Here’s your chance to nerd out to Madagascar’s frogs

Madagascar really is the frog capital of the world.

“It has more than 350 frog species, giving it possibly the highest frog diversity per square kilometre of any country in the world,” explains evolutionary biologist And many of these frogs are very small.”

Like this Mini mum, which sits easily on a thumbnail.

Scherz, the Munich-based herpetologist, has been dazzling people with more than those miniature frogs.

He posted an image of more than 100 frogs that call Madagascar home.

And half of those haven’t been properly identified by science.

To give people an idea of how few frogs are unnamed and not fully understood, Scherz did this.

Frog aficionados around the world were captivated by the variety.

Many were left essentially choosing their spirit animals.

Now Hersch is hoping the hop in interest will translate into action to help conserve the natural habitats of the country.

Deforesting is destroying habitats. Overhunting is taxing on various species. So is the illegal wildlife trade.

He’s asking people sign a petition to encourage officials to preserve what’s left in Madagascar.

“Madagascar’s forests are dwindling at an astounding rate,” Scherz writes. “It is one of the poorest countries, and with growing populations, the forests bear the brunt of human needs. Conservation work in the country is intensifying, but there is still a long way to go before we can consider species like Mini mum and Mini scule safe for the foreseeable future.”

Photos @MarkScherz/Twitter

About the author

Recovering newspaper reporter.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.