February 8, 2008: Extinction on Film

Frogs Legs for Friday.

David Attenborough's latest nature spectacular captures frogs who use sign language to communicate over the hullaballoo of the mountain streams. Sadly, for these frogs -this wave is a farewell. The last few were taken into captivity by scientists in an attempt to avoid a fungus that killed the rest.

BBC story and video

Aww.

That totally sucks. Maybe in the future we'll find that there were more in some obscure, remote place.

or maybe we'll find out that their death was a necessary step in evolution that we just totally effed up by "helping" mother nature again.

Not our fault, it was a virus killing frogs.

but what if the virus was supposed to kill all the frogs so that the next big step could take place? Or worse, what if their extinction was necessary to prevent some horrible thing from happening? What if the survivors evolve into some supersmart race of signlanguage using frogs that can outsmart man? What if they breed and overtake our population and enslave us all?

I, for one, welcome our new slimy signing overlords.

I find it more likely that the fungus had been introduced by humanity.


They should get these frogs a-humpin' so they can reintroduce them back in the wild where they belong!

sign language? are we sure that frog can move the fingers? and if there are a few left, they're not extinct yet. anyone up for eating this iotd so we can make sure they're really extinct?

How can I go on living without any more yellow spotted frogs? Goodbye, cruel world.

The fungus has more than likely been around for some time. It's just that all the crap we humans have dumped in the enviroment has lowered their resistance to the point where they are now susceptible.

PS: don't let the door hit ya where the god lord split ya, mickja.

Aside from whether it's our fault they're dying, there's a good reason to save them: several of the extremely venomous frogs that live in these areas have very interesting medicinal possibilities. One, for example, doesn't even make its own venom--it eats ants, and collects their venom inside itself until it is of lethal concentrations. That ability to extract and concentrate ingested poison is one of the things they desperately want to study, but you can't exactly decide to dissect one when there are only a handful left.

Chytrid Fungus. (pdf)

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce Not our fault, it was a virus killing frogs.

I thought I read it was a virus, but it appears it's a fungus. That's why I posted a correction.

One frog signs to another...

There is fungus among us!

Its been said that if frogs were the size of cows humans never would've had a chance since frogs are so indescriminately ravenous.

I think they'd go well next to asparagus tips..

Frog Gang Signs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPUCK Its been said that if frogs were the size of cows humans never would've had a chance since frogs are so indescriminately ravenous.