New report details historic mass extinction of amphibians

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Dead southern mountain yellow-legged frogs (Rana muscosa) killed by the chytrid fungus. Sixty Lake Basin Kings Canyon National Park California USA. Photo by V. Vredenburg (August 2006) San Francisco State University
Dead southern mountain yellow-legged frogs (Rana muscosa) killed by the chytrid fungus. Sixty Lake Basin, Kings Canyon National Park, California USA. Photo by V. Vredenburg (August 2006), San Francisco State University
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Amphibians, reigning survivors of past mass extinctions, are sending a clear, unequivocal signal that something is wrong, as their extinction rates rise to unprecedented levels, according to a paper published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Humans are exacerbating two key natural threats – climate change and a deadly disease that is jumping from one species to another.


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