Mountain Mist Frog, Once Found Across Much Of Australia's Wet Tropics, Officially Declared Extinct [View all]

[hatrack]

The mountain mist frog, a species once found across two-thirds of Australia’s wet tropics, has been declared extinct on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list.

The last recorded sighting of the frog, most commonly found near Thornton Peak, north-west of Cairns, was in April 1990. It is believed to have been wiped out by chytrid fungus, a disease that attacks the skin and has destroyed amphibian populations across the globe, though a reduction in its natural habitat due to rising temperatures driven by greenhouse gas emissions may have also played a role.

The species is listed as critically endangered by the Australian government, but was upgraded to extinct on the IUCN list. It was one of 26 Australian species to have its listing changed. Most of the others were types of orchid. Dr Jodi Rowley, a frog biologist at the Australian Museum and the University of New South Wales, said the mountain mist frog was a “beautiful endemic rainforest species”, and one of several Australian frog species that had not been seen for decades but had not been declared extinct until now.

“Many have dramatically declined and unfortunately this little guy seems to have disappeared,” Rowley said. “It is awfully sad. It has been searched for over the last 25 years so it is unlikely that it’s still out there.” The mountain mist frog reached nearly 6cm in length and was described as grey, grey-brown or light brown, sometimes with black flecks or spots on its back. “For tens of thousands of years there were these little frogs that were calling their hearts out in these rainforests and now it’s silent,” she said. “We have a terrible track record on frog conservation in Australia.”

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/dec/10/australias-mountain-mist-frog-declared-extinct-as-red-list-reveals-biodiversity-crisis