'Extinct' Frog Found in Promised Land

Extinct:  At least for a little while.

A species of frog that was recently rediscovered after being declared extinct has been reclassified as a "living fossil". Israel's Hula painted frog had not been seen for nearly 60 years, but in 2011 one was found lurking in a patch of swampy undergrowth. Tests have revealed that the frog belongs to a group of amphibians that died out 15,000 years ago.

The study is published in the journal Nature Communications. Professor Sarig Gafny, from the Ruppin Academic Center, in Israel, told BBC News: "We felt like we had a great finding when we first rediscovered it - this (frog) was like an idol in Israel. "But then we found it was a living fossil: this was amazing."

So what happened to the frog?

When Israel's Hula valley was drained in the 1950s, its swampy home was destroyed. Scientists thought the species had been lost forever. But two years ago, a frog was spotted by a park ranger, and since then another 13 have been discovered.

A pretty common story of habitat destruction.

How did it manage to hide out from the Hula Frog hunters?

Prof Gafny explained: "We've only found the specimens so far out of the water on land. You have to crawl in the dense vegetation, there are blackberries there, which are spiny, and then you have to dig in the decaying detritus... It's not very attractive to go and look for it."

So it was as simple as hiding in the blackberry plants?  If only the dinosaurs had known.