Costa Rican Deaf-Mute Frog Now Extinct
I have written in the past of Costa Rican frogs that have become endangered due to the proliferation of a certain mushroom. This particular mushroom is covered with a film that sticks to the skin of the frog. Since the frog breathes through its skin, this film causes the frog to suffocate. Now a frog that was endemic to the high-country of my home province of Heredia has been declared extinct. This frog is known as the Holdridge and is a very small frog of a black and orange color. What made this frog particularly unique among the many species of Costa Rica is that it was completely deaf-mute. The frog lived in areas of the Central Valley mountains, principally Heredia, at altitudes on average of 2,270 meters (around 7,500 feet). The frog has been very easy to observe in the months of April through May. Outside of this time period, however, observations were very rare. The frog’s behavior was quite interesting. During the mating season they would gather in groups by the roadside where the male frogs would look for females to mate with. The male frogs would mate with the females by hugging them tightly. However, often other frogs would be caught in this frantic process and would be literally “hugged” to death. Of course the other aspect that made this species of frog peculiar was that they had no auditory system (internal nor external). For this reason they had no ability to communicate with other frogs through sound. Such deaf-muteness in frogs is rare and generally only occurs in sites where there is so much noise that the amphibians must find other ways to communicate, states Gerardo Chaves, scientist with the University of Costa Rica. The main reason cited for the frog becoming extinct is that the global warming has contributed to the proliferation of the deadly mushroom that was a threat to this species and remains a threat to many other endangered species of frogs in Costa Rica. Chaves stated that while it is not a rare thing for a frog (or sapo) to become extinct, it was amazing to him to see one that had before been so abundant to just vanish before our very eyes.
Tags: costa rica, environment, global warming, sapo, sapo holdridge
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