The Hula painted frog of Israel disappeared from scientists' gaze in 1955, but the supposedly 'extinct' species ended its hiatus in fall of 2011 when several specimens were rediscovered in the region's Nature reserve.
Dr. Sarig Gafny, a professor at the Ruppin Academic Center studied the animal alongside a team of researchers and found that the frog was originally misclassified as part of the Discoglossus genus instead of Latonia, a 15,000 year old group with no known living relatives.
"I hope it will be a conservation success story," explains Gafny. "We don't know anything about their natural history and we have to study them. The more we know, the more we can protect them.
As of now, researchers are unaware of the Hula painted frog's reproductive habits, its development cycle, or even if the creature is nocturnal.
Since the frog reappeared and voided a 1996 international announcement that the animal was extinct, the species has been spotted fourteen times. Nature.com reports that Robin Moore of the Amphibian Specialist Group identified the frog as "an inspiring example of the resilience of nature, if given a chance."
He adds, "We need flagships for conservation to generate a sense of optimism, and this story is about as good as it gets. The frog is even included in school curricula, and my taxi driver to Tel Aviv airport knew its story!"
Moore asserts that the growing rate of habitat loss remains the greatest threat to amphibians.
The team's study was originally published in the journal Nature Communications.