Science - Bd Fungus Wiping Out Frogs Far Worse Than Thought; At Least 90 Species Presumed Extinct

[hatrack]

On Thursday, 41 scientists published the first worldwide analysis of a fungal outbreak that’s been wiping out frogs for decades. The devastation turns out to be far worse than anyone had previously realized.

Writing in the journal Science, the researchers conclude that populations of more than 500 species of amphibians have declined significantly because of the outbreak — including at least 90 species presumed to have gone extinct. The figure is more than twice as large as earlier estimates.

“That’s fairly seismic,” said Wendy Palen, a biologist at Simon Fraser University who is a co-author of a commentary accompanying the study. “It now earns the moniker of the most deadly pathogen known to science.”

EDIT

As it turns out, Bd wiped out some species long before it was discovered. Only by going back to museum specimens were scientists able to estimate the toll. “It’s scary that so many species can become extinct without us knowing,” said Dr. Scheele. The decimation of frogs peaked in the 1980s, the researchers found, a decade before the discovery of Bd. Today, 39 percent of the species that suffered population declines in the past are still declining. Twelve percent are showing signs of recovery, possibly because natural selection is favoring resistant animals.

EDIT

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/28/science/frogs-fungus-bd.html

[Rhiannon12866]

1. How terrible!

And they're just noticing??