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Scientists fighting to protect the Santa Fe “gyalis”
=Interesting Creature=
By: Shervin Belgrave
The Santa Fe frog
Kaieteur News – Nothing beats the Santa Fe Frog when comes to carrying home a female after a night out with the guys. Sadly this “sweet boy” creature is under threat of becoming extinct and scientists are fighting to protect its habitat and save its life
The Sante Fe is a species of Leopard-print frog (brightly coloured frogs with leopard like spots) endemic to the world’s driest forests, known as the Dry Chaco. The Dry Chaco is located in South America and spans across three countries, Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay.
According to researchers, the Santa Fe frog was first discovered about a century ago but very little is known about its behaviour.
However, recently some scientists decided to study the creature. A BBC science article written by Environment Correspondent, Helen Briggs disclosed that Argentinian Conservation scientists braved some 50 degrees heat to track down the Santa Fe frog so that they can learn how it reproduces.
After setting up camera traps in the Dry Chacos, the researchers learnt that male Santa Fe frogs have a unique way of finding mating partners.
The BBC article detailed that although these creatures live in underground burrows underground, males would emerge at nightfall to advertise their presence. They would call loudly from ponds, streams or a swamp to let females know that they were liming.
Females would be attracted to calls and hop over to check out the guys on display. Once a male realizes that a female is interested in him, he wastes no time in shooting his shot and taking her home to make his babies.
The article stated, “The team found the males emerged at nightfall to advertise their presence, and then hopped back down their burrows with interested females”.
Scientists spent hours digging in their burrows and found evidence of eggs and tadpoles for the first time in the history of science.
Indeed the Santa Fe is true “gyalis (Caribbean slang for sweet boy)” when it comes to scoring chicks after a night out.
According to the scientists learning of its mating pattern is the first step towards protecting is creature from going extinct.
The Santa Fe frog is under threat due to its, habitat, The Dry Chaco being cut down.
Scientists are presently liaising with local community leaders, hunters and farmers to learn more about the frog and how to better protect it.
Although the frog is a “sweet man”, it can also be deadly so if you spot one in the wild beware because it is highly toxic.
Source of information: (https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66001590)
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