Climate Action Monash – Putting Knowledge into Action!
Climate Action Monash is an open on-campus climate action group designed to inspire students and staff to put knowledge into action!Species Deceases
One of the most significant impacts of human occupation and exploitation of this planet is our affect on diminishing biodiversity. Accordingly, every day, or at least very very regularly, another species becomes extinct. Every month this page will showcase either a species that is on its way to becoming extinct or one that is already extinct. If you have a passion for certain species, either plant or animal or other, please send us a photo and some information. Cultivating an interest in the wonders of the natural world is one of the first steps towards changing the collective human exploitation of our dear Mother Earth!
This month’s species is the now believed to be extinct
Northern Brooding Gastric Frog - (Rheobatrachus vitellinus)
Photo: M. Davies. www.savethefrogs.com
The Northern Gastric Brooding Frog was one of the rare wonders of this world. It had the rare ability to rear its young inside its stomach, stopping its gastric juices from functioning in the meantime. This ability inspired humans to ponder whether insights from its physiology would assist in the treatment of peptic ulcers, where too much acidic gastric juices are secreted thus causing irritation.
This species used to occupy a niche in the Eungella Range’s rainforest, west of Mackay, in Queensland. The cause of this frog’s extinction is unknown, however, habitat loss, pollution, pathogens and parasites combined with over collection by humans are the suspected likely causes. The increasing decline of frogs worldwide is suspected to be linked to declining water and air quality combined with global climate change.
Frogs are often viewed as a litmus test of how others species will respond to climate change. Of the 5, 743 known amphibians on Earth, nearly a third are threatened with extinction.
For more info see:
www.global-greenhouse-warming.com
