Extinct
These are listed as extinct by the IUCN, and because Wikipedia pulls their classification of an animal from the IUCN usually, they also have it listed as extinct. All the other sites I looked at when researching them had them as simply endangered, not even critically endangered. Most people call them poison-dart or poison-arrow frogs. The thing is, only 3 kinds of frogs were ever observed to be used to poison arrows. So, these may never have been rubbed on an arrow ever, I don't know. People are the main reason for the extinction of these for sure, deforestation, expanding human civilization, and being trafficked in pet trade. Unfortunately, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis which is a fungus that infects a huge amount of frogs (it is thought about 30% of the world's frogs) and can kill just a few in one group, or absolutely all in another. The fungus is possibly the final straw for this frog. They were from a small area of Panama. Most of the pictures I found when researching them are not of this frog. The only picture on Wikipedia even was of it in a jar, preserved. They turn a dark greyish brown when they are preserved, but were all red when alive. They were about an inch long, snout to vent length. I painted it in this pose because all the pictures that I think were actually this frog were not good enough to be able to tell if the pupils are vertical or horizontal. The eyes just looked solid black. Eyes are very important to me. I know, I don't always paint the eyes in a picture, but if they are there I want to be as accurate as possible. So, this pose let me keep from having to worry about that.
Whew, I am typing this while dealing with pain medication. Goodness I hate when I have to take the stronger stuff. I know I've mentioned, I've been in 5 car accidents, none of which were my fault. That combined with scoliosis and fibromyalgia makes me occasionally have a serious problem. My neck starts hurting, it radiates down my arm, into my back, and up to the top of my head. I tried to keep from having to take the pain medication, but hours spent on a heating pad and everything didn't do it for me. I get to where I'm fighting back tears, on the verge of throwing up, and I have a serious pity party. When I give in and take the pain medication, it makes me feel nauseous, weepy, and doesn't really take the pain away just makes it more bearable. I loathe the way I feel with it, but it at least can get me to where I'm able to function a little bit. Right now, I am having a hard time focusing (had to have my husband type the name of the fungus, I can't manage that), am drinking ginger ale hoping it will help me not get any more queasy, and my neck feels more like someone is grabbing the muscles on one side and trying to squeeze them or pull them out of my neck, but it isn't the mind numbing pain. It doesn't leave me really able to add anything funny or all that interesting to my blog posts though, I apologize.
Comments