What are
the amphibians?
We currently know of more than 8,000 amphibian species around the world. They are little animals with delicate skin, and they have inhabited the planets aquatic and terrestrial environments for 370 million years behind (long before the human).
Its representatives are divided into three groups: salamanders, caecilians, and toads and frogs. Salamanders and caecilians are not present in Chile.
Unfortunately, amphibians have conservation problems worldwide and need your help: it is estimated that this class of animals it is extinguishing 211 times faster than in the past. Chile is no exception to this situation.
Amazing amphibians
The amphibians of Chile are unique, with an evolutionary history characterized by an ancient geographic isolation from the rest of the world, which has led to the emergence of amazing adaptations.
In Chile lives the only species of amphibian that raises its tadpoles in the vocal sac: Darwins Frog (Rhinoderma darwinii):
Click to see how the tadpoles move inside the male's vocal sac.
We have very old species from an evolutionary point of view, which are considered as living fossils. An example of these species is Southern Toad (Telmatobufo australis), the one with tadpoles with suction cups to adhere to the torrential rivers where they live:
In the north of Chile there are also aquatic frogs that sometimes live in very small portions of rivers (a few hundred meters),at great heights and in the driest desert in the world. An example is the loa frog (Telmatobius dankoi):
There are toads adapted to theinclement mountain life of the Andes mountain range, As thePrickly Toad(Rhinella spinulosa):
And in Chile also lives one of the worlds largest frogs: the Chilean Frog (Calyptocephalella gayi). This highly aquatic species is endemic (only found in our country):
The very high number of unique amphibians, together with the great number of threats that afflict them, contrasts with our still rudimentary knowledge about Chilean amphibians and insists once again how imperative it is our duty to protect this incredible source of native biodiversity.
Click to see the talk 'Amphibians of Chile and the case of the unique Darwin's Frog'.
Importance in the ecosystem
In Chile, amphibians are animals that can occupy different types of environments and his ecological importance is multiple:
These little animals are recognized as natural controllers of pests that can be annoying to humans, such as some flying insects.
​They represent a large percentage of the biomass (amount of living matter present in an environment) in some ecosystems.
Amphibians can occupy aquatic environments (pools, rivers or wetlands) as part of their life cycle.
also terrestrial environments (prairies and forests). In this way, they transfer matter and energy between these two different
ecosystems.
​Finally, similar to canaries in coal mines, amphibians are indicators of environmental health. In some rural areas of central and southern Chile, it was popularly believed that Chilean frogs cleaned the water from wells and for this reason they were deliberately left in waterwheels and other
constructions to store drinking water.
​They represent an important source of food for other animals and therefore play a fundamental role in the food chains of different environments.
Cultural importance
The cultural importance of amphibians in Chile goes back to the prehispanic peoples who inhabited this territory. For example, him Pitren Complex had elaborate amphibian shaped pots, some of these may have been made as far back as 2,000 years ago. Some of these vessels found in archaeological sites were painted with designs that are easily attributable to some Chilean amphibians, such as the Darwin's Frog and the Beautiful Toad (telmatobufo venustus) (Figure). The use of amphibian forms in sculpture and pottery appears to be common throughout various pre-Columbian cultures. The Mapuche people, for their part, have words to name some species of frogs, such as the arumko (Rulo Toad) and the pakarwa (Chilean Frog). There are also reports that this people used some kind of amphibian to produce a powerful poison through a process used to concentrate a toxic substance that is naturally found in low concentrations in the skin of some native amphibians. Incredibly, the amphibian species involved and the process used for the concentration of this toxic compound remain totally unknown to modern science. Even today amphibians are very present in our popular culture, for example, in children's games or in television series with characters such as Kermit the frog. Charismatic species, such as the Darwin Frog, are used as inspiration for handicrafts and attract tourists curious to meet this incredible creature. Thus, amphibians are part of our cultural heritage from millennia to the present.
Figure. Vessels from the Pitrén complex representing amphibian species native to Chile.A) Beautiful Toad (telmatobufo venustus).B.) Bullock's toad (Telmatobufo bullocki).C) Darwin's frog (Rhinoderma darwinii).D) Four-Eyed Toad (Pleurodema thaul). Image extracted from Pérez et al. (2018).
your threats
Global evidence suggests that amphibians are the group of vertebrates (animals with bones) most threatened on the planet, surpassing mammals and birds in this sad ranking. For several decades, especially since the 1980s, herpetologists (students of amphibians and reptiles) began to notice that various amphibian populations were declining alarmingly fast in various parts of the globe:
This is not surprising, because these little animals are very sensitive to environmental changes, and the world is changing worryingly fast.
The wetlands are places where live a large number of amphibians. In the world in general, and in Chile in particular, there has been a public policy that has promoted and financed the contamination and destruction of wetlands (such as the drying of wetlands or extraction of pom-poms) to expand urban development. This has led to declining amphibian populations globally. In Chile, for example, the Chilean Large Frog commonly inhabits this type of environment.
The loss and degradation of native forest product of clearcutting, selective logging (for example, firewood extraction), grazing by domestic livestock and fires within the forest, it is probably a major threat to amphibians, especially for the Darwins Frog and other amphibians from southern Chile that live in the forest.
Another potential and important threat to amphibians is the climate change produced by us humans. For example, using statistical and climate models, David Uribe (member of the NGO Ranita de Darwin) and collaborators found that the current climate has produced a decrease in the area where the Darwins Frog can live, which would partly explain the population decline observed in this species. David also performed predictive modeling of the effect of projected climate change on the potential distribution of the Darwins Frog in the future. These predictions suggest that as Chile becomes hotter and drier, and as extreme events increase in frequency, the distribution of the species will decrease considerably in area. Large portions of the Andes mountains, where the Darwins Frog is frequently found today, would become climatically unsuitable for its survival, leading to its disappearance from these locations.
What to do if we find an amphibian?
Do not touch amphibians as they have very delicate skin.
and permeable where they exchange water, electrolytes and air with the environment. In addition, amphibian skin has a natural microbial community that protects it from pathogens. This implies that amphibians can absorb chemicals (such as creams, perfumes, tobacco, sunscreen, insect repellants, etc.) that people may have on their skin. This situation is very harmful for the animal.
In addition, it is legally prohibited for people to handle wildlife animals, including amphibians, since it is prohibited by the Hunting Law and its regulations. Researchers who take amphibians must request a special permit issued by the Chilean Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG), adequately justifying the handling of these animals and complying with animal welfare and biosafety measures.
In any amphibian rescue emergency (for example, if you see an injured frog in the wild), SAG or an authorized rescue center should be called.
To download the E-book Darwin's Frog and other incredible Chilean amphibians, click here
To download the book Darwin's Frog Conservation Strategy,click here