Scientists issue warning over threats facing newly discovered creatures: 'Literally running out of space'
Two new species of frogs were recently discovered in Australia. They are types of Whirring Tree frogs, native to Eastern Australia's moist, cool, upland environment.
Both have similar appearances — bodies that are bright, brownish-yellow with patches of red behind their legs.
However, as Phys.org reported, these frogs may not be able to adapt to the demands of our changing planet.
Since the frogs show no evidence of adaptation to warming climates, the journal Zootaxa issued an immediate conservation warning for the frogs.
University of Newcastle emeritus professor Michael Mahony said, "The frogs are literally running out of space. Isolated on mountaintops, with climate models predicting warmer and drier conditions, they have nowhere left to go."
The Eungella Whirring Frog, one of the two newly discovered species, lives only within about a 20-kilometer area in the Eungella Mountain Range of North Queensland. The Atherton Whirring Frog lives hundreds of kilometers away in a similarly elevated rainforest.
The Eungella Whirring Frog is among Australia's frogs with the shortest inhabitable range. As Luke Price, the lead author of the paper, noted, "Species confined to such tiny areas face immense risks — from wildfires to pollution events. One catastrophic event could wipe them out entirely."
The Atherton Whirring Frog's inhabitable range is only slightly larger.
Conserving the habitats of these frogs is crucial to preserving their existence. The continued warming of the planet will damage these cool, moist environments and force the frogs into extinction.
On a broader scale, the loss of biodiversity negatively impacts food systems. As we lose species and harm the environment, the ecosystem's food webs get thrown out of balance.
Do you think America does a good job of protecting its natural beauty?
Definitely
Only in some areas
No way
I'm not sure
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.
Beyond this, a warming climate means more severe weather patterns, rising sea levels, and increased wildfires. These environmental threats will have a variety of other effects on our health and economy.
Since the frogs are at their adaptive limits, conservation efforts are needed. These frogs are another indicator that we need to protect vulnerable species from the devastation of climate change.
Conservation work has made significant, positive strides to protect wildlife. A study last year in Anthropocene found that these endeavors were paying off. For example, their numbers showed a 45% improvement in biodiversity.
On an individual species level, there is also a lot to celebrate. Recently, rare black wolves were spotted in a forest in Poland. In Thailand, a cloud leopard was spotted with a young cub. In the ocean, the Mediterranean monk seal is also making a comeback.
Conservation work is a group effort. Together, we can help protect many species of plants and animals from the dangers of climate change.
Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
18 hours ago
- Miami Herald
‘Long'-tailed creature gets caught in trap in India forest. It's a new species
Under a cover of darkness, an 'elusive' creature with a 'long' tail flew through a mountain forest in northern India — or tried to, at least. But something enveloped it and trapped it. Scientists checked their net trap and found the 'soft' animal. It turned out to be a new species. A team of researchers visited over a dozen sites in Uttarakhand and the Western Himalayas between 2017 and 2021 to survey wildlife. The region is 'one of the richest and most diverse ecosystems on Earth,' but sections of it remain 'insufficiently' studied, according to a study published June 5 in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa. During their surveys, researchers set up mist nets of various sizes and waited to see what flew into the traps, the study said. They also ventured into 'confined spaces like tunnels and caves' with butterfly nets to see what they could catch. 'Finally in 2021, a few days before the end of my last field season in Uttarakhand, Baseer Baniya returned from our nets with a Collared Scops-Owl bycatch in one cloth bag, and a bat that he couldn't identify in the other,' study co-author Rohit Chakravarty wrote in a June 5 Facebook post. 'As soon as I pulled the bat out of the bag,' Chakravarty knew it was an 'elusive' bat he'd seen twice before and had been searching for for years. Researchers took a closer look at the unfamiliar-looking bat, analyzed its DNA and realized they'd discovered a new species of mouse-eared bat: Myotis himalaicus, or the Himalayan long-tailed Myotis. Himalayan long–tailed Myotis bats are considered 'medium-sized,' reaching about 3.5 inches in length and weighing less than an ounce, the study said. They have 'delicate' feet and 'relatively long' thumbs ending in 'a strong but short claw.' Their heads have 'short' ears and 'rather delicate' teeth. A photo shows the new species' 'dense, soft and relatively long' hair. Overall, the mouse-eared bat's fur is 'dark brown' with some lighter hues mixed in and a paler golden-brown belly. Himalayan long–tailed Myotis bats were caught in net traps in 'a variety of forested habitats at elevations between' 4,900 to 7,500 feet and 'appears (to be) uncommon,' the study said. Much about the new species' lifestyle remains unknown. Researchers said they named the new species after the Himalayan mountains where it was first discovered. So far, Himalayan long–tailed Myotis bats have been found in Uttarakhand, India, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, locations nearly 500 miles apart. Uttarakhand is a province of northern India bordering Nepal and Tibet. The new species was identified by its DNA, tail length, body proportions, ears, skull shape, coloring and other subtle physical features, the study said. The research team included Uttam Saikia, Rohit Chakravarty, Gabor Csorba, Mostaque Ahmed Laskar and Manuel Ruedi. The team also surveyed about two dozen other bat species.
New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
It's official: Your diet is making you depressed, according to science
Skipping dessert really can leave you down in the dumps. No one who's been on a diet has ever said, 'I love calorie restriction,' but a new study has found a not-so-surprising link between low-cal eating and depression. And some people have it worse than others. 3 Researchers found that men and those whose BMI classified them as overweight were particularly susceptible to diet-linked depression. Studio Romantic – The dietary habits and depressive symptoms of 28,000 US adults were analyzed for the study, published in BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health. Of these adults, 29% had a healthy weight, 33% were deemed overweight, and 38% were considered obese. The dietary patterns were divided into four categories: calorie-restrictive, nutrient-restrictive (AKA low in fat), sugar, salt, or carbs, established dietary pattern, or not on a diet at all. The majority of participants, 87%, did not follow any specific diet, 8% followed a calorie-restrictive diet, 3% opted for nutrient restriction, and 2% followed an established dietary pattern. Using questionnaires from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, researchers found that 8% of participants reported depressive symptoms. Those on calorie or nutrient-restrictive diets exhibited higher scores of emotional and physical distress than their cohorts who were not on a specific diet, suggesting that unsupervised restrictive diets may negatively affect mental health. Researchers found that men and those whose BMI classified them as overweight were particularly susceptible to diet-linked depression. 3 Besides affecting your quality of life and relationships, depression can raise the risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse. bravissimos – 'The findings suggest caution with overly restrictive or unbalanced diets, particularly for people already experiencing weight-related stress or challenges,' said lead study author Dr. Venkat Bhat, psychiatrist, clinician-researcher, and director of the Interventional Psychiatry Program at St. Michael's Hospital and University of Toronto. Researchers found that the quality of diet had a direct bearing on depression risk. Those whose diet was rife with ultra-processed foods (UPFs) were more likely to report higher levels of depression. Recent research revealed that 60% of Americans' daily caloric intake comes from ultra-processed foods. UPFs often contain high levels of sodium, refined sugars, cholesterol-spiking fats and other lab-based ingredients. A 2023 study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that people who consume nine or more servings of UPFs a day have a 50% higher risk of developing depression than those who eat four or fewer daily servings. 3 Previous studies have established that a Mediterranean diet rich in fruit, veggies, nuts, fish, and plants can slash depression risk by a third. Eightshot Images – In contrast, this latest study revealed that those who followed a Mediterranean diet exhibited lower rates of depression. Previous studies have established that a Mediterranean diet rich in fruit, veggies, nuts, fish, and plants can slash depression risk by a third. In a 2023 Gallup poll, 29% of US adults reported having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime, while 17.8% of Americans said they have depression or are being treated for it. Besides affecting your quality of life and relationships, depression can raise the risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, anxiety disorders and substance abuse. Given the results of this study, Bhat suggests dieters abstain from strict caloric restriction and instead opt for,' balanced, sustainable dietary changes that meet nutritional needs.' Researchers note that their findings only reveal associations, not definitive data. Further, due to the survey format, there's no way to verify that participants truly adhere to caloric restriction. Still, Bhat and his team are hopeful that future studies will continue to examine the relationship between calorie restriction and mental health.
Gizmodo
2 days ago
- Gizmodo
This Genetic ‘Trick' Helped the Black Death Linger for Centuries
Yersinia pestis—the bacterium that causes the bubonic plague—experienced a genetic tweak that allowed rodents to live longer after they were infected, according to a new study. This alteration may have prolonged two significant plague pandemics, including the deadliest event in human history: the Black Death. Researchers at the Institut Pasteur in France and McMaster University in Canada studied hundreds of ancient Y. pestis DNA samples to investigate a gene called 'pla.' Their study, published May 29 in the journal Science, identified a decrease in repetitions of the pla gene in the Y. pestis genome during the later stages of both the first and second major plague pandemics. The researchers believe these pla depletions ultimately allowed these pandemics to last longer. The first plague pandemic, known as the Plague of Justinian, struck the Mediterranean basin during the sixth century and caused tens of millions of deaths over the course of two centuries. The second emerged when the Black Death broke out in 1347, killing an estimated 30% to 50% of Europe's population in just six years. But this was just the beginning. Like the first pandemic, this plague continued to reemerge for centuries, lasting more than 500 years. This newly discovered evolution of the pla gene offers more insight into how these plagues persisted for so long. The pla gene appears many times in the Y. pestis' genome and plays a crucial role in its virulence by allowing it to infect the lymph nodes before traveling to the rest of the body, according to an Institut Pasteur statement. This causes rapid septicemia—or blood poisoning—and quickly kills the victim. Therefore, a lack of this gene in Y. pestis strains from the first and second major pandemics likely made the bacterium less virulent, the researchers suggest. To test that hypothesis, they infected mice with three preserved strains of Y. pestis from the third major pandemic that also had fewer repetitions of pla. 'These three samples enabled us to analyze the biological impact of these pla gene deletions,' said co-author Javier Pizarro-Cerdá, director of the Yersinia Research Unit at the Institut Pasteur, according to the statement. Through their mouse model, Pizarro-Cerdá and his colleagues found that the pla depletion resulted in a 20% decrease in victim mortality. What's more, it allowed infected rodents to live significantly longer. Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that rats infected with pla-depleted Y. pestis strains may have been more effective disease vectors, as they had more time to spread the plague far and wide before they died. Rodents—particularly rats—played a critical role in spreading the bubonic plague to humans. People most commonly contract this disease via infected flea bites, and fleas typically contract it when they feed on infected rodents. Thus, an increase in the lifespans of sickened rodents would have provided greater opportunity for fleas to bite them, become infected, and then bite humans. 'Ours is one of the first research studies to directly examine changes in an ancient pathogen, one we still see today, in an attempt to understand what drives the virulence, persistence, and eventual extinction of pandemics,' said co-lead author Hendrik Poinar, director of the McMaster Ancient DNA Centre and holder of the Michael G. DeGroote Chair in Genetic Anthropology, according to the statement. Today, the bubonic plague is considered a rare disease, though a small number of cases still emerge in western North America, Africa, Asia, and South America, according to the Cleveland Clinic. While this research provides valuable insight into the evolutionary history of Y. pestis and the world-altering pandemics it caused, it can also serve as a model for better understanding how deadly diseases emerge and spread, according to the researchers.
