Endangered Bolivian amphibians get long-awaited first date
The fate of a species may just rest on this love story.
Happily, the first date between Romeo, once the last-known
Sehuencas water frog, and Juliet, who was discovered deep inside a Bolivian
cloud forest in January, went so well the two have been living together in the
male's aquarium since.
According to a statement by Global Wildlife Conservation
(GWC) on Monday, the pair were introduced on March 1 after being cleared of
chytridiomycosis, which has decimated amphibian populations throughout the
Neotropics region.
After a period of observation, they were moved into Romeo's
aquarium, where he made a mating call for the first time since 2017: a clear
sign he is eager to breed.
"Romeo has been really sweet to Juliet, following her
around the aquarium and sacrificing his worm meals for her," said Teresa
Camacho Badani, chief of herpetology at the Museo de Historia Natural Alcide
d'Orbigny in Bolivia, which is working on the project with the GWC.
"After he's been alone for so long, it's wonderful to
see him with a mate finally."
Romeo had been found in the same cloud forest a decade ago
and it was feared that he was the last survivor of his species.
With a lifespan of 15 years, time was running out to find
Romeo a mate to ensure the survival of the species, although the frog himself
never gave up hope, continuing to call out for a mate during his decade in
captivity.
Twinkle-toed performance
But it's not quite happily ever after, at least not yet.
Romeo hasn't fully figured out amplexus – the mating
position for frogs where the male holds the female until he can fertilize her
eggs as she lays them.
Some species of frog need to go into amplexus for weeks or
even months, but it isn't known how long it lasts for the Sehuencas.
So far Romeo has gotten into the correct position a handful
of times – the longest for about 15 minutes on the first day the two were put
together.
Since meeting Juliet, Romeo has also exhibited a behavior
water frog experts had not encountered for this species: a performance in which
he rapidly twinkles the toes of his back feet, likely intended to impress the
female.
Apart from Juliet, four other Sehuencas water frogs were
brought in from the wild during the same expedition: two males and two
additional females.
They were the first Sehuencas frogs that researchers had
seen in the wild in a decade. The others have just begun showing signs of being
ready to breed, and remain together in a single aquarium.
According to the GWC, Bolivia has the 10th highest level of
amphibian diversity in the world, but 22 percent of those species now face the
threat of extinction.
The Sehuencas frog, which is completely aquatic, was once
found in abundance at the bottom of small streams and rivers or in ponds deep
inside mountain forests.
A combination of climate change, habitat destruction,
contamination, chytridiomycosis and the introduction of invasive trout provoked
the abrupt demise of many aquatic frog species in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.