中文导读

近半个世纪来，巴西大西洋森林 Boraceia 生物站在 1979–1982 年的青蛙骤减一直缺少确凿病因，有人归因于气候或极端天气。史密森国家动物园保护基因组学中心与宾夕法尼亚州立大学 Jack Boyette 团队检测 Heyer 馆长当年采集的 370 余份、涵盖 17 个物种的博物馆标本：1979 年前未见 chytrid（壶菌），1980 年代逾半数阳性；耐受较强的物种常带菌存活，脆弱物种或因死亡过快而少见感染标本。2022–2024 年回访找到 12 种，多数种群似已恢复且病原仍在。ScienceDaily 2026-11-03 据 Smithsonian 材料报道，研究刊于 Molecular Ecology。阅读时可留意 yet、while、may、suggests 如何区分关联、推断与适用范围。

正文

For nearly 50 years, scientists struggled to explain why frogs vanished from part of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. Between 1979 and 1982, amphibian populations at the Boraceia Biological Station fell sharply. Some researchers blamed climate or extreme weather. A new study now points more directly to a deadly fungal disease that arrived at the same time.

本段译文

近 50 年来，科学家一直难以解释巴西大西洋森林部分地区青蛙消失的原因。1979 至 1982 年间，Boraceia 生物站的两栖动物数量急剧下降。一些研究者曾把原因归咎于气候或极端天气。一项新研究则更直接指向一种几乎同时到来的致命真菌病。

The work was led by Jack Boyette of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute and Pennsylvania State University. ScienceDaily reported the findings on 3 November 2026, drawing on Smithsonian materials. The paper appears in Molecular Ecology. The suspected disease is chytridiomycosis, caused by the microscopic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, often called chytrid.

本段译文

研究由史密森国家动物园与保护生物学研究所及宾夕法尼亚州立大学的 Jack Boyette 领衔。ScienceDaily 于 2026 年 11 月 3 日据史密森材料报道；论文刊于《Molecular Ecology》。可疑疾病为壶菌病（chytridiomycosis），由微观真菌 Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis（常称 chytrid）引起。

Chytrid is thought to have spread from Asia in the 1970s and 1980s, but scientists did not formally describe it until 1999. By then, many amphibian species worldwide had already declined or disappeared. That timing made historical die-offs hard to explain. Boyette called them some of the most enduring cold cases in wildlife epidemiology.

本段译文

一般认为 chytrid 于 20 世纪七八十年代从亚洲扩散，但科学家直到 1999 年才正式描述它。到那时，全球许多两栖动物物种已经衰退或消失。时间错位使历史性死亡事件难以解释。Boyette 称它们是野生动物流行病学中最持久的悬案之一。

To reopen the Brazil case, the team tested museum specimens collected by former Smithsonian curator William Ronald Heyer. He gathered frogs at Boraceia before the declines in the 1970s and again in the 1980s afterward. Researchers examined more than 370 preserved amphibians from 17 species for signs of infection and tracked how often the fungus appeared.

本段译文

为重新打开巴西这一案件，团队检测了前史密森馆长 William Ronald Heyer 采集的博物馆标本。他在 20 世纪 70 年代种群衰退前、以及 80 年代衰退后于 Boraceia 采集青蛙。研究者检查了代表 17 个物种的 370 余份保存标本，寻找感染迹象并追踪真菌出现频率。

None of the specimens collected before 1979 showed chytrid. Among those from the 1980s, more than half tested positive. The rise suggests the pathogen arrived as frog populations were collapsing. Yet the pattern looked odd at first: species that declined most severely showed little detectable infection in the collection, while more stable species often carried the fungus.

本段译文

1979 年以前采集的标本均未检出 chytrid；而 80 年代标本中超过一半呈阳性。这一上升表明病原体在蛙类种群崩溃时抵达。但模式起初看起来奇怪：衰退最严重的物种在馆藏中几乎检测不到感染，而较稳定的物种却常携带真菌。

The authors suggest a simple explanation. Frogs that could tolerate the infection may have survived and been collected while infected. More vulnerable species may have died so quickly that infected individuals rarely entered the museum jars. Environmental factors could still have played a role, Boyette notes, but the invasion of chytrid most directly coincides with the disappearances.

本段译文

作者提出一个简单解释：能耐受感染的青蛙可能存活下来并被采集；更脆弱的物种可能死亡太快，以致感染个体很少进入博物馆标本瓶。Boyette 指出环境因素仍可能起作用，但 chytrid 的入侵与消失在时间上最为吻合。

Between 2022 and 2024, the team returned with University of Sao Paulo colleagues. Of the 17 historical species, they found 12; five remain unconfirmed at the site. Most species appear to have recovered even though chytrid is still present. Infection patterns now suggest greater tolerance over generations. The results apply to Boraceia and cannot automatically explain every Atlantic Forest decline, yet they show how museum collections can reconstruct outbreaks once hidden from view.

本段译文

2022 至 2024 年，团队与圣保罗大学同事重返当地。历史记录中的 17 个物种找到了 12 个，其余五个在该地点仍未确认。尽管 chytrid 仍在，多数物种似乎已恢复。感染模式如今暗示经历代形成了更强的耐受。结论仅适用于 Boraceia，不能自动解释大西洋森林所有衰退，但它们表明博物馆馆藏如何帮助重建一度隐匿的疫情。

新闻来源

• ScienceDaily · A 50-year-old mystery of vanishing frogs reveals a hidden killer (3 Nov 2026)
• Smithsonian · Museum Specimens Reveal Pathogen Behind Decades-Old Mystery of Disappearing Frogs
• Penn State News · Ecological cold case: Solving decades-old mystery of disappearing frogs
• Molecular Ecology · Overcoming Detection Lag in a Cryptic Panzootic (Boyette et al., 2026; DOI 10.1111/mec.70573)

✳更多文章 →