VOA常速英语:科学家人工培育角囊蛙 以避免其灭绝

The horned marsupial frog had not been seen for more than 10 years, and was considered extinct. The unusual frog has horn-like skin above its eyes and a pouch for carrying its young. A recent expedition into Ecuador’s Chaco rainforest by a conservation and eco tour group discovered a colony of the amphibians. Every time it’s an exciting moment, like once you see an animal that no one else has seen for over a long period of time, maybe years or decades. Two pairs of the frogs were taken to Ecuador’s Jambatu amphibian conservation center for breeding. Unlike other frogs, the horned marsupial frog does not spawn tadpoles in standing water. Instead, eggs grow in a pouch on the mother’s back and hatch as baby frogs called froglets.
These marsupials are amazing. They have evolved this way of keeping the embryos in a pouch and releases the frog legs, so they don’t depend anymore of water for that, so the evolution has produced these in these animals which are unique. The first froglets will hatch in April. The goal is to reproduce 500 frogs for reintroduction into the rainforest. Ecuador is known for its rich amphibian biodiversity. About half of the species that live there are found nowhere else.

A country like Ecuador is really a paradise for frogs. She was concentrated above the ten percent, ten percent of the diversity of frogs of the world. But experts say the frog’s survival may be at risk, since Ecuador has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world.
Beborah Block VOA news.