Courtesy: BBC News -Science and Nature Department
An extremely rare female frog has been spotted for the first time in 20 years.
The tiny tree frog, Isthmohyla rivularis, was seen in Costa Rica's Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve.
This species was thought to have become extinct two decades ago, but last year a University of Manchester researcher caught a glimpse of a male.
However, the discovery of the female and more males suggests this species is breeding and has been able to survive where many other frogs have not.
Andrew Gray, a herpetologist from Manchester Museum at the University of Manchester, said: "This has been the highlight of the whole of my career. "Now that we know that both sexes exist in the wild, we should intensify efforts to understand their ecology and further their conservation."
The BBC has been following the team from the University of Manchester and Chester Zoo that is working on amphibian conservation programmes
The BBC video of the frog is the first-known footage of this species.
The 2.5cm-long female, which was released after the discovery, was brown with metallic green speckles and was packed full of eggs.
A difficult task
Finding female frogs is extremely difficult; males make a distinctive call but females are silent for most of the time.
And tracking down this particular species in a great expanse of rainforest was even more difficult - the team had few clues about where the frogs might be, and the search could only take place at night.
The team trekked deep into the forest to a spot close to where the male Isthmohyla rivularis was spotted last year.
The researchers first discovered another male from its soft insect-like call.
The conservationists then trained their torches on the undergrowth, and eventually Luis Obando, head of park maintenance at Monteverde's Tropical Science Center, found the tiny female, which was sitting on a leaf.
Mr Gray told the BBC: "It is hard to describe just how unlikely it was to have discovered a female of this particular species.
"The only time you ever come across a female is by chance - and it is only once in a blue moon that they come down to lay their eggs. You really have to be in the right place at the right time.
"You could come out here every night for a year and not see a thing.
"I really think that this time we have had luck on our side." The discovery of both sexes of this species has given the researchers hope that this population may be surviving against the odds.
Mr Gray explained: "Last year, when we saw the male, we had no idea whether this was one of the last few remaining male specimens of this species.
"But now we have found the female, there is hope that the species may recover.
"It still seems that these critically endangered creatures are on the very brink of extinction - and although we have been intensively searching the streams all through the night, it appears that the density of the population is precarious."
The researchers swabbed the frogs before they were released to see if they are carrying the chytrid fungus - a disease thought to have killed of many other species in this area.
They also used a spectrometer to look at the properties of the frogs' skin to try to find out why this species has survived where others have not.
"It is imperative for the future conservation of Costa Rican amphibians that collaborative efforts harness the skills of biologists, researchers, educators and committed individuals, if we are to save these rare species," Mr Gray added.
Scientific experts from around the world are genuinely predicting that five years from now, all life on Earth could well finish. Some are saying it’ll be humans that set it off. Others believe that a natural phenomenon will be the cause. And the religious folks are saying it’ll be God himself who presses the stop button…
1. Mayan Calendar
The first mob to predict 2012 as the end of the world were the Mayans, a bloodthirsty race that were good at two things:
Building highly accurate astrological equipment out of stone andSacrificing Virgins.
Thousands of years ago they managed to calculate the length of the lunar moon as 329.53020 days, only 34 seconds out. The Mayan calendar predicts that the Earth will end on December 21, 2012. Given that they were pretty close to the mark with the lunar cycle, it’s likely they’ve got the end of the world right as well.
2. Sun Storms
Solar experts from around the world monitoring the sun have made a startling discovery: our sun is in a bit of strife. The energy output of the sun is, like most things in nature, cyclic, and it’s supposed to be in the middle of a period of relative stability. However, recent solar storms have been bombarding the Earth with so much radiation energy, it’s been knocking out power grids and destroying satellites. This activity is predicted to get worse, and calculations suggest it’ll reach its deadly peak sometime in 2012
3. The Atom Smasher
Scientists in Europe have been building the world’s largest particle accelerator. Basically its a 27km tunnel designed to smash atoms together to find out what makes the Universe tick. However, the mega-gadget has caused serious concern, with some scientists suggesting that it’s properly even a bad idea to turn it on in the first place. They’re predicting all manner of deadly results, including mini black holes. So when this machine is fired up for its first serious experiment in 2012, the world could be crushed into a super-dense blob the size of a basketball.
4. The Bible says…
If having scientists warning us about the end of the world isn’t bad enough,religious folks are getting in on the act aswell. Interpretations of the Christian Bible reveal that the date for Armageddon, the final battle between Good an Evil, has been set down for 2012. The I Ching, also known as the Chinese book of Changes, says the same thing, as do various sections of the Hindu teachings.
5. Super Volcano
Yellowstone National Park in the United States is famous for its thermal springs and Old Faithful geyser. The reason for this is simple - it’s sitting on top of the world’s biggest volcano, and geological experts are beginning to get nervous sweats. The Yellowstone volcano has a pattern of erupting every 650,000 years or so, and we’re many years overdue for an explosion that will fill the atmosphere with ash, blocking the sun and plunging the Earth into a frozen winter that could last up to 15,000 years. The pressure under the Yellowstone is building steadily, and geologists have set 2012 as a likely date for the big bang.
6. The Physicists
This one’s case of bog-simple maths mathematics. Physicists at Berekely Uni have been crunching the numbers. and they’ve determined that the Earth is well overdue for a major catastrophic event. Even worse, they’re claiming their calculations prove, that we’re all going to die, very soon - while also saying their prediction comes with a certainty of 99 percent- and 2012 just happens to be the best guess as to when it occurs.
7. Slip-Slop-Slap- BANG!
We all know the Earth is surrounded by a magnetic field that sheilds us from most of the sun’s radiation. What you might not know is that the magnetic poles we call north and south have a nasty habit of swapping places every 750,000 years or so - and right now we’re about 30,000 years overdue. Scientists have noted that the poles are drifting apart roughly 20-30kms each year, much faster than ever before, which points to a pole-shift being right around the corner. While the pole shift is underway, the magnetic field is disrupted and will eventually disappear, sometimes for up to 100 years. The result is enough UV outdoors to crisp your skin in seconds, killing everything it touches.
My opinion:
According to Mayan Calendar the Fourth World will end on 22nd December 2012 and the Fifth world will start the very next date ie. 23rd December 2012. And each world will have exactly 1,366,560 days. The people in the Fifth world will be much more refined and not like people living in the Fourth world. The leaders, people, and every one in this earth during the fourth world will have jealousy, anger and son on. Please understand ending me not all the people in the earth will die ! It’s only a change !
This was said in early 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and even in 2000 what previous person said. God and only God knows when this will end.
