Frogs species discovered living in elephant dung
Jeremy Hancemongabay.com
June 10, 2009
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"I found the frogs fortuitously during a field study about seed dispersal by elephants," Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz, a research fellow from the National University of Singapore, told Monagaby.com. "I thought it was an interesting phenomenon and commented it with some colleagues, experts on elephant and amphibian ecology. None of them had heard about such a thing before. Local people in the study area…seemed also unaware of it."
 Mushroom growing out of dung pile. Photo by Campos-Arceiz. |
While Campos-Arceiz is uncertain why the frogs were residing in the elephant dung, he speculates that "elephant dung provides a good shelter. I found the frogs in an arid area during the dry season. Under such conditions and in the absence of litter, elephant dung is probably a good alternative to spend the day in. Elephants digest food very poorly. Their feces contain a large proportion of undigested material and are highly fibrous. When fresh, elephant dung is humid and probably cooler than the environment during the day. Moreover, frogs could eat some of the many invertebrates present in elephant dung."
 Sphaerotheca frog on dung pile. Photo by Campos-Arceiz. |
With the dung piles becoming like island ecosystems, it was apparent that these discoveries held import for biodiversity.
 Elephant dung as a micro-ecosystem. Photo by Campos-Arceiz. |
To test the importance of elephant dung regarding forest biodiversity, Campos-Arceiz searched through an additional 180 dung piles of free-ranging cows and buffaloes and found no frogs and far less diversity of invertebrates.
Classified as Endangered by the IUCN Red List, Asian elephants are threatened by the illegal ivory trade and habitat degradation and loss. Their range has shrunk significantly over the last centuries, and many researchers worry it will contract further.
 Millipede in elephant dung. Photo by Campos-Arceiz. |
Campos-Arceiz views elephant dung as a rich ecosystem with many mysteries. Aside from frogs, he suspects that "there could be some highly specialized taxa in elephant dung which, in the absence of elephants, might have difficulties to find an alternative in surrogates such as livestock dung." He plans to continue studying the species living in elephant dung as well as its vital role as a seed-disperser.
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