Volcano Could Mean Extinction for the Rocket Frog
Volcano Could Mean Extinction for the Rocket Frog
With an eruption looming, scientists struggle to collect the last of a rare species to breed for the future.
[font size=1]
Ecuador’s few remaining rocket frogs live in the shadow of an active volcano.
Photograph by Joel Sartore, National Geographic
[/font]
PUBLISHED Wed Oct 14 07:00:00 EDT 2015
Biologists near Quito, Ecuador are rushing to evacuate a critically endangered frog species before a volcanic eruption wipes it out.
The small, chocolate-striped rocket frog—Hyloxalus (Colostethus) jacobuspetersi—was once common around Quito, even in pastures and backyards (it adapts well to peopled landscapes). Now, for unclear reasons, there is just one population left. Fewer than 100 adults, plus an unknown number of juveniles and tadpoles cling to life in the Andes along the Río Pita, a river fed by melting snow and ice atop the recently active volcano Cotopaxi.
Ticking Time Bomb
In August, Cotopaxi, whose activity endangers more than 300,000 people, coughed up steam and ash after lying virtually dormant since the early 1900s. The output was limited, but the mountain continues to sputter, and magma is rising within. A much bigger eruption—one that would melt the mountain’s snowcap and trigger massive mud flows and floods—could be months, or even weeks, away.
Lava, water, and mud barreling along the Río Pita, combined with layers of ash settling on the land would almost certainly push the rare rocket frogs to extinction. So biologists are trying to rescue as many as possible before Cotopaxi blows its top.
More:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/10/151014-rocket-frog-volcano-ecuador-animals-conservation-science/