog is now found only in Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay, and has become rare today due to the loss of the tropical dry forests in which it inhabits.
To locate the colorful frogs and study their behavior, the researchers set up camera traps.
Most frogs attract a mate by loud calls from a pond, stream, or swamp, but this species lives underground.
The team found that males would emerge at nightfall to announce their presence and then hop back to their burrows with interested females.
Image source: CamilaDeutsch
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To find the frogs, you had to search in the dark
After hours of digging at night, they finally found evidence of eggs and tadpoles for the first time.
Studying the frog’s breeding behavior is the first step in conserving it in the wild.
By drawing attention to the frog’s plight, conservation scientists hope to highlight the biodiversity of the Dry (or Great) Chaco — and other endangered animals.
“This species is a clear example of why we need to defend the forest in Dry Chaco,” said team member Camila Deutsch. “We do not have much time.”
Scientists are also working with local community leaders, hunters and farmers to learn more about the frog and how to better protect it.
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Three of the team members: Camila Deutsch, Gabriela Agostini and Sofia Perrone
Image source: Getty Images
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The Grand Chaco has a mixed landscape of low, dry forest and savannah
The Grand Chaco is a large expanse of forest and dusty plains that stretches across parts of Bolivia, Argentina and Paraguay.
The Chaco forests have been gradually cleared over the past few decades to make way for farmland and ranches.
The area is called “El Impenetrable” and even “Hell on Earth” because of its inaccessibility and extreme temperatures. Daytime temperatures can reach 50°C and there is very little rainfall.
Yet wildlife thrives in the harsh conditions, including hundreds of different birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians.
“It’s a dry forest with incredible biodiversity,” said Gabriela Agostini.
Image source: G. Agostini
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The fourth team member, Isis Ibañez, is holding a Santa Fe frog
Amphibians are highly endangered. A disease-causing fungus has been ravaging populations around the world for about 40 years.
In addition, the animals are under pressure from habitat loss and hunting.
The Santa Fe Frog Project is supported by the Conservation Leadership Program (CLP) – an initiative of Fauna & Flora, BirdLife International and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Follow Helen on Twitter @hbriggs.
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