New frog species discovered in - New York City!

[werepossum]

http://www.livescience.com/19055-frog-discovered-nyc.html

A new species of frog has been found hiding in plain sight in one of the busiest places on Earth: New York City.

For years, biologists mistook the frog for a more widespread variety of leopard frog. This one, however, prefers not to stray far from the Big Apple and has an unusual croak. The frog lives in the city's ponds and marshes — sometimes within view of the Statue of Liberty — so uncovering the frog's true identity was a surprise for scientists.

"For a new species to go unrecognized in this area is amazing," said biologist Brad Shaffer of UCLA. "This shows that even in the largest city in the U.S., there are still new and important species waiting to be discovered."

The frog is an entirely new species, the scientists determined by using DNA data to compare the new frog to all other leopard frog species in the region. The unnamed frog joins more than a dozen distinct leopard frog species.

Something you don't often see is a new species of land vertebrate in densely populated and well studied areas, and the environs of New York City certainly qualify on both counts. In this case, it's a cryptic species of leopard frog, distinguishable only by its distinct call and its even more distinct DNA. Kudos to a sharp biologist for noticing a distinctive atypical call among the night's cacophony. It's especially nice to see a new species of amphibian described since they are in sharp decline world wide.

 

[monovillage]

Now that is cool. The political part of me wants to see New York City shut down to prevent harm from happening to the little critter.

 

[Aikouka]

The political part of me wants to see New York City shut down to prevent harm from happening to the little critter.

You don't think that's overreacting a bit much? It's not like the quoted portion said that Frogger is endangered.

 

[werepossum]

Now that is cool. The political part of me wants to see New York City shut down to prevent harm from happening to the little critter.

LOL Stranger things have happened. I remember specifically the rancher in California who was prevented from clearing brush on his farm because someone found an extensive complex of an endangered species of rat, been there for decades. Fast forward a couple years and the next wild fire comes through, destroying his farm and incidentally killing all the rats.

The rats found a place where they could escape the periodic California wild fires and flourish. Human beings took that away and in the name of protecting the rats, killed them. Which one is supposed to be intelligent again?

 

[monovillage]

You don't think that's overreacting a bit much? It's not like the quoted portion said that Frogger is endangered.

Of course it's overreacting a bit much. It was said in fun with just a wry twist about the ESA that is usually applied to rural areas from people in urban areas. You know stop the power plant from being built because there's a species of turtle/fish/rat/moth etc.

 

[highland145]

^^^2nd

Now that is cool. The political part of me wants to see New York City shut down to prevent harm from happening to the little critter.

2nd

 

[fskimospy]

Of course it's overreacting a bit much. It was said in fun with just a wry twist about the ESA that is usually applied to rural areas from people in urban areas. You know stop the power plant from being built because there's a species of turtle/fish/rat/moth etc.

Trust me, nobody would be sadder if NYC shut down than the hoards of rural people who ride around here on those tour buses gawking at everything, haha.

 

[highland145]

Trust me, nobody would be sadder if NYC shut down than the hoards of rural people who ride around here on those tour buses gawking at everything, haha.

Then they could make $$ on the tour buses from the city gawking at.......nothing.

 

[Genx87]

Trust me, nobody would be sadder if NYC shut down than the hoards of rural people who ride around here on those tour buses gawking at everything, haha.

Hey I had more fun on the subway system. We made the mistake of getting on the A train to JFK in Brooklyn after hitting DiFaras on the way out. Felt like I was in a Charles Bronson movie. But I guess they say you havent experienced NYC until you feel your life is in danger

Loved the city though and cant wait to go back! I just need to take the E train on the way out he he

 

[fskimospy]

Hey I had more fun on the subway system. We made the mistake of getting on the A train to JFK in Brooklyn after hitting DiFaras on the way out. Felt like I was in a Charles Bronson movie. But I guess they say you havent experienced NYC until you feel your life is in danger

Loved the city though and cant wait to go back! I just need to take the E train on the way out he he

I think the primary threat to my life on the A train to JFK is boredom induced suicide. It takes foreeeeeever.

I've never been to DiFara's, so you've got one on me there. I live in north Brooklyn and I don't really go south much past Prospect Park unless I'm going to Coney Island for some reason. (Mermaid Parade!)

 

[Dari]

LOL Stranger things have happened. I remember specifically the rancher in California who was prevented from clearing brush on his farm because someone found an extensive complex of an endangered species of rat, been there for decades. Fast forward a couple years and the next wild fire comes through, destroying his farm and incidentally killing all the rats.

The rats found a place where they could escape the periodic California wild fires and flourish. Human beings took that away and in the name of protecting the rats, killed them. Which one is supposed to be intelligent again?

Do you have a link so I can get more information about this rat/story?

 

[NuclearNed]

Now that is cool. The political part of me wants to see New York City shut down to prevent harm from happening to the little critter.

We could wall off the entire city and move everyone out. I think it would be smart to still have low impact use of the land as long as it didn't threaten the species, though. We could make the whole city a prison or something.

 

[shira]

http://www.livescience.com/19055-frog-discovered-nyc.html


Something you don't often see is a new species of land vertebrate in densely populated and well studied areas, and the environs of New York City certainly qualify on both counts. In this case, it's a cryptic species of leopard frog, distinguishable only by its distinct call and its even more distinct DNA. Kudos to a sharp biologist for noticing a distinctive atypical call among the night's cacophony. It's especially nice to see a new species of amphibian described since they are in sharp decline world wide.

I think this definitively proves that Obama IS the Messiah. He's created a new species!

Righties, get on your knees.

 

[piasabird]

These frogs have probably always been around. It is just a leopard frog with a slightly different croak. Frogs seem to survive quite well in all kinds of environments. You would think that far north they would all freeze to death. They must be good at hiding in the mud.

 

[ericlp]

Evolution FTW!

 

[werepossum]

Do you have a link so I can get more information about this rat/story?

Took a bit, but here's one citation. http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/7083

Andy and Cindy Domenigoni (of western Riverside County, California) fallowed 800 acres of farmland, to rest and rejuvenate their soil, just as the family has done for five generations. When the Interior Department’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) listed the Stephens’ kangaroo rat as an endangered subspecies in 1988, the Domenigonis were told they could no longer farm their fields. Their land was "frozen." By fallowing their fields, the Domenigonis had allowed kangaroo rats to take up residence on their land, and for this they were punished. In addition to costing several hundred thousand dollars in lost income and attorneys’ fees, the family’s 800 acres of rat habitat also provided the bulk of the fuel for a fire that burned down 29 homes on October 27, 1993.

Based on the record to date, a species is more likely to go extinct under the ESA than it is to recover.

The FWS had prohibited "disking" firebreaks and farming in designated rat habitat, and the Domenigonis had allowed rat habitat to grow by fallowing their fields. As a result, their fields were overgrown with brush and thus became a tinderbox, which fueled the destruction of property owned by close neighbors. After the fire, ironically, the FWS told the Domenigonis they could begin farming again. In fact, the FWS informed the Domenigonis that before the fire their fields had become too overgrown with brush to provide good rat habitat anyway. Thus, because of rat habitat that the FWS later claimed did not exist during much of the time the federal government was regulating it, the family lost approximately $400,000 in farming income, and many of their neighbors lost their homes.

It's a good article about the failure of the ESA in particular. I especially like this part.

If society wants more of something, it would do well to reward those who provide it, not punish them. Instead, the ESA has turned wildlife assets into regulatory liabilities. People tend to protect assets and eliminate liabilities, which is largely why the ESA has failed so miserably. Solving this problem, however, is easier on paper than it is in practice. It is all but a foregone conclusion that we will be stuck with some sort of federal ESA for the foreseeable future. Thus, if repeal is not a viable option, reform is imperative.

In the absence of punitive regulations, most landowners would gladly host threatened and endangered species on their property. Some would even go out of their way to ensure that rare wildlife had every chance to recover on their land. In many cases, landowners would need no other incentive than the assurance that they will not be regulated for having such species on their property. In other cases, positive incentives might be necessary. With minor clarifications, the ESA’s land acquisition provision could provide all the authority needed by the secretary of the interior to pursue all manner of positive inducements. And, of course, there is no law barring private environmental groups from purchasing habitat or easements or otherwise putting their money where their values are.

For many people in the agricultural community and elsewhere, ESA reform is a simple matter of justice. Surely, the cost of satisfying the public’s desire to protect publicly owned wildlife would qualify as a public burden that should not be foisted on certain people who happen to own the last remnants of certain habitats.

In my opinion maintenance and protection of endangered species is certainly properly a public burden, not something to be forced on the hapless landowner. Take for instance the critically endangered Barrens Top Minnow here in Tennessee. The TWRA works with the landowners, who are very fond of their unique little fishes and accordingly devote resources to their support, even pumping (at their own expense) well water into the pond during especially intense droughts, and where needed the TWRA helps out. This should be the case everywhere; finding a new species should be cause for joy, not dread, and if that discovery means a project cannot be completed, government (and therefore all of us) should bear the costs for maintaining that species. (Mind you, I don't think the landowner is due the profit we expected to make off the project, but certainly he's due what he has put into it.)

I think this definitively proves that Obama IS the Messiah. He's created a new species!

Righties, get on your knees.

LOL

These frogs have probably always been around. It is just a leopard frog with a slightly different croak. Frogs seem to survive quite well in all kinds of environments. You would think that far north they would all freeze to death. They must be good at hiding in the mud.

Leopard frogs (among others) thrive pretty far north. Wood frogs for example survive being frozen solid every winter. In this case, they've certainly been around as long as Europeans, and yes, they are leopard frogs with a slightly different croak. (And yes, leopard frogs overwinter by hiding in the mud.) Of interest here though is the classification; the frog has been given full species listing rather than subspecies listing, indicating significant genetic differences from other leopard frog species.

I actually think subspecies are also worthy of protection though. It could well be that some pathogen wipes out the species, but a subspecies is more resistant and lives on. Almost all species and subspecies are worth protecting, if only because they are unique creatures given to us by G-d (or Mother Nature if you prefer.) Luckily, in this case it's pretty simple as the frog is neither threatened nor endangered. There are plenty of them with ample range and habitat; they simply went unnoticed so long because this is a cryptic species.

 

[Linflas]

Trust me, nobody would be sadder if NYC shut down than the hoards of rural people who ride around here on those tour buses gawking at everything, haha.

I suspect the New Yorkers profiting off of those hordes might be sadder.

 

[Kntx]

This might explain what I saw on saturday. While walking in Manhattan I saw a man with a frog in a bag talking to some people. He seemed to be talking about the frog because he was holding it up in the air.

Or perhaps it had something to do with St. Patricks day.