Another environmental issue that has exceeded the media attention span is resurfacing:
The widespread idea that parasites are the natural cause of frog abnormalities has made the public complacent and has deflected research away from chemical contaminants, the more likely cause. Yet research now demonstrates that parasites don't trigger the majority of deformities, specifically shortened or missing legs. Nor can they cause misshapen jaws, missing or misplaced eyes, or spinal column defects. The suspect parasite, nicknamed "Rib" for Ribeiroia, is now known to cause only multiple or branched limbs in frogs.
Some history: In 1995, middle-school students found deformed frogs in a pond east of Henderson, Minn., and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency began an investigation. By fall 1996, my MPCA colleague and I had received more than 170 reports of deformed frogs in more than 50 counties. Our pictures of grotesquely misshapen frogs went everywhere in the media. TV news showed eager students collecting frogs and expressing their concerns. Everyone became alarmed.
...The MPCA ceased investigating deformed frogs in 2001, and no one that I know of is looking at frogs for deformities, let alone analyzing pollutants in frog habitats. So how are the frogs? Does anyone know? http://www.startribune.com/commentary/story/1533108.html
(source: daviddempsey)
