Javanese frogman looks back on half a century of diving into the world of amphibians

BANDUNG, Indonesia — Nearly 50 years have passed since Joko Jadjono Iskandar launched an early scientific expedition to discover new species hidden throughout Indonesia. During that time, Joko described some of the 400 species of frogs ever cataloged in the world’s largest archipelago.

“Ever since I started my research in 1975, I have always been drawn to the conclusion that the universe was created as a unique entity,” said Joko, a Mongabay professor at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), where he began teaching 45 years ago. Spoken in Indonesian. .

Throughout his career, Joko has walked the swamps of Sumatra, hiked the forests of Java, climbed the mountains of Sulawesi, tracked the rivers of Borneo, led expeditions across Papua, and visited Indonesia’s 17,000 islands. It has covered an amazing amount of land.

“I usually start by following the river,” he said.

Djoko counts several species descriptions created during his 50-year career from his namesake lizard, including: moonlight iskandari 2000 and Draco Iskandari 2007, To Frog-like People Fejervarya Iskandari In 2001.

Joko was born in Bandung, Java and published the following publications: Amphibians of Java and Bali In 1998, it is widely seen as the successor to . Amphibians of India and the Australian Islands, published in 1923 by Dutch zoologist Pieter van Kampen. Joko’s book introduced 35 newly described frog species. To date he has published 163 publications and more than 20 books.

Joko lives in Kalimantan, an Indonesian territory on the island of Borneo. Barbula kalimantanensisFrogs do not have lungs and breathe through their skin, but researchers have eluded researchers for many years. In Sulawesi, he described another frog species. Limnonectes larvafemales do not lay eggs in freshwater bodies but give birth to live tadpoles.

“Frogs themselves show a very wide range of changes in their reproductive processes due to evolution and diversification,” Joko told Mongabay Indonesia.

cry and dagger

Amphibians face a range of dangerous threats to their survival in the medium term, from habitat destruction and invasive species to climate change, pollution and demand for meat.

According to data from Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture, the country’s frog exports are valued at around $22.5 million annually. Experts say nearly all of these frogs are caught in the wild for their legs, the meatiest part of the animal. Most people’s legs are amputated alive.

In 2022, European NGOs Pro Wildlife and Robin de Bois published a report detailing the size of the European market for frog legs, a delicacy in parts of Western Europe and China.

Pro Wildlife co-founder Sandra Alther said in a statement: “Continuing plundering for the European market could lead to further severe declines and even extinction of wild frog populations over the next decade. “It’s expensive.”

The report estimates that 74% of frog leg imports from Europe come from Indonesia, with the majority going to Belgium.

“The truth is, this has been happening for a long time,” Djoko said.

The world’s largest amphibian conservation coalition, the Amphibian Survival Alliance, says half of all amphibian species could be lost in the coming decades without “immediate and concerted action” to strengthen landscape and species protection. It is predicted that there will be a

According to the IUCN Amphibian Expert Group, a global wildlife conservation agency, “amphibians are the most endangered vertebrates on Earth, with 41% of species at risk of extinction.” “I’m here.”

For Joko, the study of frogs offers both a window into our past and an opportunity to glimpse an uncertain future. Scientists can analyze declines in frog populations to infer more detailed information about the health of the environment, he said.

“Amphibians may be an indicator of the extent of the effects of climate change,” he said.

Toad House

Mongabay Indonesia met with Joko in the laboratory of the ITB Biology Department in mid-January. The campus hallways were quiet as classes had not yet resumed even after the holidays.

Joko recently published the following paper: Limnonectes phylofolia, A newly described fanged frog species from Sulawesi, where the eggs are guarded by the male until they develop into tadpoles.

Joko unlocked his phone and began flipping through the photos he had taken on his road trip to all but two Indonesian provinces. Jakarta, the capital, and Bangka Belitung, a remote island off the east coast of Sumatra, were not Joko’s only research locations. trip.

To date, science has identified and cataloged about 1.6 million species, with about 18,000 species being described each year, according to the Royal Society, the world’s oldest scientific academy. It is estimated that unidentified species make up about 80% of all species on Earth.

Despite spending half a century exploring the world’s largest archipelago nation in hopes of discovering new frogs, Joko said he believes his life’s work is still far from complete.

“Sometimes I get worried when I look at the current state of research,” he says. “The research in Europe is 100% complete. They have studied everything.” [that they have].

“For us, it is only 20%, but it is already considered complete. And yes, we have to admit that our research progress is minimal,” he said. said.

Currently, he is focused on writing a paper on how evolution spread a kaleidoscope of biodiversity across Indonesia. He hopes the frog will capture the imagination of readers in Indonesia and around the world, and that it will draw greater attention to the viability of amphibian species.

“Isn’t it everyone’s duty to give meaning through research, look for new ideas and communicate them to the public?” said Joko. “I think that’s the essence of lifelong knowledge.”

Banner image: Fejervarya Iskandari, listed as Joko in 2001. Image by Fajar Kaprawi via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0).

This article was reported by Mongabay’s Indonesia team and was first published. here above us Indonesia site January 24, 2023.

A child adventurer discovers a new giant stick insect in eastern Indonesia