Chapter 1- The Sixth Extinction

Elizabeth Kolebert introduces her book The Sixth Extinction by discussing the Panamanian golden frog. The color of the frog indicated its toxicity. The golden frogs were very abundant in El Valle de Antón even a creek was “nicknamed Thousand Frog Stream.” But the frogs slowly started to vanish but was not perceived a s a problem yet. Around 2004 corpses began to show up around El Valle and a group of biologists wanted to preserve the remaining population but a massive epidemic was killing the frogs very rapidly. Kolbert, read about the frogs in a children's magazine which discussed the first effort to save the frogs which was a “frog hotel.” The author later discovered a frog related article discussing the issue of a sixth extinction from point of view of amphibians. Kolbert visits the EVACC a conservation center devoted to saving the Atelopus zeteki from going extinct. Kolbert discusses to the readers how the decline of frog populations left many skeptical as “amphibians have been around not just longer than mammals, say, to birds;they have been around since before there were dinosaurs.”(Kolbert 11) Amphibians emerged during the breakup of land aka Pangaea which allowed them to adapt to different conditions around the world. Since amphibians have been around for so long it left the question of, what is claiming the lives of so many frogs?

The first clue about what was killing the frogs was discovered from the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., which zookeepers discovered an on blue poison dart frogs “strange microorganism on the animals’ skin,”(13) an unidentifiable fungus named Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis or Bd. Bd interrupts the process for frogs to take up electrolytes in their skin which causes a heart attack. Bd the author explains belongs to the chytrid fungus group which doesn’t need amphibians to survive. More specifically, Bd is capable of moving on its own as it can travel through water like streams or runoff after a rainstorm. So how was the fungus appearing in distant parts of the globe?

Some argue that Bd was brought by African clawed frogs used in mid-20th century for pregnancies or the fungus was spread by North American bullfrogs introduced into Europe, Asia and South America. Whichever theory is accurate doesn’t disregard the fact that humans were the main component for Bd to spread. Kolbert introduces the idea of humans altering natural systems. More specifically, how humans are introducing invasive species to various environments disrupting the balance of earth and accelerating the rate of mass extinction. Kolbert discusses this idea on page 18 which states, “without being loaded by someone onto a boat on a plane, it would have been impossible for a frog carrying Bd to get from Africa to Australia or from North America to Europe.” This idea of human direct interference connects with Columbian Exchange which traded plants, animals and other resources between the Old and New World. The Columbian Exchange led to the transfer of disease which led to widespread epidemic killing off many people. Humans need to be more observant and careful in what they’re trading and what organisms are being transported.