In one Colombian mountain range, the frogs never fell silent — and scientists just learned why

Amphibians are the most threatened group of backboned animals on Earth — a killer fungus has emptied whole forests in Central and South America. Yet in Colombia's Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the frogs still sing. Researchers from Ghent University and Trier University screened more than 2,000 frogs, toads and salamanders there and found no trace of the fungus, even though a highly dangerous variant sits only about 20 kilometres (about 12 miles) away. Warm, dry lowlands around the isolated range seem to work as a natural moat. The range holds at least 48 amphibian species, 25 found nowhere else on the planet — and because scientists caught this before the fungus arrived, strict biosecurity and continued monitoring can now protect a community that is still whole.

SDG 15 · Life on land