Discoglossus nigriventer

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

Bibliography

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AMPHIBIA	ANURA	ALYTIDAE

Scientific Name:

Discoglossus nigriventer

Species Authority:

Mendelssohn and Steinitz, 1943

Common Name/s:

English

–

Hula Painted Frog

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Extinct ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2004

Assessor/s:

Theodore Papenfuss, Ahmad Disi, Steven Anderson, Sergius Kuzmin, Avital Gasith, Riyad A. Sadek, Yehudah Werner

Reviewer/s:

Global Amphibian Assessment Coordinating Team (Simon Stuart, Janice Chanson and Neil Cox)

Justification:
Listed as Extinct because extensive searches over the almost 50 years have failed to locate this species.

History:

1996	–	Extinct
1994	–	Extinct? (Groombridge 1994)
1990	–	Extinct? (IUCN 1990)
1988	–	Extinct? (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1988)
1986	–	Endangered (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1986)

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species was recorded from only two localities on the eastern shore of Lake Huleh, Israel. It seems possible that it could once also be found in adjacent parts of Syrian Arab Republic. The map indicates the possible former range.
Countries:	Regionally extinct: Israel
Range Map:	(click map to view full version)

Population [top]

Population:	It is known only from a few specimens and is now believed to be extinct. The single adult collected in 1955 represents the last confirmed record of this species.

Population:

It is known only from a few specimens and is now believed to be extinct. The single adult collected in 1955 represents the last confirmed record of this species.

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	The species was reported to occur in marginal freshwater habitats within the Lake Huleh wetlands of Israel. It was presumably a larval developing species.
Systems:	Terrestrial; Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	The Huleh marshes were drained in the 1950s in an attempt to both eradicate malaria and to make the land suitable for agricultural use. Of the original 6,000ha of marshland, only 300ha remained after drainage. While this remaining wetland was set aside as a nature reserve in 1964 (at a considerable distance from the recorded localities of Discoglossus nigriventer) it seems that this action was too late to save the species.

Major Threat(s):

The Huleh marshes were drained in the 1950s in an attempt to both eradicate malaria and to make the land suitable for agricultural use. Of the original 6,000ha of marshland, only 300ha remained after drainage. While this remaining wetland was set aside as a nature reserve in 1964 (at a considerable distance from the recorded localities of Discoglossus nigriventer) it seems that this action was too late to save the species.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	The species remains protected by national legislation in Israel. Surveys of potentially suitable habitat in the Aammiq marsh of nearby south-east Lebanon in April 2004 and April 2005 failed to locate any animals (Tron 2005). The Aammiq marsh is the only remaining wetland fragment of the Bekaa valley, which was once a major wetland of the Middle East but has been drastically reduced by conversion to agricultural use and urban development.

Conservation Actions:

The species remains protected by national legislation in Israel. Surveys of potentially suitable habitat in the Aammiq marsh of nearby south-east Lebanon in April 2004 and April 2005 failed to locate any animals (Tron 2005). The Aammiq marsh is the only remaining wetland fragment of the Bekaa valley, which was once a major wetland of the Middle East but has been drastically reduced by conversion to agricultural use and urban development.

Bibliography [top]

	Fromhage, L., Vences, M. and Veith, M. 2004. Testing alternative vicariance scenarios in Western Mediterranean discoglossid frogs. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution: 308-322. Honegger, R.E. 1981. List of amphibians and reptiles either known or thought to have become extinct since 1600. Biological Conservation: 141-158. Honegger, R.E. (compiler). 1979. IUCN Red Data Book. Volume 3: Amphibia. and Reptilia. IUCN, Morges, Switzerland. IUCN. 2004. 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 23 November 2004. Mendelssohn, H. and Steinitz, H. 1943. A new frog from Palestine. Copeia: 231-233. Steinitz, H. 1955. Occurrence of Discoglossus nigriventer in Israel. Bulletin of the Research Council of Israel: 192-193. Tron, F. 2005. Second Discoglossus nigriventer rediscovery expedition in the central Bekaa Valley, Lebanon: 17-28 April 2005 Expedition Report. A Rocha.

Fromhage, L., Vences, M. and Veith, M. 2004. Testing alternative vicariance scenarios in Western Mediterranean discoglossid frogs. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution: 308-322.

Honegger, R.E. 1981. List of amphibians and reptiles either known or thought to have become extinct since 1600. Biological Conservation: 141-158.

Honegger, R.E. (compiler). 1979. IUCN Red Data Book. Volume 3: Amphibia. and Reptilia. IUCN, Morges, Switzerland.

IUCN. 2004. 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 23 November 2004.

Mendelssohn, H. and Steinitz, H. 1943. A new frog from Palestine. Copeia: 231-233.

Steinitz, H. 1955. Occurrence of Discoglossus nigriventer in Israel. Bulletin of the Research Council of Israel: 192-193.

Tron, F. 2005. Second Discoglossus nigriventer rediscovery expedition in the central Bekaa Valley, Lebanon: 17-28 April 2005 Expedition Report. A Rocha.

Citation:	Theodore Papenfuss, Ahmad Disi, Steven Anderson, Sergius Kuzmin, Avital Gasith, Riyad A. Sadek, Yehudah Werner 2004. Discoglossus nigriventer. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 10 February 2012.
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