Hula painted frog
Israeli Disc- ( Discoglossus nigriventer )
The Israeli Disc- ( Discoglossus nigriventer or newly Latonia nigriventer ), also sometimes referred to as Palestinian Disc-, Hulesee - Disc- or Disc- Schwarzbäuchiger, a Froschlurch from the family of Disc- is ( Discoglossidae ). However, the systematic classification of the genus Discoglossus applies a result of new genomic and morphological studies today as questionable (see section systematics). The species was discovered in 1940 and 1943 scientifically described. She was 56 years to be extinct before it was rediscovered in November 2011.
Features
The Israeli Disc- reaches a head-body length of about five to eight centimeters. At the top he is colored ocher and rust. On the sides of the color changes into a dark olive gray and towards the belly is gray black. Similar to other Actual Disc- he also has large, dark, bright -lined spots on the back and a round tongue. The dark underside is speckled with white dots. Compared to the other species of the genus Discoglossus the Israeli Disc- has a larger inner pupillary distance, longer front legs and a less protruding snout.
Habitat and behavior
Habitat of the species are the marshes and wetlands along the Hulesees in Israel. Another population was suspected in the nearby Golan Heights in Syria; this was never confirmed. Little is known about the lifestyle. We know of a caught frog that he was nocturnal. During the day he dug into the sand or peered out with his head out of the water.
Status
Only five specimens were spotted ( two females, one juvenile and two tadpoles ) between the discovery and the presumed extinction of the species by 1955. As part of the intensive agricultural use of the Huleebene the marsh and wetlands 1951-1958 were drained down to small remnants. This led to the destruction of the habitat and thus the extinction of this species. It was officially " extinct " by the IUCN in the category out in 1996.
In 2000, scientists reported a Lebanese conservation organization " A Rocha Lebanon ," he had seen in the Aammiq Marsh, a nature reserve south of the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, a frog, to which the description of Discoglossus were true nigriventer. However, two Lebanese -French- British expeditions in 2004 and 2005 brought no result on the further existence of the Israeli Scheibenzünglers.
On 15 November 2011, an employee of the Israel Parks and Nature Authority ( IPAS, Israel Park and Nature Authority) discovered a female specimen in the Hula Nature Park. On 29 November 2011, another copy was discovered. There are now plans to renature parts of Huleebene again and the original marsh habitat restore to ensure the survival of the Israeli Scheibenzünglers.
System
The Israeli Disc- Discoglossus the genus is assigned, which occurs mainly in countries and islands in the Western Mediterranean Europe and North West Africa. However, recent studies on genetic and morphological bases come to the conclusion that the Israeli Disc- very different from the other Discoglossus species and is related rather close to the extinct since about a million years frog genus Latonia, by the Oligocene to the Pleistocene in Europe occurred. It now appears, therefore, that these supposedly over 50 years ago extinct frog has not only survived, it also turns out to be the surprise of the researchers as a living fossil. The Israeli Disc- is now to obtain the systematic name Latonia nigriventer therefore.