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What's Killing All Those 'Scrotum' Frogs?

Thousands of the frogs, sometimes blended into juice, are at risk of extinction due to poaching and pollution.
Scrotum frogs. Image: Motherboard

Already having to live with the nickname of "scrotum frog," a critically endangered amphibian was dealt another blow this week as more than 10,000 of the species were found dead in Peru.

So called because of its wrinkly folds of skin, the Titicaca water frog is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which reports the species numbers are plummeting and it's at risk of extinction in the wild. The frog lives in the famous Lake Titicaca and surrounding waters that span across the border of Peru and Bolivia, with its flaps of skin enabling it to absorb oxygen straight out the water, instead of popping up to the surface to breathe.

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But last week, Peru's forestry service announced its researchers had discovered at least 10,000 of the species dead in the Coata river, a tributary of Lake Titicaca. The government is currently testing the waters to see what caused the mass death, but pollution is a suspected culprit. Raw sewage and heavy metals from nearby mining facilities have been contaminating the local water systems, according to The Guardian. The dead frogs were discovered by Maruja Inquilla Sucasaca, a representative of the Committee to Combat Pollution on the River Coata.

The Titicaca River Frog is also threatened by poaching: the frogs are used in a popular juice recipe around Peru that's purported to cure impotence, as well as provide other health benefits. Though there's some scientific literature that shows maca root, one of the other ingredients in the frog juice, has some benefits, there's no evidence the frogs provide much more than some extra protein.

Between the pollution and poaching, the scrotum frog's numbers have been plummeting. Although captive breeding programs are successfully preserving the species in zoos, they could become extinct in the wild if conservation efforts—which include educational outreach in Peru—aren't successful.

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