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Dr. Rabb continued

Dr. George Rabb visits with On September 26, 2016, a frog died in Atlanta. That’s not
Toughie—whose species was ordinarily news, but he was a special frog, the last of his
named for the former director kind. He was called Toughie, and he was the final known member
and his wife, Mary—at the of his species, a Rabbs’ fringe-limbed treefrog. Toughie and his
Atlanta Botanical Garden. lost species were named after Brookfield Zoo’s former director,
Photo courtesy of Lara Thrush Long Dr. George B. Rabb, and his wife, Mary, in tribute to their
unflagging efforts in amphibian conservation.
George (left) inspects a model of Tropic World before its
construction in the early 1980s. Toughie was a rock star. In 2013, he was featured in National
Geographic magazine as part of Joel Sartore’s Photo Ark project.
Two years later, to promote a film called Racing Extinction,
Toughie’s image was projected, mammoth-size, onto the side of
the Vatican, as well as the United Nations building in New York
City. Toughie was a frog that mattered.

What makes the story even more tragic is that Toughie
shouldn’t have been the last of his species: he and his mate at the
Atlanta Botanical Garden sired tadpoles. But what was unknown
about Rabbs’ fringe-limbed treefrogs at that time was that a male
is critical to survival of his offspring. Tadpoles of the species
receive nourishment by nibbling on skin cells on their fathers’
back. Toughie could have raised his young, he just wasn’t given
the opportunity. It was human lack of knowledge that led to the
species’ extinction.

Toughie was unable to save his species, but he did sound a
clarion call for attention to issues that are causing extinction
around the world. His story touched hearts and, hopefully, is
spurring people to care for the little-known critters that are
disappearing at a rapid pace.

George was familiar with all of the animals at Brookfield Zoo. Mary Rabb joined her husband in observing wolves, and
the two made many discoveries about pack behavior.
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