Hula painted frog

Hula painted frog
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Alytidae
Genus: Latonia
Species:
L. nigriventer
Binomial name
Latonia nigriventer
Synonyms

Discoglossus nigriventer Mendelssohn and Steinitz, 1943

The Hula painted frog (Latonia nigriventer) is a species of frog endemic to the Lake Hula marshes in northern Israel. It is the only living member of the genus Latonia, which is otherwise known from fossils from Europe spanning from the Oligocene through Pleistocene.[2] The Hula painted frog was thought to be extinct as a result of habitat destruction during the 1950s until the species was rediscovered in 2011.

The draining of Lake Hula and its marshes in the 1950s was thought to have caused the extinction of this frog, along with the cyprinid fish Mirogrex hulensis and cichlid fish Tristramella intermedia.[3] Only five individuals had been found prior to the draining of the lake. Environmental improvements in the Hula reserve have been cited as a possible reason for the frog's reemergence.[4]

  1. ^ IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2021). "Latonia nigriventer". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T6715A177694004. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T6715A177694004.en. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Amphibian Species of the World: An Online Reference (Version 6)". Reference Reviews. 28 (6): 32. 2014-08-12. doi:10.1108/rr-05-2014-0125. ISSN 0950-4125.
  3. ^ "Hula Painted Frog Bounces Back From Extinction". Wired UK. 2011-11-21. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference haaretz found once again was invoked but never defined (see the help page).