When the iconic US city was built in Vegas Valley in the 1940s, it was Viva Las Vegas, adios Vegas Valley frog (Lithobates fisheri) - or was it? While previously thought to be the first endemic US frog to go extinct, scientists have now found that DNA samples from museum specimens of the frogs are barely distinguishable from what was believed to be a totally different species: the Chiricahua leopard frog (Lithobates chiricahuensis), living 400km away in central Arizona. Fabulous though it is that it is not in fact extinct, the species is not safe yet - the Arizona population has decreased by 30% in the last three generations. They say that anything can happen in Vegas - let’s hope the remaining Chiricahua leopard frogs can be saved from truly disappearing off the planet.Ref: ‘Extinct’ frog was under our noses all the time. New Scientist 2817 [link]

When the iconic US city was built in Vegas Valley in the 1940s, it was Viva Las Vegas, adios Vegas Valley frog (Lithobates fisheri) - or was it? While previously thought to be the first endemic US frog to go extinct, scientists have now found that DNA samples from museum specimens of the frogs are barely distinguishable from what was believed to be a totally different species: the Chiricahua leopard frog (Lithobates chiricahuensis), living 400km away in central Arizona. Fabulous though it is that it is not in fact extinct, the species is not safe yet - the Arizona population has decreased by 30% in the last three generations. They say that anything can happen in Vegas - let’s hope the remaining Chiricahua leopard frogs can be saved from truly disappearing off the planet.

Ref: ‘Extinct’ frog was under our noses all the time. New Scientist 2817 [link]

Source: Flickr / usfwsendsp

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