# Newspapers declare Darwin's Frog extinct



## Phyllobates azureus (Aug 18, 2010)

Darwin's frog, Rhinoderma darwinii, native to the very southernmost tip of South America, has been declared extinct by a number of newspapers as of yesterday. It was apparently last sighted in January and it is feared that chytridiomycosis may have wiped the species out. It certainly sounds worrying that the species hasn't been sighted since March, but that being said, it sounds quite pessimistic to declare a species extinct after it has been missing only for a matter of months. The golden coqui was last seen in the 1980s, and it still is not officially extinct yet. I think the best course of action would be to conduct a thorough search of its range, mark and record all of the individual animals found, and possibly take them into captivity to ensure the survival of the species, as was done with Atelopus zeteki. 

Do you think this unique and amazing frog is truly lost? Or is there still hope for it?


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## Blue_Pumilio (Feb 22, 2009)

They already keep captive populations of this species and have been successful in breeding them. I swear that a few Darwin frogs where just spotted recently, but perhaps they were captive specimens.


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## fieldnstream (Sep 11, 2009)

A researcher posted pics on FB yesterday...may have been captive but I think they were taken in the field.


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## markpulawski (Nov 19, 2004)

Ron Gagliardo and the Amphibian Ark Project did an amazing job getting these breeding in captivity, I even messaged him a couple of years ago asking if the giant earth quakes in Chile had damaged their breeding project, he told me it came through unscathed. Always one of my favorite frogs after I watched a male spit out a baby while David Attenborough narrated, I will check in with Ron to see if he knows anything current.


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## tylototriton (Oct 10, 2008)

The paper (Soto-Azat et. al. 2013) is suggesting that _Rhinoderma rufum_ has gone extinct. _R. darwinii_ is still around, although they're suggesting that they should now be classified as Endangered. 

~Alex


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

News like these convince me that it is a crime hybridize frogs, as someone would want to do.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

@ 30 minutes - great piece about the darwins frog. Not just chytrid, volcanic eruptions destroying habitat


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## Halter (Jul 28, 2012)

frogparty said:


> David Attenborough BBC Attenborough's Ark HD - YouTube - YouTube
> 
> @ 30 minutes - great piece about the darwins frog. Not just chytrid, volcanic eruptions destroying habitat


That is an awesome video. Thank you for sharing. Made my shift @ work more bearable : )


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Halter said:


> That is an awesome video. Thank you for sharing. Made my shift @ work more bearable : )


It's hard to go wrong with David Attenborough


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

This is media hype. The northern form has not been seen in 30 years: this isn't new. It's like announcing that the Golden toad of Monteverde has officially been declared extinct. The southern species of Darwin's frog is in decline, but it is still present in the wild. In fact, I just saw a photo that was taken yesterday of one. 

For more info, there is an article on the species and the project at the Santiago Zoo in the last issue of Leaf Litter (Leaf Litter | Leaf Litter (Vol. 4, Issue 1) | HP MagCloud) and TWI is a contributing funder on a project that is collecting assurance populations of some other critically endangered Chilean amphibian species, with folks down there right now. There will be an updated report on the TWI blog before too long, as well as another article on the project.


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## markpulawski (Nov 19, 2004)

This from Ron G, reporting in from Panama at the golden frog workshop...

Brad and I were in the field this spring with lots of Darwin's frogs. Rhinoderma darwinii is definitely NOT extinct. Rhinoderma rufum, is thought to possibly be. Has not been seen in decades.


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