Although DNA tests suggested Asian salamanders carried the pathogen, the amphibians did not show the characteristic ulcers and skin lesions typically seen in diseased animals. Seven of the Asian species tested showed recurring signs of infection over a five month period during which the animals would excrete the fungus intermittently, but showed no clinical lesions, said Martel. Because the Asian species appear to carry the fungus with no ill-effects, these animals may have “coevolved with the fungus, [so] they can suppress the skin infection,” Martel told The Scientist. “This suggests that the fungus originates from Asia.”