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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Sofia Quaglia in Santa Cruz, Galápagos

Galápagos had no native amphibians. Then it was invaded by hundreds of thousands of frogs

Two free frogs mating on a leaf
Fowler’s snouted tree frogs (Scinax quinquefasciatus) are thought to have arrived on the islands as stowaways on cargo ships. Photograph: Joshua Vela Fonseca/Charles Darwin Research Station

On the way to her office at the Charles Darwin research station, biologist Miriam San José crouches down near a shallow pond shrouded by vegetation and reaches deep into the foliage, pulling out a small green plastic box recorder.

She left it there overnight to capture the infamous croaks of a Fowler’s snouted treefrog (Scinax quinquefasciatus), known to Galápagos scientists as an invasive threat, with repercussions researchers are only beginning to grasp.

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