Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Wednesday 8 February

The cave squeaker returns:

Rare frog seen after decades

In this handout photo from the University of Bergen taken on
Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017, researchers from the university begin
dissecting a two-ton whale that was beached in shallow waters
off Sotra, an island west of Bergen, some 200 kilometers (125
miles) northwest of Oslo.
Associated Press
Zoologists say dead whale in

Norway full of plastic bags

COPENHAGEN, Denmark its intestine “had no food,
(AP) — Norwegian zoolo- only some remnants of a
gists have found about 30 squid’s head in addition to
plastic bags and other plas- a thin fat layer.”
tic waste in the stomach of Lislevand says the non-
a beaked whale that had biodegradable waste was In this Dec. 3, 2016 photo, a man holds a rare frog that hasn’t been seen in decades, in Bulawayo,
beached on a southwest- “probably the reason” why Zimbabwe.
ern Norway coast. the male whale repeatedly Associated Press
The visibly sick, 2-ton beached last Saturday in
goose-beaked whale was shallow waters off Sotra, an
euthanized, Terje Lislevand island west of Bergen, 200 FARAI MUTSAKA cies tagged them as criti- another two males and a
of Bergen University said Fri- kilometers (125 miles) north- Associated Press cally endangered and pos- female. Hopkins said he
day. west of the capital of Oslo. HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — sibly extinct. been looking for the cave
“The (whale’s) stomach It size — about 6 meters (20 The cave squeaker is back. Robert Hopkins, a research- squeaker for eight years.
was full of plastic,” Lisl- feet) — showed the whale Researchers in Zimbabwe er at the natural history mu- “I was not with my team
evand said, adding that was an adult.q say they have found a rare seum in Bulawayo city, said when they were found. I
frog that hasn’t been seen his team had found four was at the base.
in decades. specimens of the frog in its I can no longer climb the
The Artholeptis troglodytes, known habitat of Chimani- mountains as I am 75,”
also known as the “cave mani, a mountainous area Hopkins said.
squeaker” because of its in the east. Researchers plan to breed
preferred habitat, was dis- The team found the first more frogs with the ones
covered in 1962 but there male specimen on Dec. taken from their habitat
were no reported sightings 3 after following an ani- and then reintroduce them
of the elusive amphibian mal call that they had to the mountain summit.
after that. An international not heard before, Hopkins The frog is tiny and light
“red list” of threatened spe- said. They then discovered brown with dark spots.q