Scientists have found that the ice age is still affecting frogs in Africa

It's about nature's "long memory".

Details

The study focused on the forests of Central Africa, including the Congo Basin.

The scientists studied:

• the distribution of different species of frogs
• past climatic conditions
• current ecosystems

It turned out that current conditions (humidity, temperature) did not explain why some areas had more species than others.

The key factor turned out to be climate history.

During the ice age:

• the climate became colder and drier
• rainforests shrank
• isolated 'islands' instead of continuous forests

Analyses have shown

• it is these "forest islands" that coincide with areas of high frog diversity today
• in isolation, species separated and formed new species
• some species remained localised

Why it matters

The results show that ecosystems form over millennia.

The scientists note:

• modern biodiversity depends on ancient climatic events
• species do not have time to "redistribute" quickly, even over thousands of years
• this is important to take into account in conservation

Background

It was previously thought that species diversity was primarily determined by current environmental conditions.

However, a growing body of research shows that past climate change plays a key role.

Source

The study is based on analyses of frog species distributions and climate reconstructions over the past 2.5 million years. The work is published in Ecology and Evolution (2026).