Israel painted frog
Encyclopedia
The Israel painted frog, or Hula painted frog (Discoglossus nigriventer) is an amphibian, thought to be extinct
until one female specimen was found on 16 November 2011. It is endemic to the Lake Hula marshes in Israel
.
The deliberate draining of Lake Hula and its marshes in the 1950s was thought to have led to the extinction of this frog, along with the cyprinid fish Acanthobrama hulensis
and cichlid fish Tristramella intermedia
.
) include its greater interocular distance, longer forelimbs, and a less projecting snout. The type specimen was an adult female with a body length of 40 mm.
Little is known about its history, because few specimens have been found by scientists. Two adults and two tadpole
s were collected in 1940 and a single specimen was found in 1955. This would prove to be the last record of this species until 2011.
The four 1940 specimens were to be used as types, but the smaller, half-grown frog was eaten by the larger one in captivity. The latter eventually became the holotype
(HUJZ Amphib. Discogl. 1) for the species' description and this or the individual collected in 1955 apparently is the only material remains of the species known today; the two tadpole paratype
s (HUJZ Amphib. Discogl. 2 and 2a) appear to have been lost.
in the slim hope that a relict
population may be found in the Golan Heights.
In 2000, a scientist from the Lebanese nature protection organisation A Rocha
claimed he had seen a frog species which could be Discoglossus nigriventer in the Aammiq marshes south of the Beqaa Valley
in Lebanon
. Two French-Lebanese-British expeditions in the years 2004 and 2005 yielded no confirmation as to the further existence of this species. In August 2010, a search organised by the Amphibian Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature set out to look for various species of frogs thought to be extinct in the wild, including the Israel painted frog.
In 2011, a routine patrol at Ha'Hula lake found an unknown frog, and scientists have confirmed that it is one of this rare species. An ecologist with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority credited the rehydration of the area for the frog sighting. On November 29, a second individual was located in the same area.
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
until one female specimen was found on 16 November 2011. It is endemic to the Lake Hula marshes in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
The deliberate draining of Lake Hula and its marshes in the 1950s was thought to have led to the extinction of this frog, along with the cyprinid fish Acanthobrama hulensis
Acanthobrama hulensis
Acanthobrama hulensis was a species of ray-finned fish in the Cyprinidae family.Its natural habitats were swamps and freshwater lakes in Lake Hula in northern Israel. Acanthobrama hulensis looked much like a sardine...
and cichlid fish Tristramella intermedia
Tristramella intermedia
Tristramella intermedia is an extinct species of fish in the Cichlidae family. It was endemic to Lake Hula in northern Israel.The deliberate draining of Lake Hula in the 1950s led to the extinction of this species, along with the cyprinid fish Acanthobrama hulensis and the Israel painted frog....
.
Description
The Israel painted frog has a dark belly with small white spots. It is colored ochre above with a rusty colour grading into dark olive-grey to greyish-black on the sides. Differences from the common painted frog (Discoglossus pictusDiscoglossus pictus
The Mediterranean Painted Frog, Discoglossus pictus, is a species of frog in the Discoglossidae family. It has 3 different subspecies, Discoglossus pictus pictus or Mediterranean Maltese Painted Frog, found at altitudes up to 1500m, Discoglossus pictus scovazzi or Mediterranean Moroccan Painted...
) include its greater interocular distance, longer forelimbs, and a less projecting snout. The type specimen was an adult female with a body length of 40 mm.
Little is known about its history, because few specimens have been found by scientists. Two adults and two tadpole
Tadpole
A tadpole or polliwog is the wholly aquatic larval stage in the life cycle of an amphibian, particularly that of a frog or toad.- Appellation :...
s were collected in 1940 and a single specimen was found in 1955. This would prove to be the last record of this species until 2011.
The four 1940 specimens were to be used as types, but the smaller, half-grown frog was eaten by the larger one in captivity. The latter eventually became the holotype
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...
(HUJZ Amphib. Discogl. 1) for the species' description and this or the individual collected in 1955 apparently is the only material remains of the species known today; the two tadpole paratype
Paratype
Paratype is a technical term used in the scientific naming of species and other taxa of organisms. The exact meaning of the term paratype when it is used in zoology is not the same as the meaning when it is used in botany...
s (HUJZ Amphib. Discogl. 2 and 2a) appear to have been lost.
Rediscovery
The IUCN has classified this species as extinct since 1996 but Israel continued to list it as an endangered speciesEndangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
in the slim hope that a relict
Relict
A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon.* In biology a relict is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas....
population may be found in the Golan Heights.
In 2000, a scientist from the Lebanese nature protection organisation A Rocha
A Rocha
A Rocha is an international environmental organization with a Christian ethos. A Rocha, which means "the rock" in Portuguese , was founded in Portugal in 1983 by Anglican minister Peter Harris and his wife Miranda...
claimed he had seen a frog species which could be Discoglossus nigriventer in the Aammiq marshes south of the Beqaa Valley
Beqaa Valley
The Beqaa Valley is a fertile valley in east Lebanon. For the Romans, the Beqaa Valley was a major agricultural source, and today it remains Lebanon’s most important farming region...
in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. Two French-Lebanese-British expeditions in the years 2004 and 2005 yielded no confirmation as to the further existence of this species. In August 2010, a search organised by the Amphibian Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature set out to look for various species of frogs thought to be extinct in the wild, including the Israel painted frog.
In 2011, a routine patrol at Ha'Hula lake found an unknown frog, and scientists have confirmed that it is one of this rare species. An ecologist with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority credited the rehydration of the area for the frog sighting. On November 29, a second individual was located in the same area.
External links
- ARKiveARKiveARKive is a global initiative with the mission of "promoting the conservation of the world's threatened species, through the power of wildlife imagery", which it does by locating and gathering films, photographs and audio recordings of the world's species into a centralised digital archive. Its...
: Images of specimen HUJZ Amphib. Discogl. 1 in life. Retrieved 2006-DEC-14. - Global Amphibian Assessment: Discoglossus nigriventer - Hula Painted Frog. Contains map of locations where specimens were found. Retrieved 2006-DEC-14.
- Second of frog species long thought extinct found in Israel nature reserve http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/second-of-frog-species-long-thought-extinct-found-in-israel-nature-reserve-1.398516
- http://www.medwetcoast.com/IMG/200508_pr_Aammiq__frog.pdf