Heed the Warning of Strange Frogs

Letter to the editor
Copyright 1999 Wall Street Journal
May 25, 1999


In his May 12 editorial-page piece "With Frog Scare Debunked, It Isn't Easy Being Green," Michael Fumento declares the fairly recent problem of deformed frogs solved and says it has nothing to do with pesticides or pollution, as "ax-grinding greens" had claimed in order to scare the public.

He cites two studies reported in Science magazine last month indicating that extra legs found on frogs in several areas are the result of parasites that disrupt the frogs' normal development. That's true. But as the authors of the two studies themselves have taken pains to explain, this is by no means a definitive answer to the troubles plaguing frogs. The two studies do not answer the question of why frog populations world-wide are in decline or why some frogs are born without limbs or with extra eyes, for instance. And still unexplained is why frogs have become more susceptible to these parasites in recent years, even though the parasites have been around at least as long as frogs have.

Mr. Fumento may not want to hear anything that falls outside his apparent world view of better living through chemicals. But to make his point, he does exactly what he accuses environmentalists of doing: he distorts the science. And why, Mr. Fumento asks, should anyone care about the plight of the lowly frog? Because frogs are sentinel species that serve as a window on biodiversity and ecosystems. When frogs show signs of distress there is an implicit warning that what is stressing them may well have bearing on humans.

David B. Wake
Professor of Integrative Biology
Curator, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, Calif.
Andrew R. Blaustein
Professor of Zoology
Oregon State University
Cornvallis, Ore.


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