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Humans Are Eating Frog Species Into Extinction

Humans Are Eating Frog Species Into Extinction

Some one billion frogs are gobbled up each year. Around since the dinosaurs, some frog species are nearing extinction, warns a leading German biologist.

(Tom Harding)

Anita Pöhlig,

BRAUNSCHWEIG - The diversity of frog species is rich and vast. Some weigh six pounds, others are smaller than a thumbnail, there are frogs of an inconspicuous gray shade and others that light up in the most vibrant colors - in sum, more than 6,000 species of frogs are known to mankind. Miguel Vences knows almost all of them.

"Frogs were already jumping around with the dinosaurs," says Professor Vences, a biologist at the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany, and one of the world's leading researchers of these croaking amphibians.

For the past 250 million years, frogs have managed to survive on their own. But today, amphibians in many countries are seriously threatened with extinction. "In France and Belgium, but also in the United States, frog legs can still be found on many menus. To support that luxury, many frog habitats are being destroyed in Asia," Vences says.

In China and elsewhere in Asia, frogs have now become a source of food, while the threat of famine in Africa has helped introduce frog into eating habits there. Vences estimates that more than a billion frogs are eaten every year worldwide.

In addition, a dangerous fungus has begun to attack the skin of frogs in recent years, causing many populations to die out. It is still unclear, however, whether it is the chytrid fungus that is directly causing frogs to die in such great numbers, or whether these animals are dying due to other stresses on their environment or their resulting immune system failures. "This fungus is also present in Germany, but our frogs do not seem to be suffering from it on a large scale," explains Vences.

"I started looking for frogs in ponds as a kid," recalls Vences. At that time, scientists did not yet know many frog species. Vences and his colleague Frank Glaw alone have discovered and scientifically named some 100 species.

The two have conducted research together since the 1980s - when they were still students - primarily in the jungles of Madagascar. Vences and Glaw have published a list of the more than 350 frog species that live on the small African island.

The diversity of frogs can also be seen in reproduction. "Some undergo live births, others lay eggs. Some frogs even swallow their eggs and hatch them out through their stomach," explains Vences.

One species places tadpoles individually on water-filled leaves and feeds them with unfertilized eggs. In order to mate, frogs identify each other by the sound of their croaking as well as by their color.

"Despite all of this, frogs are actually pretty stupid. All of these incredible practices are controlled by instinct," says Vences. "Because amphibians have survived for so long, they are an important model group for evolutionary research."

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

How Vulnerable Are The Russians In Crimea?

Ukraine has stepped up attacks on the occupied Crimean peninsula, and Russia is doing all within its power to deny how vulnerable it has become.

Photograph of the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters with smoke rising above it after a Ukrainian missile strike.

September 22, 2023, Sevastopol, Crimea, Russia: Smoke rises over the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters after a Ukrainian missile strike.

TASS/ZUMA
Kyrylo Danylchenko

This article was updated Sept. 26, 2023 at 6:00 p.m.

Russian authorities are making a concerted effort to downplay and even deny the recent missile strikes in Russia-occupied Crimea.

Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.

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Media coverage in Russia of these events has been intentionally subdued, with top military spokesperson Igor Konashenkov offering no response to an attack on Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, or the alleged downing last week of Russian Su-24 aircraft by Ukrainian Air Defense.

The response from this and other strikes on the Crimean peninsula and surrounding waters of the Black Sea has alternated between complete silence and propagating falsehoods. One notable example of the latter was the claim that the Russian headquarters building of the Black Sea fleet that was hit Friday was empty and that the multiple explosions were mere routine training exercises.

Ukraine claimed on Monday that the attack killed Admiral Viktor Sokolov, the commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. "After the strike on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, 34 officers died, including the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Another 105 occupiers were wounded. The headquarters building cannot be restored," the Ukrainian special forces said via Telegram.

But Sokolov was seen on state television on Tuesday, just one day after Ukraine claimed he'd been killed. The Russian Defense Ministry released footage of the admiral partaking in a video conference with top admirals and chiefs, including Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, though there was no verification of the date of the event.

Moscow has been similarly obtuse following other reports of missiles strikes this month on Crimea. Russian authorities have declared that all missiles have been intercepted by a submarine and a structure called "VDK Minsk", which itself was severely damaged following a Ukrainian airstrike on Sept. 13. The Russians likewise dismissed reports of a fire at the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet, attributing it to a mundane explosion caused by swamp gas.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has refrained from commenting on the military situation in Crimea and elsewhere, continuing to repeat that everything is “proceeding as planned.”

Why is Crimea such a touchy topic? And why is it proving to be so hard to defend?

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