A team of biologists studied rain frogs in the forests of northern Ecuador. While doing so, they made a surprising discovery: a Mindo harlequin toad (丑角蟾). It was 30 years since the creature had been seen alive. The scientists couldn’t believe their eyes.

The Mindo harlequin is the latest harlequin toad species to come back from the dead. Since 2003, eight others 【小题1】(find), three of them in Ecuador. Until 【小题2】(recent), 13 of the 25 species of harlequin toads in Ecuador have gone unseen since the 1980s or early 1990s. Scientists thought most of them had been wiped out by a disease 【小题3】(call) chytrid, which is especially 【小题4】(harm) to the harlequin toad. The Mindo harlequin may have developed a resistance to the disease, 【小题5】 would explain their reappearance. And it could spell good news for other harlequins. Since discovering the first one, the team have found five 【小题6】(many). They were all tested for the disease but none of them had. But that doesn’t mean the 【小题7】(survive) of the species is guaranteed. The harlequin toad is still endangered.

Biologists are developing a conservation plan together 【小题8】 experts from a zoology museum in Ecuador. They want to make sure the Mindo harlequin toad doesn’t fall back into extinction. Each reappearance gives us 【小题9】 second chance to develop better conservation ways. Not every day do we have the opportunity 【小题10】(save) a species that we believed to be extinct.

The【小题1】 (explode )of the earth produced water vapor, 【小题2】turned into water when the earth cooled down. 【小题3】many scientists believe is that water allowed the earth to dissolve harmful gases 【小题4】the oceans and seas. That made 【小题5】possible for life to begin to develop. The appearance of small plants encouraged the 【小题6】(develop)of early shellfish and all 【小题7】(sort)of fish. Many millions of years later ,the first green plants began to appear on land. Later, land animals appeared. Some were insects. Others, 【小题8】(call) amphibians, were able to live on land as well as in the water. Finally some small clever animals appeared and 【小题9】(spread) all over the earth. But they treat the planet in an 【小题10】(friend)way, and the earth becomes too polluted.

German-born pandas arrive in Chengdu

Four-year-old panda twins Meng Xiang and Meng Yuan, the first giant pandas born in Germany, 【小题1】 (arrive) in Chengdu, Sichuan province, on December 17, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding said.

After a farewell ceremony at Zoo Berlin earlier this month 【小题2】 (attend) by visitors, the pandas were put on a 【小题3】 (fly) to China on Saturday afternoon. Staff members from the German zoo accompanied the twins on the flight. “The birth of the first giant pandas in Germany was not only a 【小题4】 (personal) moving experience, but also a highlight in my professional career 【小题5】 a zoo veterinarian and zoo director 【小题6】 nothing will easily eclipse,” said Andreas Knieriem, the head of Zoo Berlin.

Born on Aug 31, 2019, the panda twins had their fourth birthday this summer. In 2017, the twins’ parents Meng Meng and Jiao Qing 【小题7】 (send) to Berlin from Chengdu, and were the only two giant pandas in Germany at 【小题8】 time. The twins have “brought Berliners and many tourists a lot of joy in recent years”, said Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner at the farewell ceremony. “It’s time 【小题9】 (say) goodbye.”

The zoo also launched a campaign to collect paintings and illustrations of the twin pandas. Fans in Germany sent their 【小题10】 (submit) this month, which were supplied to China along with the twins. This year, at least 17 pandas have been returned to China from overseas countries, including the United States, France and Japan.