قيطم أفريقي

African clawed frogs were first brought to California decades ago to help doctors figure out whether their patients were pregnant. After new technology made those pregnancy tests obsolete, the creatures were let loose, and thrived for decades in the state's drainage ditches and ponds.

Now there are signs that the proliferation of African clawed frogs may be putting native species in peril. A study published last week in the journal PLOS ONE reveals that they carry a deadly fungus responsible for wiping out vast numbers of amphibians around the world.

The spread of the deadly Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis fungus is contributing to one of the greatest disease-caused losses of biodiversity in recorded history. The fungus causes amphibians' skin to harden, interfering with the regulation of electrolytes and eventually causing cardiac arrest.

By Geoffrey Mohan, Los Angeles Times May 19, 2013, 9:56 p.m.