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Thursday, April 1, 2010
Last year my wife, Grace, and I traveled to the Upper Peninsula on June 22-24. When we crossed the Peshekee River Bridge at the McCormick Tract and took the trail north searching for Dwarf Bilberry, we stopped at Baraga Creek. Of course the tributary needed to be traversed but both Grace and I were "pooped." After the 5 mile trip in the searing heat approaching 90 degrees, we decided to take a break. That's when I took a picture of this cheery little fellow. Can you identify this frog?Apparently you have very good eyes. I don't know very much about frogs but I did a little research on the Internet and came across an article in the Detroit News which explains what a fantastic find you found. I'm glad you had your camera!
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'Extinct' frog species found again after 36 years
Kermit Green / The Detroit News
Kermit Green / The Detroit News
Ypsilanti -The apparent decline of frogs, including extinctions of species and local populations, has attracted increased international and national concern.
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That's why there was a major hoopla on March 32, 2009 when Abe Prefwell, an amateur naturalist from Joy Oaks, Michigan, literally stumbled over an Ani Frog while hiking just North of the Oakland Land Conservancy. The Ani Frog, found only in the U.P, was thought to be extinct. Last reported in 1974 by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in Marquette, Michigan, the rediscovery was announced to the world in a Washington D.C. press conference on April 1, 2010 and documented in an article in the respected journal Science.
This was after a 12 month secretive and intensive research effort conducted by the renowned Central Michigan University Herpetology Laboratory. Among the reasons the rediscovery of the Ani Frog was kept secret for more than a year was concern that a large influx of herp watchers and the curiosity seekers would interfere with the frog's activities, possibly driving it into extinction, and disrupt the scientific research effort. The delay in announcing the find also allowed for the establishment of conservation measures to protect the frogs from many dangers, including poaching, and for the development of plans to accommodate visitors coming to U.P. in hopes of seeing the frog. "To have found this species that hasn't been seen for over 30 years and that professional researchers thought was extinct is great," Prefwell said. "It gives me a lot of hope that a lot of other species that we thought were extinct aren't actually extinct - we just haven't stumbled over the right rock yet."
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