 Subsequent research has established that the fungus has been present in Australia since at least 1978 , and present in North America since at least the 1970s . The first known record of chytrid infection in frogs is in the African Clawed Frog , Xenopus laevis . Because Xenopus are sold in pet shops and used in laboratories around the world , it is possible that the chytrid fungus may have been exported from Africa . 
