And then there were none. 
 
 Toughie, the world's last Rabbs' fringe-limbed tree frog and a symbol of the extinction crisis, has died at his home in the Atlanta Botanical Garden. 
 
 The famed frog's age is unknown, but he's at least 12 years old, and likely older, because he was an adult when collected in 2005. 
 
 Mark Mandica, who worked with Toughie for seven years, says the frog's story isn't entirely unique. “A lot of attention had been paid to him in captivity, so he even has his own Wikipedia page,” Mandica, head of the Amphibian Foundation, notes. “But there are plenty of other species out there that are disappearing, sometimes before we even knew that they were there.” 
 
 In fact, Toughie's own species (Ecnomiohyla rabborum) wasn't described until 2008, a few years after Toughie was found during a 2005 frog rescue mission by the Atlanta Botanical Garden and Zoo Atlanta. He was one of many frogs scientists raced to collect as the deadly chytrid fungus closed in on central Panama. 
 
 “It was likened to just rescuing things from a burning house,” Mandica says. 
 
 The species occurred in a very small range, at an elevation where the fungus proved especially deadly. Field studies suggest up to 85 percent of all the amphibians on Toughie's home turf were wiped out. It's unlikely that any of his kind survived in the wild, where they were incredible climbers and also graceful gliders—toe webbing allowed them to soar from one tree to the next. (Learn about the increasing pace of extinctions.) 
 
 Watch: This tree frog's death marks the end for a species. 
 
 Naming a Survivor 
 
 Mandica's son, then a two-year-old, dubbed the last survivor Toughie. Naming animals isn't the norm among scientists, but the frog's popularity as the last of his kind meant that people (and the press) kept demanding a name—and Toughie stuck. 
 
 Although he gave voice to the plight of endangered species, Toughie was silent for all the years he lived at the botanical garden, until one fateful morning in 2014 when Mandica captured the only existing example of the Rabbs' fringe-limbed tree frog's call. 
 
 “I heard this weird call coming out of the frog [area], and I knew it had to be him, because I knew what all the other species sounded like. I was able to sneak in and record him on my phone.” (Hear Toughie's call.) 
 
 View Images Toughie was photographed in his captive home at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Photograph by Joel Sartore, National Goegraphic Photo Ark 
 
 Atlanta Botanical Garden 
 
 Photographing the Last of a Kind 
 
 Photographer Joel Sartore recalls a curious, baseball-size creature with amazing eyes that actually hopped up onto his camera while being photographed for the Photo Ark project. Photo Ark aims to showcase our planet's incredible biodiversity and inspire people to help fight the extinction crisis while there is still time. So far, Sartore has photographed more than 6,000 species. Unfortunately, many others also represent the end of the line for their kind. 
 
 “About once a year I photograph something that's the last of its kind or close to it,” he says. “I get sad and angry because I can't imagine that this won't wake the world up and get people to care about extinction. I keep thinking, OK, this is the one. This animal's story is going to do it and get people to care more about extinction than about what's on TV. 
 
 “They can't care if they don't know these animals,” he adds. “They have to meet them and fall in love with them the way that I have and so many others have.” 
 
 Watch: Scientists rush to save other tree frogs in Central America. 
 
 Toughie, indeed, had lots of admirers. Last year his image was even projected onto St. Peter's Basilica, and his call played, so that the world could see and hear him. 
 
 The frog met race car drivers and movie directors, Sartore recalls. “A lot of people were moved to tears when they saw him. When you have the very last of something it's a special deal.” 
 
 Now he's gone, and with him an entire species. And as large numbers of animals and plants continue to vanish, their loss increasingly compromises the healthy ecosystems necessary for everyone's survival—including our own. (Can extinct species ever be brought back?) ||||| An endangered dolphin was killed after beach-goers reportedly pulled it from the water in order to take photos with it. 
 
 The Franciscan dolphin died last week at the Santa Teresita resort in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after a scrum of people were photographed grabbing two or the marine animals out of the surf and passing them around. 
 
 Hernan Coria posted images on Facebook showing two dolphins being held aloft like trophies while grinning tourists were seemingly unaware or unbothered about the animals' discomfort. 
 
 Another photo showed at least one of the animals had been left on the sand to die. 
 
 Segundo delfín que aparece en el día en Santa Teresita una lastima no creo que vivan Posted by Hernan Coria on Wednesday, 10 February 2016 
 
 After the images from Santa Teresita emerged, the Argentine Wildlife Foundation issued a warning to the public about the dolphins’ vulnerability in the hope that it will prevent similar incidents. 
 
 No le saques fotos. Ayudalo a volver al agua Estas situaciones pueden llevar a su muerte https://t.co/TUDboTBzdZ pic.twitter.com/feZMG4oFCJ — Vida Silvestre (@Vida_Silvestre) February 17, 2016 
 
 "The Franciscan, like other species, cannot remain for much time out of the water. It has thick fatty skin which provides warmth, so the hot weather will cause rapid dehydration and death," a spokesperson wrote on the charity's website. 
 
 The rarest animals in the world 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 23 show all The rarest animals in the world 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1/23 Goblin shark Dubbed the "alien of the deep", the goblin shark was caught by a commercial fisherman off the coast of Eden, New South Wales. The carcass of the terrifying looking creature was then donated to the Australian Museum in Sydney so that it could be dissected YouTube/Australian Museum 
 
 2/23 Glass frog Scientists in South America have discovered a brand new species of frog – and he’s a dead ringer for Kermit the frog. Hyalinobatrachium dianae is an inch-long glass frog with identical bright green skin, a translucent belly, and bulging white eyes with black pupils. The new species found by Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center on the Talamanca hills of the country, was named after the senior researcher’s mother Diane and brought the total known species of glass frogs on the island to 14 BBC via YouTube 
 
 3/23 Walking fish (climbing perch) A bizarre and seemingly super-powered fish which can walk out of water and breathe on land for up to six days could spell a 'major disaster' for wildlife, scientists have warned. The aggressive climbing perch, which has lungs as well as gills, has been discovered in northern Australia YouTube 
 
 4/23 Frilled shark A rare and terrifying frilled shark has been pulled from the water by fishermen near Lakes Entrance in Victoria, Australia. Also known as the "living fossil", the frilled shark is named for its six pairs of frill-like gills. The shark’s origin dates back 80 million years, and is one of two species that is still alive from this period SETFA 
 
 5/23 Black Sea Devil anglerfish Researchers in the US have released what they believe to be the first video footage showing a bizarre-looking Black Sea Devil anglerfish in the wild. As anglerfish live in the deep sea, they are very rarely seen in their natural habitat, and fewer than half a dozen have ever been captured on film or video in the wild, according to experts at the Monterrey Bay Acquarium Research Institute (MBARI) Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute 
 
 6/23 Blue lobster A rare blue lobster was caught off Pine Point in Scarborough, Maine. The crustacean is being donated to the Maine State Aquarium AP Photo/Meghan LaPlante 
 
 7/23 Two-headed dolphin A con-joined dolphin found on the beach of the Aegean Sea coastal town of Dikili, Izmir province of Turkey AP 
 
 8/23 Conjoined whales A pair of conjoined gray whale calves have been found off the coast of Mexico, in what scientists believe could be the first discovery of its kind CONANPHO/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 9/23 Fish-eating spider (Dolomedes facetus) Dolomedes facetus captured pond fish (genus Xiphophorus) in a garden pond near Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The number of spiders who catch and eat fish is on the rise across the world, scientists believe Peter Liley, Moffat Beach, Queensland 
 
 10/23 Dancing frogs A frog couple from one of the 14 new species of so-called dancing frogs AP/Satyabhama Das Biju 
 
 11/23 Kakapo Conservationists in New Zealand are celebrating after an extremely rare kakapo chick hatched from a cracked egg held together by nothing more than tape and glue. The bird joins a global kakapo population of just 125 birds Creative Commons. Photo: jidanchaomian, via Flickr. 
 
 12/23 Migaloo the white whale Migaloo the white whale, sighted at the Bernard Islands Twitter/Migaloo the Whale 
 
 13/23 Domed land snail Living in complete darkness more than 900 metres below the surface has left this tiny snail with no pigmentation in its shell. Discovered in the caves of western Croatia the Zospeum tholussum is also a slow mover, creeping just a few centimeters each week. 
 
 14/23 Leaf-tailed gecko The mottled colouring on this gecko helps it blend in with the rain forests and rocky habitats of eastern Australia. It also has an extremely wide tail (from which it gets its name) to further confuse predators Conrad Hoskin 
 
 15/23 Flying frog A Giant green flying frog which is among the new species found by scientists in the Greater Mekong region PA 
 
 16/23 Megamouth shark An extremely rare female deep-water megamouth shark has been caught off the coast of Shizuoka, Japan, and is believed to be only the 58 sighting of the animal on record 
 
 17/23 A Maui's dolphin Fears grow for Maui's dolphins after New Zealand government opens west coast block for oil and gas drilling youtube 
 
 18/23 Geep A rare goat-sheep hybrid has been born on an Irish farm, much to the surprise of a farmer who said the ‘geep’ is thriving since its birth Irish Farmers Journal 
 
 19/23 Omani owl An Omani Owl, a species completely new to science PA 
 
 20/23 Albino dolphin A rare albino calf being herded into Japan's notorious Taiji 'killing' Cove, where hundreds of dolphins are slaughtered during its annual hunt Sea Shepherd/EPA 
 
 21/23 Stone curlew The stone curlew is one of the UK's most threatened birds and has recently returned from their wintering grounds in Africa and Spain Getty Images 
 
 22/23 Mascarene Petrel A unique photograph has been taken of a bird with a visible egg showing after experts sent to study a critically endangered Mascarene Petrel on a remote Indian Ocean tropical island encountered an undeniably pregnant member of the species Hadoram Shirihai 
 
 23/23 Albino cobra A "very dangerous and venomous" albino cobra has been found in a suburban Los Angeles neighbourhood after escaping from a home there Dept. of Animal Care and Control, County of Los Angeles 
 
 "At least one of the animals [from the photos taken in Santa Teresita] died. The incident prompts us to inform the public about the urgent need to return these dolphins to the sea if one is found on the shore. It is vital to help rescue these animals, because every Franciscan counts." 
 
 The Argentine Wildlife Foundation reports that the Franciscan dolphin is one of the smallest and rarest dolphins in the world. It is “vulnerable to extinction” with just 30,000 believed to be left in the wild.
– A frog named Toughie, likely the last of his species, died quietly in his enclosure at the Atlanta Botanical Garden this week, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "He will be missed by Garden staff and visitors alike," the Garden posted on Facebook. The Rabbs' fringe-limbed tree frog wasn't even discovered until 2005 when scientists were attempting to rescue specimens of any amphibian they could before a deadly chytrid fungal infection hit Panama. According to National Geographic, Toughie made it out of Panama, but it's estimated that the chytrid fungus killed up to 85% of all amphibians left behind in his natural habitat. He had lived in isolation at the Garden since 2008. A cause of death is unknown, but Toughie was believed to be at least 12 years old. In his final years, Toughie became a "symbol of the extinction crisis." His photo was projected onto St. Peter's Basilica, and he was visited by film directors and race car drivers. "A lot of people were moved to tears when they saw him," a photographer who worked with Toughie says. "When you have the very last of something it's a special deal.” While some scientists are holding out hope for the Rabbs' tree frog, it's likely Toughie was the last, Scientific American reports. His species hasn't been seen in the wild since 2007. It's rare for humans to actually witness an extinction when it happens and not just learn about it years later. (For the first time, bees have been put on the endangered species list.)