Extinction: Rare Tree Frog Dies at Atlanta Botanical Garden

ATLANTA, GA — A rare tree frog species may now be extinct.

The frog, known as Toughie, died last week at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, according to ABC News. The frog was discovered dead during a daily inspection at the garden, which had purchased a climate-controlled facility designed to house the species.

Toughie was the last known living Rabbs' fringe-limbed tree frog in captivity. Toughie was estimated to be about 12 years old.

Zoo Atlanta scientists and the Atlanta Botanical Garden led the effort to discover and formally name the Rabbs’ fringe-limbed treefrog, which once inhabited mountain slopes above the town of El Valle de Anton in Central Panama.

Named for amphibian conservationists George and Mary Rabb, the species was first identified by Dr. Joseph Mendelson and a team of colleagues following a 2005 field expedition to Panama, where a pathogen known as amphibian chytrid fungus had begun to threaten native amphibian populations.

Since that discovery, the fungus has eradicated entire amphibian species in the wild, including the Rabbs’ fringe-limbed tree frog, which has not been observed in the wild since 2007.

One of only two known Rabbs’ fringe-limbed tree frogs on Earth, died at Zoo Atlanta in 2012.

Scientists estimate that one-third to one-half of amphibian species worldwide are threatened with extinction.

Image: Zoo Atlanta