Scientists for some time have known about the fungal infection protection that a bacteria, Pedobacter cryoconitis,provided salamander eggs. Now scientists have taken that research a step farther and found that the same bacteria that protects the eggs of the salamanders also exists on the skin of red-backed salamanders and speeds the recovery of salamanders against the chytrid fungus. The chytrid fungus has been pointed out as the main suspect in the disappearance of amphibian species around the world.