Armando Peralta Chapter 1

The chapter begins by detailing the mysterious disappearance of the Panama's golden frogs. The chapter uses this event to introduce the idea of  a sixth extinction starting to take place.  It is later revealed in the chapter that the culprit responsible for the deaths of the frogs is a fungus called Chytrid Fungi. What I find strange about this case is that the fungus is said  to be found at the top of trees and deep underground however,  it has somehow managed infect the Panamanian golden  which lives in streams. The different in which these organisms can be found leads to me belief they shouldn't come into contact unless there was some human interference.  My suspicion of this being the case only grew when on page 18 it states " One theory was moved around the globe with shipments of African Clawed Frogs...African clawed frogs do not seem to be adversely affected by Bd, though they are widely infected with it." This seems to imply that the introduction of what seems be an invasive in the form of the African Clawed frog which has an immunity to Bd but carries is the perpetrator for the ongoing genocide of the Panamanian golden frog and other species of Amphibians around the globe. I also found it strange how Bd managed to spread to so many continents and believed that must have been transported via boats or planes in a similar fashion that the bubonic plague had done, which the previously used quote also supports. The chapter also discusses actions taken by people to stop the extinction of golden frogs in the form of the frog hotel.The theme of this chapter seemed to be about both positive and negative human impact on an environment.