Lucky’s last croak

Extinct Norfolk pool frogs were native species

source: Gail Vines
New Scientist January 12 2002
starts p42, 2 pages long

Brown pool frogs found in Norfolk, England, were similar to Scandinavian frogs, and were not introduced to Norfolk from Belgium and France, as was previously thought. Some European water frogs were introduced by landowners during the 19th century, but Norfolk pool frogs now appear to have a longer history in Britain. These frogs appear to have survived the ice age and to have arrived in Britain some 10,000 years ago, prior to the formation of the North Sea some 8,000 to 9,000 years ago. The last Norfolk pool frog died in 1999. DNA analysis has been carried out of 19th century Norfolk pool frogs from samples stored in the Natural History Museum, and this links pool frogs to those in Scandinavia. Sound recordings of pool frogs made in the 1980s also indicate that Norfolk pool frogs were similar to those of Scandinavia. Their croaks were loud, and they were once called ‘Cambridgeshire nightingales’. Bones from what appear to be pool frogs have been found which date back to the period from AD 800 to AD 1000.
AM,BC