Amphibians may be declining by 25,000 times the background rate of extinciton.

09/05/2006 00:00:00 By Malcolm L. McCallum, Assistant Professor of Biology, Editor Herpetological Conservation and Biology.

September 2007. Amphibian declines and extinctions are critical concerns of biologists around the world. The estimated current rate of amphibian extinction is known, but how it compares to the background amphibian extinction rate from the fossil record has not been well studied. A study of current amphibian extinction rates compared with their reported background suggests that the current extinction rate of amphibians could be 211 times the background amphibian extinction rate.

If current estimates of amphibian species in imminent danger of extinction are included in these calculations, then the current amphibian extinction rate may range from 25,039–45,474 times the background extinction rate for amphibians. It is difficult to explain this unprecedented and accelerating rate of extinction as a natural phenomenon.

Click to read the full paper about the amphibian extinction rate.