To protect their porous skin, some tropical frogs have a suit of armor. But this covering isn’t made from metal or even a sturdy material like bullet-proof Kevlar. Frogs use bacteria to shield their skin from a deadly fungal disease caused by chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis or Bd). The findings detailed in a study published in the journal Animal Microbiome show that some frog species with a natural bacteria living on the frog’s skin microbiome can help them survive this fungus, which has already driven at least 90 frog species into extinction.  “This is one of the clearest demonstrations that a host’s natural skin bacteria can be a frontline defense against a pathogen that has devastated amphibian populations globally,” Gui Becker, a study co-author and biologist at Penn State University, said in a statement. “One of the key messages from this study is that it’s not simply the diversity of these bacteria—referred to as the skin microbiome—that matters, but the protective function of these bacteria.” In amphibians, chytridiomycosis causes a wide variety of symptoms including …