Modern-Day Amphibian Loss Likened to Collapse of Dinosaur Populations

Zoos around the world are collecting thousands of threatened species of amphibians to protect them from a deadly fungus. They plan to breed and rear them in captivity until the fungus can be stopped.

The rapid loss of amphibians, particularly many species of frogs, is a growing threat due to the chytrid fungus, which infects the skin of frogs and other amphibians, said Ohio State University herpetologist Thomas Hetherington. The fungus interferes with amphibian skin functions such as water and gas exchange, Hetherington said. Typically, those infected die from dehydration. The fungus is believed to have started in Africa with the clawed frog, which is immune to the fungus but carries it on its skin.

43 percent of the world's nearly 6,000 species of amphibians are in decline, and 32 percent are threatened, according to the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group. Additionally, more than 120 species have gone extinct since 1980. The rapid loss of frog species has been compared to the extinction of the dinosaurs.

One species that will be highlighted at the Columbus Zoo, the Panamanian golden frog (pictured, top), might soon be extinct in the wild because of this fungus, Hetherington said.

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo will soon look at breeding two species of golden frog that are resistant to chytrid, said Katherine Krynak, the amphibian keeper in the rain forest at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. "It gives us a little bit of hope for this frog," she said.

Frogs are important to the ecosystem because they eat insects and are in turn eaten by fish, raccoons, skunks and birds. Perhaps even more importantly, they serve as early warning systems for potential ecological disasters, Hetherington said.

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