Dr Bela Barata and a new species of frog
One story stood out this week through the torrents of media that poured through my days. It’s a story in The Guardian told to Phoebe Weston by Dr. Bela Barata, a Brazilian ecologist. It’s a tale of curiosity, following your gut, perseverance, and commitment. And it’s the story of the discovery of a new species of extremely rare and special frog in the Espinhaço mountain range in eastern Brazil.
The story begins…
I remember the park rangers saying: “Why are you going up there? There is no water on the top, and you’re not going to find any frogs.” I said: “Well I’m going to check it out.”
The area supported bromeliads which each hold up to 2 liters of water.
Dr. Barata explains:
“Larvae, beetles, all kinds of invertebrate live in there – it’s a whole ecosystem in a tiny space. The central cup holds loads of rainwater, and I thought there could be some frogs using them.”
She found a frog in the very first bromeliad she looked into…and in the next and the next. She found 20 frogs that day.
It took her a year to meet up with a taxonomist who could confirm that it was a new species. Four years after discovering it there on the mountain, she named the species Crossodactylodes itambe. These frogs spend their whole lifecycle inside the bromeliad.
“The entire species lives within 0.5 sq km on a patch of land 1,800 meters above sea level…I decided to focus my research on this frog, and work to save it.
I never thought I would spend my career learning about frogs, but it feels like an obligation to finish this work and make sure they are protected. I hope to inspire others to do the same, to spend their whole life researching one single species and make something of it – because by protecting one species I am protecting a whole habitat.”
She definitely has inspired me. And I’m guessing many kids would find her story and her work inspiring.
Read the full post in The Guardian so you can see the awesome photos of Bela Barata, bromeliads, and the tiny frog that dwells within. If you only click one link in this post, this is the link to click.
A very few of us will take on the protection of one single species for the rest of our lives. But we can contribute to the work of scientists like Dr. Barata through Citizen Science. I write about Citizen Science organizations like SciStarter here, along with efforts like the River Otter Project in California. SciStarter lets you search by keyword, topic, online only, or nearby. Where does curiosity lead you and your children/students?
In the wilds
School Library Journal writer Jessica Schriver has put together this list of books: The Practical Art of Kindness: Navigating the World Demands It | Great Books (preK-3)
“These are books that are read for kindness, through three deeply entangled themes: Kindness for Others—why and how caring for others (humans and nonhumans) matters; Kindness in Practice—books that serve as tools to model the acts of kindness; and Kindness for Self—because we deserve the same care we extend to others. We’ve grouped the books according to these themes, with plenty of overlap for creative story hours.”
Thanks for reading. Be well. And please consider sharing this post with family, friends, and/or colleagues who might appreciate it.