{
  "id": 19403722,
  "title": "Investigation: Fungus may have killed Atlantic Forest amphibians in the 1970s and ’80s",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/10/investigation-fungus-may-have-killed-atlantic-forest-amphibians-in",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-10T21:24:07.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Mongabay",
    "slug": "mongabay",
    "url": "https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/investigation-fungus-may-have-killed-atlantic-forest-amphibians-in-the-1979s-and-80s/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Between the 1970s and 1980s, frogs in Brazil's Atlantic Forest experienced a mysterious decline in population. Various hypotheses were proposed, including extreme cold spells and acid rain. After an exhaustive investigation, a team of researchers from the U.S. and Brazil believe they have finally identified the cause of this decimation: the fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). This pathogen induces a lethal skin disease known as chytrid in amphibians. The study, published in the journal Molecular Ecology, analyzed 370 preserved frog specimens gathered by William Ronald Heyer, a former Smithsonian curator, from 17 different species at the Boracéia research station in the Atlantic Forest. However, an important observation was made: between 1979 and 1982, a crucial period when the frog population plummeted, no samples were collected. This gap in data may explain the \"detection lag\" that often occurs in scientific research. The team discovered no traces of Bd in the specimens collected before 1978, but from 1983 onwards, it was prevalent, indicating a rapid spread of the fungus. Bd/chytrid has caused the decline of over 500 species worldwide.",
  "summary": "In the 1970s and ’80s, frogs in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest began dying off. Researchers have proposed various causes, from severe cold snaps to acid rain. Now, scientists believe they have solved this decade-old amphibian “cold case.” The culprit, it seems, may be the highly contagious pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). It causes a deadly infectious skin […]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}