THE DOMINICA FROG FALLS TO EXTINCTION.
The Leptodactylus fallax, commonly known as the mountain chicken or giant ditch frog, is a critically endangered species of frog that is native to the Caribbean islands of Dominica and Montserrat. The mountain chicken (Leptodactylus fallax) is not a chicken. It is a frog. Officially named the Giant Ditch Frog and locally known as a mountain chicken possibly because of its large drumstick like legs which were once eaten for food. One of the largest frogs in the world The mountain chicken is one of the largest frogs in the world and can weigh over 40 times as much as a European common frog, reaching up to 1kg in size. They eat a variety of animals, including insects, snakes, small mammals, and even other frogs. These frogs currently occur in Dominica and Montserrat but were once far more widespread. An epidemic of the fungal disease amphibian chytridiomycosis almost wiped-out mountain chickens forever. Since one of the pathogens that causes the disease arrived in Dominica in 2002 ...