Image of the Day: Frog Leaps Away from Extinction

A once critically endangered species of leaf frog has made a comeback.

Written byThe Scientist
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The black-eyed leaf frog, Agalychnis moreletii, in its native habitat in GuatemalaROBIN MOORE, GLOBAL WILDLIFE CONSERVATION The black-eyed leaf frog (Agalychnis moreletii) was once listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which is often the last step before complete extinction. But 13 years later, in a reevaluation of extinction risk of amphibians—supported by Global Wildlife Conservation—researchers found that the frog has made a comeback. They found the animal in historical as well as new locations in high abundances throughout its native range from Mexico to Honduras, and re-classified the frog as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List.

The animal was among 40 species in the evaluation whose extinction risk was downgraded. However, researchers found 23 other species to be at a higher risk of extinction than previously thought. This includes the Rio Cosnipata robber frog (Pristimantis cosnipatae), a Peruvian species that was last seen in 1999 and is considered possibly extinct.

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