First Time For Everything

A critically endangered frog has experienced its first-ever radio telemtery treatment.

We can now understand its relation to other organisms, habitats, landscapes, activity patterns and location data.

The Valcheta Frog, Pleurodema somuncurense, is a slimy critter that is endemic to the Somuncurá plateau, Río Negro Province, Argentina. They are small in size at about 4.4cm inches for females and 3.5cm for males from snout to cloaca (rear end). Almost entirely aquatic creatures that stays in shallow waters to breed and feed.

Valcheta Frog in-situ

6 lucky frogs were fitted up a harness with transmitters. Transmitters weighed less than 10 percent of the frog's body.

Harnesses were attached to the skinniest part of the frog's body so it would provide the least discomfort and stop excess friction.

They were kept in simulated habitats before being released and tracked for 10 days as per battery life.

2 individuals dropped out on the third day of the experiment: one found dead in a stream and another had abandoned their transmitter without a trace.

The aquatic nature, mortality rate, small population and behaviour, influenced by telemetry, challenged this study and posed a question over the results.

An adult Valcheta frog Pleurodema somuncurense with a telemetry harness attached

Whether it is humane to attach these devices to a frog may provide warnings for future studies.

However, the effectiveness of this method seems to be significant enough to show that we can monitor habitats and movement channels to protect this species for years to come.