Image 3: A horned marsupial frog (Gastrotheca
cornuta, family Hemiphractidae). This photo was taken in 2002 near El Cope,
Panama, two years before the chytrid fungus outbreak.
Research by Andrew J. Crawford, an
associate professor in the department of biological sciences at the University
of the Andes, Columbia, and a research associate at the Smithsonian Tropical
Research Institute in Panama, showed that the species declined by 88 percent.
Today, A. zeteki can still be found in El Cope or Altos del Maria but rarely,
and no sign of the population recovering has been observed.
You can read more about the deadly
chytrid fungus in the National Science Foundation press release "Frog
Killer Caught in the Act." To learn more about Crawford's research and
what you can do to help with frog species decline, visit his website Here.
[The fieldwork for this research was
supported by National Science Foundation grants GEO 02-13851, DEB 02-34386, DEB
01-30273 and a Small Grant for Exploratory Research, IOS 99-96355.] (Date of
Image: 2005)
Credit: Andrew J. Crawford, Universidad
de los Andes
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