Toughie, collected during a chytrid pandemic in Panama, was more than 12 years old.
Toughie, the last known Rabbs' fringe-limbed treefrog (Ecnomiohyla rabborum), has died at his adopted home in the Atlanta Botanical Garden. His age was not known but he was collected in 2005 during a rescue mission to save amphibians from the chytrid fungus that was devastating the frog populations in central Panama.
According to National Geographic News, Toughie’s species was not described until three years after he was collected, in 2008. The frog’s natural habitat is a small range of forest at an elevation of 900 to 1,150 m (2,950 to 3,770 ft), in Panama’s forest canopies. It hasn’t been heard in the wild since 2007, when a single male was heard calling.
Brian Gratwicke
Toughie was the last known Rabbs' fringe-limbed treefrog. He died in September 2016.
Rabbs' fringe-limbed treefrog's were nocturnal and fed on insects. They were also known to have the capability to glide in the air at distances of up to 30 feet. They were also large frogs, having been described in National Geopgrahic as baseball-sized.
While scientists haven’t heard or seen the species in the wild since 2007, and is considered extinct, animals have been rediscovered, often times decades later. Hopefully, there are some Rabbs' fringe-limbed treefrogs left in the wild that survived the chytrid pandemic that has wiped out entire populations of amphibians around the world.
