Golden Frog By Elizabeth Korbert Summary

The first chapter in the sixth extinction is geared towards focusing on the rapid extinction of frogs, a species that has survived over 400 million years. Elizabeth Kolbert, the author believes that we are entering a sixth extinction and that it is crucial to pay close attention to it because any slight change can drastically influence an entire ecosystem and its inhabitants. The epicenter of the extinction seemed to begin in a small town in Central Panama called El Valle de Anton. The Panamanian golden frog was one of Panama’s most iconic attractions. The frog is small, toxic, and has black speckles. The frog used to be found covering every part of the forest floor, but by 2002 they were practically wiped out. At first it was dismissed as an overreaction but as the disappearance of the Panamanian golden frog increased, researchers all around the world began to take notice. This event can be described as a “background extinction”. Compared to a mass extinction a background extinction is on a much smaller scale, while a mass …show more content…
He took samples from frog skin and ran it through an electron scanning microscope. The results brought in information on a fungal infection from a fungus group called Chytrid. The weird thing about this discovery is that this fungus has never been seen before and they can only be found deep underground or in treetops. So they had to create a whole new genome for it. They named it Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis or Bd. Tests were run on this fungus, and when it was exposed to poison blue dart frogs it killed them within a couple weeks. It was then concluded that this fungus is an invasive pathogen that would weaken and eventually kill the frogs it infected. The main reason Bd killed frogs is because it interfered with the frogs ability to absorb electrolytes through their skin which in turn causes them to suffer through a heart