New Light on Toughie and Amphibians
Originally posted on October 7, 2023 at www.frogsongbook.com
Amphibians remain the most endangered vertebrates globally and we can help them. In the following tribute to Toughie, the last known living Rabbs’ fringe-limbed treefrog (Ecnomiohyla rabborum), co-founder of The Amphibian Foundation Mark Mandica reflects on his son Anthony’s relationship with Toughie and other Panamanian frogs rescued in 2005, the matter of naming individual animals in conservation research collections, and an encouraging wave of “new light” on Toughie’s life and the global amphibian health crisis.
This new light on Toughie and amphibians includes three children’s books published in 2023 and the second Global Amphibian Assessment—GAA2. The Assessment reports that the global status of amphibians continues to deteriorate and climate change has driven slightly greater status deterioration than habitat loss since 2004 (39% and 37% respectively), though habitat loss is still the biggest danger affecting 93% of threatened amphibian species. Importantly, GAA2 also reveals that improved habitat protection and management has reduced the extinction risk of at least 63 amphibian species. Conservation simply works and works best when local humans are engaged in planning and implementation.
New Light on Toughie
by Mark Mandica September 26, 2023
reposted with permission
Before we founded The Amphibian Foundation (AF), I worked at Atlanta Botanical Garden (ABG) with a group of particularly endangered frogs from central Panama. These Panamanian frogs wound up at ABG as part of a 2005 rescue mission coordinated between ABG, Zoo Atlanta, and importantly, the EVACC Foundation (in Panama), which continues to work to save amphibians in the region.
By the time I arrived at ABG in 2009, these Panamanian frogs had been established for years. Experts at ABG had already done much of the heavy lifting in terms of identifying key natural history cues that these individual species needed in order to thrive ... to the very important point of producing healthy baby offspring. Reports from collaborators in the field (Lips, et al) in 2009 were estimating that region of Panama had lost as many as 85% of the amphibians for certain species and the forest had become quiet at night. It used to echo with the calls of dozens of species of concupiscent frogs.
Some of you know, one of the frogs in that collection at ABG was the frog who would come to be known as Toughie — the last known Rabbs' fringe-limbed treefrog. Toughie died on September 26, 2016 and the species is now believed to be extinct.
It's profoundly sad, even as I write this years later, although this year I can also report strong echoes of Toughie's story resonating with people, and our growing amphibian loving community. Over the past several months, two children's books have been written about Toughie, and there's a third one—Frog Song—on the way!
Frog Song, First Edition Hardcover, 96 pages, 5.5 x 7 inches, 2023. Cover illustration by Bonnie Gordon-Lucas of Robin D. Moore's signature photo of an Amazon gladiator frog.
Frog Song’s author Megan Hollingsworth and I have corresponded quite a bit over this book. Frog Song is available here. Megan's book, which is illustrated by Bonnie Gordon-Lucas, touched me deeply as it connected with one of the most personal aspects of my seven-year tenure of caring for Toughie. I am grateful to Megan, who gave me an opportunity to think about this ...
Each week of those seven years started with a Sunday, and each of those Sundays I brought my son, Anthony, with me to work. From the time he was one year old, Anthony was helping me in the labs and in the frogPOD (where the Panamanian frogs lived). Sure, Anthony mostly just liked to spray water all over the place at the time. But luckily, frogs really like that.
Anthony began to get to know the frogs and was able to help with some of the more basic tasks. This became our Sunday ritual and the entire Atlanta Botanical Garden felt like our own—and it kind of was. Very few staff members were at ABG on Sundays, all the behind the scenes areas were dark, and we could care for the amphibians, give a public 'Frog Feeding' talk together at 11 am, and then look for feral frogs in the conservatory (there are a lot of them).
Now back to Toughie:
In 2012, the second to last Rabbs' fringe-limbed treefrog passed away at Zoo Atlanta, leaving the Rabbs’ treefrog at ABG as the last known remaining individual of the species. When the Rabbs' treefrog died at the zoo, a lot of attention came to ABG. Of course, those calls were differed to me. My anxiety was through the roof, and the futility of the situation was a leading cause. No one could think of anything that would meaningfully advance the recovery of this species, and so all we could do for him was make sure the Rabbs’ treefrog had clean water and all the crickets he wanted.
Joel Sartore with National Geographic was one of the people who reached out to me at that time. He wanted to photograph the species as part of the Photo Ark—where Joel captures compelling pictures of declining species, and in some cases like the Rabbs' treefrog, can preserve their likeness once the species has passed into extinction. Important work, but incredible bleak.
The editors at National Geographic were writing a piece to accompany Joel's image in the upcoming edition of the magazine, and they kept pushing me to give them a name to include with the frog, suggesting their readers would connect better to the story if the frog had a name. At ABG, we very purposefully did not name the individual animals in the conservation research collection.
Now back to Anthony:
Once the Rabbs’ fringe-limbed treefrog died at the zoo [in 2012], and Anthony found out that ours was likely the last one on Earth, he started calling our frog 'Toughie'. "He was tough, he's the last one."
Illustration by Bonnie Gordon-Lucas based on photo of Toughie and Anthony.
On the third 'pressure campaign' from Nat Geo to give them a name to use for their article, I mentioned that my son calls the frog Toughie. To which, they immediately responded "OK, how does he spell that?" and I said "He's three-years-old, he doesn't spell anything." So, technically Anthony gets credit for the name, but I guess Nat Geo gets the credit for not going with 'Tuffy'.
At the time, I was extremely proud that my son had made this small, meaningful contribution to the mission of amphibian conservation. And while I am still extremely proud of him for that and many things since, whenever I write about this topic, it always brings tears to my eyes.
Amphibian Foundation offers online learning opportunities for students ages 3-18.
Mark Mandica’s 2023 tribute to Toughie is republished on the Frog Song Blog with permission. Mark’s original Amphibian Foundation post includes a picture of Anthony and Toughie at ABG that will be featured in the upcoming textbook: Strategies for Success in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, Walls, et al 2024. Please consider becoming an AF member and joining the Foundation on Patreon to support their vital work. Also, Mark notes that staff at ABG have since returned the other frogs in the Panamanian collection and their babies to EVACC in Panama.
Many thanks to Mark Mandica for his prompt and thorough answers to several rounds of questions about amphibians and Toughie, and to Mark and Crystal Mandica for providing key technical edits to the Frog Song manuscript. Many thanks also to biologists Karen Lips and Lee Berger for their time and input. As to all who make my witness possible through their life's work. It's a gift to be trusted with this story.
© 2023 Megan Hollingsworth | All Rights Reserved