July 14, 2019
Throughout Chapter 1, Kolbert introduces the possibility of Amphibians being part of the sixth great extinction as she and a group of others, mostly herpetologists, try to conserve many different species of the Amphibian family. One frog species in particular that resides up on the hills surrounding El Valle, the Panamanian Golden Frog, is the main concern within this chapter as the author went to visit this city to see the frogs. Kolbert runs into the Amphibian Conservation Center, EVACC; the place is filled with tanks of different sizes that are occupied by different amphibians. She meets the director of EVACC, Edgardo Griffith, and with some research found that the murderer of the golden frogs or amphibians is actually a fungus called Chytrid Fungi. While trying to save as many frogs as possible it is mentioned that Amphibians are the Earths greatest survivors, first crawling out of the water 400 million years ago then evolving into multiple different amphibia species 250 million years ago; But the biggest would be surviving the breakup of Pangea. According to page 11, "Amphibians emerged at a time when all the land on earth was part of a single expanse known as Pangea. Since the breakup of Pangea, they've adapted to conditions on every continent except Antarctica". Now connecting to the APES Theme: The Earth itself is one interconnected system because the natural systems change over time and space affecting life on the planet. So Pangea breaking up is part of Earths natural interconnected system, in this case, the tectonic plates. [C] This caused the amphibians to be separated into different environments on the globe leading to evolution or adaption.
Thanks for the post, MoMo. There's a lot we need to do to protect amphibians. They are incredibly sensitive to the effects of climate change.
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