Latonia nigriventer
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The Hula painted frog (''Latonia nigriventer'') is an
amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...
and the only living member of the
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
'' Latonia,'' which was originally described from several fossil species from the
Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...
to
Early Pleistocene The Early Pleistocene is an unofficial sub-epoch in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, being the earliest division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently estimated to span the time ...
of Europe. The Hula painted frog was thought to be
extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
as a result of
habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
during the 1950s until the species was rediscovered in 2011. It is
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to the Lake Hula marshes in
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. The draining of Lake Hula and its marshes in the 1950s was thought to have caused the extinction of this frog, along with the
cyprinid Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest verte ...
fish ''
Acanthobrama hulensis ''Acanthobrama hulensis'', sometimes known as the Hula bream, was a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. Its natural habitats were swamps and freshwater lakes in Lake Hula in northern Israel. ''Acanthobrama hulensis'' looked much ...
'' and
cichlid Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted this ...
fish ''
Tristramella intermedia ''Tristramella intermedia'' is an extinct species of fish in the family Cichlidae. It was endemic to Lake Hula in northern Israel. This taxon was considered to be a subspecies of '' T. simonis'' in FishBase and considered a synonym of ''T. simon ...
''. Only five individuals had been found prior to the draining of the lake. Environmental improvements in the Hula reserve have been cited as a possible reason for the frog's reemergence.


Description

The Hula painted frog has a dark belly with small white spots. It is colored
ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...
above with a rusty colour grading into dark olive-grey to greyish-black on the sides. Differences from the common painted frog (''
Discoglossus pictus The Mediterranean painted frog or simply painted frog (''Discoglossus pictus'') is a species of frog in the family Alytidae (formerly Discoglossidae). Distribution ''Discoglossus pictus'' is found Mediterranean Africa in northeast Morocco, north ...
'') include its greater interocular distance, longer forelimbs, and a less projecting snout. The type specimen was an adult female with a body length of Little is known about its history, because few specimens have been found by scientists. Two adults and two
tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found i ...
s were collected in 1940 and a single specimen was found in 1955. This would prove to be the last record of this species until 2011. The four 1940 specimens were to be used as types, but the smaller, half-grown frog was eaten by the larger one in captivity. According to an ecologist of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, the frog's Hebrew name, ''agulashon shehor-gahon'' (''Black-bellied round-tongued''), derives from its black belly and round tongue. The scientific name of the species reflects these details as well. Unlike the tongues of other frogs, it is not used to catch prey. This frog was originally proposed to be a member of the genus ''
Discoglossus ''Discoglossus'' (common name: painted frogs) is a genus of frogs in the family Alytidae (formerly Discoglossidae) found in southern Europe and northwestern Africa. Species Six species are placed in this genus. The Hula painted frog The Hula ...
'', but further genetic and morphological assessment after the rediscovery of the species led to a reassignment to '' Latonia'', for which no other living examples are known. Other members of ''Latonia'' are known from the fossil record to have lived as recently as ~1 million years ago. However, based on phylogenetic analysis, it was estimated that the last common ancestor of ''Latonia'' and its closest related genus, ''Discoglossus'', lived approximately 32 million years ago. On this basis, the Hula painted frog has been labeled a
living fossil A living fossil is an extant taxon that cosmetically resembles related species known only from the fossil record. To be considered a living fossil, the fossil species must be old relative to the time of origin of the extant clade. Living fossi ...
, the only extant representative of an ancient genetic split.


Conservation status

In 1996, the
IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
classified this species as "extinct in the wild", the very first amphibian to be given that designation by the IUCN. Israel continued to list it as an
endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
in the slim hope that a relict population may be found in the
Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...
or in southern
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
. Following the rediscovery of the species in 2011, the IUCN now considers the frog to be critically endangered as its known habitat occupies less than 2 km2. In 2000, a scientist from the Lebanese nature protection organisation A Rocha claimed he had seen a frog species which could be ''Latonia nigriventer'' in the
Aammiq Wetland The Aammiq Wetland (the name is also sometimes transliterated as "Ammiq"or "Aamiq") is the largest remaining freshwater wetland in Lebanon, a remnant of much more extensive marshes and lakes that once existed in the Bekaa Valley. It has been de ...
south of the
Beqaa Valley The Beqaa Valley ( ar, links=no, وادي البقاع, ', Lebanese ), also transliterated as Bekaa, Biqâ, and Becaa and known in classical antiquity as Coele-Syria, is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon. It is Lebanon's most important ...
in
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
. Two French-Lebanese-British expeditions in the years 2004 and 2005 yielded no confirmation as to the further existence of this species. In August 2010, a search organised by the Amphibian Specialist Group of the
International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
set out to look for various species of frogs thought to be extinct in the wild, including the Hula painted frog. In 2013, a study published in ''
Nature Communications ''Nature Communications'' is a peer-reviewed, open access, scientific journal published by Nature Portfolio since 2010. It is a multidisciplinary journal and it covers the natural sciences, including physics, chemistry, earth sciences, medicine, ...
'' revealed that in 2011 during a routine patrol at the Hula Nature Reserve, ranger Yoram Malka found the frog, which he immediately suspected as being the Hula painted frog, as he claimed he has been on the lookout for it for many years. Scientists confirmed that it was one of this rare species. An ecologist with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority credited the rehydration of the area for the frog sighting. On November 29, a second specimen was located in the same area. The second Hula painted frog, a female, was found in swampy weeds twenty centimeters deep. It weighed 13 grams, half the weight of its male counterpart. Since the discovery of the first specimen, at least ten more individuals have been found, all in the same area. In 2016, a team led by Professor Sarig Gafni of the Ruppin Academic Center's School of Marine Sciences discovered populations totaling several hundred individuals by searching in water at night, instead of in marsh mud, finding populations in 17 of the 52 Hula Valley water holes they surveyed.


See also

*
Wildlife of Israel The wildlife of Israel includes the flora and fauna of Israel, which is extremely diverse due to the country's location between the temperate and the tropical zones, bordering the Mediterranean Sea in the west and the desert in the east. Species ...


References


External links

* ARKive
Images of specimen HUJZ Amphib. Discogl. 1 in life taken by Oz Rittner

"Watershed moment for extinct Israeli frog"
– Israel21c * Global Amphibian Assessment
''Discoglossus nigriventer'' – Hula Painted Frog
Contains map of locations where specimens were found. Additional data and discoveries were published in Haaretz newspaper on 15/04/2016 * http://www.haaretz.co.il/news/science/.premium-1.2915938 Among the discoveries are Tadpole data, which is very small, up to 2.5 cm, and becomes even smaller as adult, the largest adult caught was 13 cm long which suggest it was several decades old. Also sound was first noticed and it is a very weak one. {{Taxonbar, from=Q842419 Amphibians of the Middle East Fauna of Lebanon Painted frogs Taxa named by Heinz Steinitz Amphibians described in 1943 Endemic fauna of Israel Hula Valley