Posted on 06/22/2005 8:52:45 AM PDT by GPBurdell
By Carlos AndradeWed Jun 22, 8:48 AM ET
Before the arrival of Spanish colonizers some 500 years ago, Indians in what is now Ecuador dipped their arrowheads in venom extracted from the phantasmal poison frog to doom their victims to convulsive death, scientists believe.
More recently, epibatidine -- the chemical which paralyzed and killed the Indians' enemies -- has been isolated to produce a pain killer 200 times more powerful than morphine, but without that drug's addictive and toxic side effects.
Pharmaceutical companies have not yet brought epibatidine to market but hope to discover other chemicals with powerful properties in frogs, which are a traditional source of medicine and food for many of Ecuador's Indians.
They may want to hurry because the treasure trove of the world's frogs and toads is disappearing at a catastrophic rate. And it's not just potential medicines which could be vanishing but creatures of beauty.
"Frogs and toads are becoming extinct all over the world. It's the same magnitude event as the extinction of the dinosaurs," said Luis Coloma, a herpetologist, or scientist dedicated to studying reptiles and amphibians, in Ecuador -- the country with the third-greatest diversity of amphibians.
The thumb-sized jungle-dwelling phantasmal poison frog is an example of amphibian good looks, despite its macabre associations. It is bright red with fluorescent green stripes.
At least two out of five of the 3,046 amphibian types in the Americas -- home to 53 percent of known species -- are threatened with extinction, according to a recent report titled "Disappearing Jewels" by lobby group NatureServe.
Nine amphibians, including eight frogs and a salamander, have become extinct in the Americas in the last 100 years, including five since 1980, according to the report. Scientists have also been unable to find representatives of another 117 species, which are also possibly extinct.
VARIOUS CAUSES
Toads and frogs are dying out under pressure from the expansion of agriculture, forestry, pollution, disease and climate change, NatureServe said.
"Amphibians are disappearing before our eyes," the report said.
Scientists fear they could be indicator species -- a sign of possible future damage to other parts of the ecosystem because frogs and toads are especially vulnerable and thus are the first to disappear.
"Disappearing amphibians break links in the food chain, with often unpredictable effects on other organisms," the report said.
Governments should strengthen controls at existing nature reserves and encourage the breeding of endangered species in captivity if they are to save frogs, NatureServe says.
They should also foster research on the recently discovered chytrid fungal disease, which is killing frogs, and educate the public about the plight of amphibians, it said.
"We have to change the idea that they are ugly and slimy. They are beautiful, diverse species, just like hummingbirds or butterflies," said Martin Bustamante, herpetologist at Ecuador's Catholic University.
The Catholic University possesses one of the largest collections of captive live frogs in the Americas, and, to boost public awareness of frogs and toads and their tribulations, it recently staged an exhibition of some of its charges in the capital Quito.
The jungles and mountains of Ecuador are home to 417 species of frogs and toads, of which more than a third are classed as vulnerable or in critical danger of extinction. In the Americas, only Colombia and Mexico are home to more endangered amphibians, according to NatureServe.
don't know what you're doing with them --- i've got a bumper crop. seems we have more of 'em every single year.
You're right about that, but we've got to allow some truth-claims to remain standing as a basis for the discussion until we get data that says otherwise. So, I opt to allow the species numbers as a "given", for the time being.
More junk science.
Frogs managed to survive the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. I think they could handle a one-degree change in the world's climate.
But frogs are all over the world. Perhaps they each evolved to deal with the various parasites and funguses that existed in their part of the world, but are ill-equipped to deal with those from another part of the world. Perhaps humans are unwittingly spreading parasites around the world somehow.
Ah, yes, more doom and gloom on the environmental front. The frogs are disappearing. So whaddaya want me to do about it? Seriously, folks, these environmental people remind me of people in the path of a tornado running around in circles screaming "We're all gonna die!!! We're all gonna die!!!" instead of looking for a storm cellar. It's easy to forget how the environmental movement actually accomplished things in the 60's and 70's(the restoration of large species such as wolves and improvements in water quality spring to mind) by offering a message of hope. Today's environmentalists are so relentlessly grim and negative they are the worst enemies of their own worthwhile cause. Maybe they just want everyone to be miserable. I really don't know. But if they were with me on board the USS Earth, and the old ship started taking on water, the first thing I'd do is throw their hysterical, smelly, birkenstocked asses to the sharks and go help the captain and engineers seal the hull. THE FROGS ARE DYING!!! DON'T YOU FEEL TERRIBLE ABOUT IT???? Sorry, Mr. Ponytail. If I paint myself green and run naked down Main Street will Kermit's vital signs improve? These people are so illogical.
There are plenty of frogs on the golf course I play. They are always getting stuck on my spikes.
Bet they don't do that in Boy Scouts anymore!
Anyway, speaking of extinction, whatever happened to all the fireflies in New England? There used to be thousands of them every night in all the back yards. Now nothing. They still have them in Alabama - where I will be in a couple of weeks. But not in New England.
Oh..., THAT kind of frog. I was worried for a minute.
Don't worry. They disappeared for years in Georgia and now they're back.
That's one of the quirks of studying the herps. They go through boom and bust population dynamics like no other. Primarily dependant upon climate (rain not warming/cooling). Toads are notorious for this. Populations really need to be examined at larger scales (5-10 years not nearly enough to establish pop. trends). That said extinctions and declines are 2 different things. The extinctions are definetly alarming!
Priceless!!!
Nope. As far as I'm concerned, the french are on their own.
We stuck fire crackers up their @$$, lit the fuse and ... in mid hop ....
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