Tuesday 19 June 2012

The world’s rarest toad rediscovered in Sri Lanka

Only ever recorded twice in the 1870s
June 2012. Adenomus kandianus was previously known only from two specimens, both deposited in the British Museum. The only record of A. kandianus since the initial description in 1872 was in 1876, making A. kandianus the world's rarest toad.
The species had not been reported since, and was considered extinct. However the toad was rediscovered in the Peak Wilderness Sanctuary one of the few remaining areas in Sri Lanka with a continuous natural forest cover of altitudinal graded forest types, ranging from lowland mixed Dipterocarp forests to montane cloud forests.
Adenomus kandianus is one of the 21 amphibian species thought to be extinct from Sri Lanka after extensive searches over a ten-year period failed to locate this species in the wild. A global amphibian hotspot, the island of Sri Lanka contains 111 species of amphibians that have been described so far, and it also carries the dubious distinction of contributing the highest proportion (60%) to the global list of extinct amphibians.

No comments:

Post a Comment

You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!

Related Posts with Thumbnails

ShareThis