Australia’s mountain mist frog declared extinct as red list reveals biodiversity crisis

Experts describe it as a ‘beautiful endemic rainforest species’, one of several that have not been seen for decades

• Marine life hit by ‘perfect storm’ as red list reveals species close to extinction
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The mountain mist frog, a species once found across two-thirds of Australia’s wet tropics, has been declared extinct on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list.

The last recorded sighting of the frog, most commonly found near Thornton Peak, north-west of Cairns, was in April 1990. It is believed to have been wiped out by chytrid fungus, a disease that attacks the skin and has destroyed amphibian populations across the globe, though a reduction in its natural habitat due to rising temperatures driven by greenhouse gas emissions may have also played a role.

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