Rabb's Fringe-Limbed Treefrog
The last of its kind was a single frog named Toughie, who lived alone at the Atlanta Botanical Garden until 2016
No photo available for Rabb's Fringe-Limbed Treefrog
Population
One individual survived until 2016 — named Toughie. No others are known.
Location
Central Panama
Overview
Rabb's fringe-limbed treefrog was discovered in 2005 in the forests of central Panama. By 2006, chytridiomycosis — the fungal epidemic devastating amphibians worldwide — had swept through its habitat. By 2007, the species was gone from the wild. A handful of individuals had been collected for captive breeding, but breeding attempts failed. One by one the captive animals died. The last known individual, Toughie, lived at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. He died in September 2016. There are no others.
Why they're at risk
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Chytridiomycosis (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) swept through central Panama with extraordinary speed in the mid-2000s, eliminating this species and dozens of others before any emergency response could be organized.
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The species was only described to science in 2005 — the window between its discovery and its extinction was less than two years in the wild.
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Captive breeding failed because so little was known about the species' reproductive requirements — the frogs' breeding behavior, dietary needs, and environmental triggers were unknown when the emergency collection was made.
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The speed of the chytrid wave outpaced conservation infrastructure — by the time emergency protocols were in place, the wild population was gone.
Reasons for hope
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Tissue samples from Toughie and other captive individuals are preserved, maintaining the option of future de-extinction research.
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Rabb's fringe-limbed treefrog's extinction galvanized funding for the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project, which has since established captive assurance colonies for dozens of other Panamanian amphibians before they face the same fate.
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The chytrid fungus's spread has slowed in some areas where it has been present longest — some frog populations appear to be developing partial resistance, offering hope for species still present in affected zones.
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Toughie's story reached a global audience and generated significant public awareness of the amphibian extinction crisis — his name and face became a symbol used in conservation fundraising that has protected other species.