The mystery of the disappearing frogs

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 20 January 2020

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How scientists discovered that a deadly fungus was killing off amphibians around the world. The chytrid fungus has caused the greatest loss of biodiversity in our time. Alejandra Martins spoke to biologist Dr. Karen Lips, one of the key scientists who unravelled the mystery of the extinctions. Photo: dead frog infected with chytrid fungus. Credit: Forrest Brem

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
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1:03.4	Listen on BBC Sounds. You're listening to the Witness History Podcast from the BBC World Service.
1:15.0	I'm Alejandra Martins.
1:17.0	Today we go back to 1998,
1:20.0	when scientists finally solved a devastating mystery and identified what was causing the
1:25.2	disappearance of dozens and dozens of species of frogs and other amphibians around the
1:30.2	world. This is the greatest loss of biodiversity from a disease. So you sort of get a double whammy.
1:37.7	It's the worst disease and it's also one of the worst invasive species. Biodes Karen Lips is a professor at the University of Maryland in the US
	...

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