topic: Amphibians

topic: Amphibians

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Haunting song pays tribute to Toughie, the frog whose extinction went unnoticed
- The extinction of the last Rabbs’ fringe-limbed treefrog, named Toughie, in 2016 received little media coverage, prompting environmental journalist Jeremy Hance to express his anger in an article for The Guardian.
- Musician Talia Schlanger was deeply moved by Hance’s article and wrote a song titled “The Endling” as a tribute to Toughie.
- The Earth is facing an extinction crisis driven by human activity and amphibians like Toughie have experienced massive population declines due to the chytrid fungus.
- Schlanger and Hance say that art and storytelling play a vital role in helping people connect emotionally to the biodiversity crisis.

Study identifies species with a long history but short future amid threats
- A new study analyzing human-driven extinction threats to jawed vertebrates warns that we could lose between 86 billion and 160 billion years’ worth of evolutionary history over the next 50-500 years without concerted conservation action to save unique species.
- The study is the latest in an increasing body of research that indicates evolutionarily distinctive species are frequently also those most at risk of extinction.
- Turtles and tortoises, sharks and rays, and ray-finned fish were identified as among the groups of species most at risk of extinction.
- Given that global targets under the U.N. Global Biodiversity Framework are based on safeguarding evolutionary history, the authors call on conservationists and policymakers to do more to protect such evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered species.

Java’s frogman reflects on half-century dive into amphibian world
- Djoko Tjahjono Iskandar has spent nearly 50 years exploring rural Indonesia in pursuit of novel frog species.
- Indonesia is home to almost 10% of around 6,000 known species of frogs in the world; however, scientists warn half of amphibians worldwide could be lost without urgent action.
- The archipelago of 270 million people also accounts for a majority of the world’s exports of frogs’ legs to Europe and other regions, most of which are caught in the wild.

New volcano toad from Mount Kenya reveals an ancient lineage
- International researchers have described a new species of forest toad from Mount Kenya.
- Working with a single specimen collected eight years ago, the team dates the Kenyan volcano toad’s origins back 20 million years, long before Mount Kenya was formed.
- Researchers say the discovery highlights the rich biodiversity of the now-extinct volcano, and provides a fresh impetus to protect its unique habitats.

No animals harmed as wildlife specimen collection goes digital in 3D
- Conservationist and photographer Scott Trageser has developed a 3D scanning system that could potentially reshape how animals are studied in the wild.
- The system uses an array of cameras that work in sync to rapidly capture photos of animals in the wild, yielding a virtual 3D specimen viewable on smartphone or with a VR/AR headset.
- The noninvasive methodology will enable scientists to conduct research without euthanizing animals; digital specimens also have the advantage of not degrading over time.
- However, the high cost and technical skills required to assemble and operate the system, in addition to its inability to gather internal morphological data, are hurdles to its widespread use.

Study shows dire outlook for amphibians: 40% threatened with extinction
- A global survey of 8,000 amphibian species by the IUCN reveals that 40% of them are at some risk of extinction: 2,873 species in total.
- Brazil is the country with the greatest amphibian diversity in the world, home to around 1,200 species, and according to the new study, 189 are threatened, most of them endemic.
- Deforestation and lethal fungi had already been noted as causes of the decline, but now biologists are highlighting the role of the climate crisis: High temperatures and low humidity affect the amphibians’ breathing, which is partly done through the skin.
- Amphibians are important bioindicators of ecosystem health, as well as being crucial for pest control and medicine.

Sliver of hope as ‘mountain chicken’ frog shows resistance to deadly disease
- A Caribbean frog species known as the mountain chicken is on the brink of extinction due to the spread of an infectious fungal disease.
- However, a recent survey found that there were still 21 of these supersized frogs on the island of Dominica.
- Some of these frogs were found to have genes resistant to the fungal disease, raising hope for the species’ survival.

Frogs in the pot: Two in five amphibian species at risk amid climate crisis
- The extinction risk for more than 8,000 amphibian species has significantly increased in the past 18 years, primarily due to climate change impacts, with two in five amphibians now threatened, a new study shows.
- Amphibians are particularly vulnerable because of their permeable skin and specific habitat needs; diseases like the chytrid fungus further threaten their survival.
- Salamanders are the most at risk, with a lethal fungus in Europe posing a significant threat, especially to the diverse salamander population in North America.
- The study emphasizes the importance of global conservation efforts, with habitat protection showing positive results for some species, and highlights the broader context of the ongoing global biodiversity crisis.

PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ harming wildlife the world over: Study
- While the health impacts of toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, or PFAS, are well known in humans, a new study reports how they affect a wide range of wildlife species.
- In this survey of published studies, the authors found and mapped wildlife exposures worldwide, including impacts on animal species in remote parts of the planet, including the Arctic.
- Researchers documented serious PFAS-triggered conditions in wildlife, including suppressed immunity, liver damage, developmental and reproductive issues, nervous and endocrine system impacts, gut microbiome/bowel disease and more. PFAS pose yet another threat to already beleaguered global wildlife.
- National governments have done little to restrict use of PFAS or remediate pollution, despite growing evidence of increased harm to both humans and wildlife. The study authors call for immediate action to remediate PFAS-contamination sites and regulate industrial chemicals to help protect threatened and endangered species.

In Bangladesh, microplastic threat to frogs is also concern for rice farming
- Researchers have found microplastics in 90% of frogs sampled from the Bengal Delta in Bangladesh.
- The finding raises concerns about the freshwater ecosystem health and rice cultivation, given that frogs are a key “natural insecticide” keeping pest numbers in check.
- The study adds to a growing body of literature on the prevalence of microplastic pollution in Bangladesh.
- Nearly a tenth of the 8,000 metric tons of trash generated daily in the country is plastic waste, for which there’s no proper disposal.

As tourism booms in India’s Western Ghats, habitat loss pushes endangered frogs to the edge
- India’s Western Ghats, a global biodiversity hotspot, is home to many endemic and endangered species of amphibians, some of which are new to science and others suspected of lying in wait of discovery.
- Deforestation due to infrastructure and plantation expansion in the southern Western Ghats threaten the region’s amphibian species, many of which have highly restricted habitats.
- Adding to their woes is an increased risk of landslides in parts of Kerala due to erratic, heavy monsoon rains and erosion due to loss of forest.
- To save them, experts are calling for a systematic taxonomic survey of amphibians in the region and for legal protection of endangered species.

Death of last female Yangtze softshell turtle signals end for ‘god’ turtle
- The last known female Yangtze giant softshell turtle died in April of unknown causes, leaving only two males as the final known living members of a species that has for years been teetering on the brink of extinction.
- “We are devastated,” says the Asian Turtle Program, an NGO working to protect the Yangtze turtle and its habitat.
- The only hope for the species lies in the possibility that a few of these giant creatures may still roam, unknown, in lakes and rivers in Vietnam or Laos.

The more degraded a forest, the quieter its wildlife, new study shows
- Tropical forest researchers are increasingly using bioacoustics to record and analyze ecosystem soundscapes, the sounds that animals make, which in turn can be used as a proxy for forest health.
- Researchers studying soundscapes in logged rainforests in Indonesian Borneo have tested a novel approach that could provide a reliable and low-cost way for conservation agencies and communities to monitor tropical forest health.
- Their new method, which partitions animal groups into broad acoustic frequency classes, offers a stop-gap method for measuring acoustic activity that could be used in the short-term until more detailed artificial intelligence and machine-learning technology is developed.
- During their study, they found that animal sounds diminished and became asynchronous in forests disturbed by selective logging, factors that could be used as proxies for disturbed habitats.

Multinational task force aims to save colorful rainforest frogs
- Thousands of amphibians are dying in the Americas because of the lethal fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), which causes a disease called chytridiomycosis.
- Some of the most affected species are from the Atelopus genus, known as harlequin frogs, also called “jewels of the neotropics” because of their vibrant colors.
- Active since 2019, the Atelopus Survival Initiative (ASI) brings together scientists from 15 countries working to prevent the disappearance of harlequin frogs; of the 99 known species, half may already be extinct.
- Human health is also at risk: In Central America, extinction of amphibians has resulted in up to 90% more malaria cases because one of the important roles the frogs play is to control other populations, including mosquitoes.

New species of ‘Tolkien frog’ emerges from Middle Earth of Ecuadoran Andes
- A new species of frog has been described from the tropical Andes of Ecuador and named after J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of famous works of fantasy literature.
- Only one individual of the species has been found, within the bounds of Río Negro-Sopladora National Park.
- Río Negro-Sopladora was declared a protected area in 2018 and serves as a critical link in the highly diverse Sangay-Podocarpus Corridor, home to many rare and endemic plants and animals.
- The scientists who described the frog say research and monitoring are urgently needed to better understand this unique species and assess potential threats to its survival such as invasive species, emerging diseases, or climate change

Restore linked habitat to protect tropical amphibians from disease: Study
- Amphibians across the tropics are facing a global decline, with disease caused by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) playing an especially significant role in losses.
- According to recent research, “habitat split” — when different types of habitat, such as terrestrial and freshwater areas, become separated — could play a role in exacerbating disease, potentially altering species’ microbiomes and weakening amphibian resistance.
- According to the study, an amphibian’s journey through altered habitat to complete its life cycle can change the composition of its microbiome (the bacterial makeup of the skin); induce chronic stress; and reduce immune gene diversity — all of which can impact disease resistance.
- Though further studies are needed, this research may offer another persuasive reason to actively restore and reconnect habitats, helping to “prime” amphibian immune systems against disease. There is also a possibility that habitat split findings among amphibians could extend to other families of animals.

EU demand for frogs’ legs raises risks of local extinctions, experts warn
- The European Union is the world’s largest consumer of frogs’ legs from wild-caught species, most of them imported from Indonesia, according to a group of conservationists and researchers.
- A lack of transparency and environmental impact assessments connected to the trade is cause for concern and is increasing the risk of local and regional extinctions, they say.
- They note the trade also poses the threat of introducing pathogens that could affect frog populations in the importing countries.

If you build it, the amphibians will come: Swiss researchers show new ponds boost species at risk
- Local authorities and nonprofits created hundreds of new ponds on farms and in forests in a Swiss state.
- Two decades of monitoring 12 amphibian species showed that 10 of them expanded into more ponds, likely increasing their population numbers.
- The strategy is promising in similar settings, but may not be applicable everywhere.

An elusive lizard thought to live only in India makes an appearance in Nepal
- Researchers have confirmed the presence of the Sikkim grass lizard in eastern Nepal, nearly 100 kilometers from its known range in India’s Sikkim state.
- The species was last year classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List because of its limited distribution and threats to its habitat from farming and a hydropower dam.
- Herpetologists say the discovery should prompt more research into Nepal’s little-studied reptile and amphibian life, with the potential for more species coming to light.

Pumpkin toadlets can’t jump: The frog that gave up balance for size
- Pumpkin toadlets are very bad at jumping, often losing balance mid-air and crash landing awkwardly.
- Researchers have determined that this is due to the size of their inner ear canals, the area of the body that regulates balance and orientation: their semicircular ear canals are the smallest recorded in vertebrates.
- The toadlets live in the leaf litter of Brazil’s Atlantic forest, where being small enough to burrow is an advantage.
- But the frogs are so small that the balancing mechanisms in their ears can’t respond to quick movements, resulting in some ungraceful antics.

Amazon frog highlights appropriation of Indigenous knowledge for commercial gain
- Biological resources from plants and animals have long been used by Indigenous communities for medicinal and therapeutic purposes.
- Western science is quickly catching on, but in the process of developing drugs and other products from these resources, companies are locking that Indigenous-derived knowledge behind patent applications.
- A new study from Brazil makes the case that this system is inherently unfair to Indigenous communities, because it disregards their knowledge system as inferior to Western science, but then allows the appropriation of that very knowledge.
- Brazil, home to the biological resources on which many modern medicines are based, only last year set up a system to regulate access to this knowledge and ensure traditional communities benefit from sales of the products developed from it.

Study: Breeding adaptations help tree frogs thrive in different climates
- A new study shows how the Rhacophoridae family of Old World tree frogs has come to occupy a wide variety of environments across Asia and Africa, thanks to adaptations in its breeding methods.
- Frogs typically spend their larval stage in water as tadpoles, but different Rhacophorid species have also adapted other methods: gel nesting, foam nesting, and direct development.
- Foam and gel nests help the frogs lay a large number of eggs in more open and drier habitats to keep the eggs from getting dry, while direct development gives them an edge in spreading into warmer and drier areas where there are no water bodies.
- The study authors say the revelations about the frogs’ evolutionary past will be useful in predicting their responses to current and future climate changes, and hence their conservation.

New photo guide is most comprehensive yet on Sri Lanka’s amphibians
- A new photographic field guide featuring all of Sri Lanka’s known living amphibians is expected to fill a long-felt need for a simple updated guide to help identify the country’s amphibians.
- Not merely serving as a field guide, the book delves into historical records about amphibians’ current conservation status and historical tidbits.
- Sri Lanka is a global hotspot of amphibians, with 120 species, 90% of them endemic, but has also seen the highest number of amphibians go extinct in recent decades.
- The new field guide may need updating soon; recent research makes the case for adding half a dozen new frog species, with more discoveries expected to continue coming.

In Panama, a tiny rainfrog named after Greta Thunberg endures
- A tiny tree frog, new to science, has been named after climate activist Greta Thunberg and her work highlighting the urgency of climate change.
- Scientists found the frog on an expedition to Panama’s Mount Chucantí, home to many unique and endemic species, but which has lost more than 30% of its forest cover in the past decade, mostly to small and medium-scale cattle ranchers.
- High-elevation species like the Greta Thunberg’s rainfrog (Pristimantis gretathunbergae) are vulnerable to fine-scale changes in the environment and climate change and “face a constant risk of extinction,” the study authors write.
- The Panamanian nonprofit Adopt a Rainforest Association created a privately patrolled nature preserve on the mountain where 56 undescribed species have been found by scientists. However, funding shortages made worse by COVID-19 have led to a lack of rangers to protect this unique, forested “sky island.”

COP15 comment: Overlooked rice landscapes can boost biodiversity in Asia (commentary)
- Rice covers 138 million hectares of agricultural land in Asia, which teem with life. However, current management of rice landscapes contributes to the biodiversity crisis.
- The Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework being negotiated during the upcoming Convention on Biological Diversity conference in China can benefit from making rice landscapes a healthy habitat to stem biodiversity loss on the continent.
- Redesigning public programs to discourage practices harmful to biodiversity in rice landscapes should be a priority, as research has shown nature-positive approaches can deliver the same or higher yields as unsustainable practices prevalent across tropical Asia.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Scientists describe new tree frog in push to catalog Indonesia’s amphibians
- A recent study by researchers from Indonesia and Japan describes the molecular, morphological and acoustic traits of a new frog species from Java: Chirixalus pantaiselatan.
- Scientists recommend further research be conducted to evaluate the breeding traits, distribution and population size to determine IUCN and Indonesian national conservation status of the new species.
- Of the more than 400 frog species in Indonesia, only one amphibian, the bleeding toad (Leptophryne cruentata), is currently listed as an Indonesian protected species.
- Citizen science program Go ARK (Gerakan Observasi Amfibi Reptil Kita) is using the iNaturalist scientific data-sharing platform to contribute to a national database for amphibian and reptile research across the Indonesian archipelago.

Platform presents unpublished data on Brazilian biodiversity
- Partnership between scientists and journalists translates scientific data into visual information to warn of the importance of preserving Brazil’s biomes.
- Brazil alone accounts for 17% of the entire terrestrial territory of the tropics with a biodiversity that is more abundant than entire continents: over 20% of the freshwater fish on the planet and 17% of all birds are found in Brazil.
- One problem is the lack of investment in research to survey biodiversity, which usually comes at a slower pace than changes in ecosystems – animals and plants are at risk of disappearing before scientists are able to get to know them.

Podcast: It’s an ‘incredibly exciting’ time for the field of bioacoustics
- On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, we look at why it’s such an “incredibly exciting” time to be involved in the field of conservation bioacoustics — and we listen to some new and favorite wildlife recordings, too.
- Our guest is Laurel Symes, assistant director of the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics at Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology. Symes tells us about how a new $24 million endowment will allow the center to expand its support for bioacoustics research and technology around the world and why this field is poised to make a huge impact on conservation.
- After our conversation with her, we listen to some of the most interesting bioacoustics recordings we’ve featured on the Mongabay Newscast, including the sounds of elephants, lemurs, gibbons, right whales, humpback whales, and frogs.

Actor Juan Pablo Espinosa on the golden dart frog
- Colombian actor Juan Pablo Espinosa has starred in a number of roles spanning his native Colombia and the United States.
- Espinosa voiced the golden dart frog episode of Endangered: Short Tales for The Nearly Forgotten, a podcast anthology that celebrates species that are on the verge of extinction.
- The golden dart frog (Phyllobates terribilis) is the world’s most toxic poison dart frog. Found in Colombia’s Chocó rainforest, the species is classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List due to habitat loss.
- Espinosa spoke with Mongabay with the release of the golden dart frog podcast episode.

Slash-and-burn farming eats away at a Madagascar haven for endangered lemurs, frogs
- The Ankeniheny-Zahamena Corridor (CAZ), a protected area in Madagascar, has experienced a surge in deforestation in the past five months, driven largely by slash-and-burn agriculture.
- The loss of forest threatens rare and endangered wildlife found nowhere else, including lemurs and frogs and geckos, conservationists say.
- Other factors fueling the deforestation include mining for gemstones and cutting of trees to make charcoal.
- The problem in CAZ is emblematic of a wider trend throughout the central eastern region of Madagascar, in both protected and unprotected areas, where 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) of tree cover has been lost since 2001.

One-hit wonder frog makes a comeback in the southern Philippines
- A pair of Filipino biologists have rediscovered Pulcharana guttmani, a rare Philippine stream frog first collected by biologists in 1993 and never seen again until now.
- Experts consider the blue-bellied frog among the rarest in the Philippines; the sole specimen was only described as a new species in 2015, more than 20 years after its collection.
- Its close resemblance to the more common granducola has hidden P. guttmani from science, eluding even herpetologists and Indigenous guides.
- Very little is known about guttmani, but its rediscovery emphasizes the need to protect its habitat, the Allah Valley Watershed Forest Reserve, a biodiverse yet rarely surveyed area in Mindanao that is threatened by security and illegal logging issues.

Planned coal-trucking road threatens a forest haven for Sumatran frogs
- The Harapan forest on the Indonesian island of Sumatra is teeming with frog species, one of which was just described last year.
- These amphibians are threatened by a coal-trucking road that the government has approved to be built right through the forest.
- Environmental activists have pushed back against the project, calling on the government to either suspend the project or approve alternative routes that would bypass the forest altogether or cut through a less pristine portion of it.
- The local government has promised to study the project’s impact, but activists point out the final decision lies with the central government, which gave the approval and has still not addressed their concerns.

[Photos] Tiny frog, venomous viper among 20 new species described in Bolivia
- An expedition into the cloud forests of the Bolivian Andes has uncovered 20 species new to science including a frog smaller than a coin, a new venomous pit viper, four butterflies, and four orchid species.
- Along with the newly described species, the research team also “rediscovered” four species believed to be extinct, including the devil-eyed frog not seen for 20 years.
- Overall, the expedition in the Zongo Valley near La Paz, Bolivia, uncovered rich diversity and endemism and recorded more than 1,200 plants, 247 insects, 10 amphibians, 10 reptiles, 161 birds, nine small terrestrial mammals, nine large mammals, and 12 species of bats.
- The Zongo Valley contributes drinking water and hydroelectric energy for the cities of La Paz and El Alto and is known to provide important ecosystem services. The report calls for urgent measures for formal conservation of this largely intact ecosystem.

Alleged gov’t-linked land grabs threaten Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains
- The Cardamom Mountains sit off the Gulf of Thailand in southern Cambodia and provide important habitat for a multitude of plant and animal species, many of them already threatened with extinction.
- Due to Cardamoms’ remoteness, they had largely been spared the human encroachment that has razed much of the rainforest across the country – until infrastructure development in 2020 opened up the area to loggers, poachers, and others seeking to exploit the region’s forests.
- Satellite data show deforestation is continuing to surge in the Cardamoms despite most of the range being formally demarcated as protected land.
- Sources familiar with the issues say the Hun Sen government is encouraging land-grabbing in protected areas in a bid to build public support ahead of the 2022 election season, and that Cambodia’s systemic corruption is enabling timber and plantation companies to move in and clear forest.

Brazilian frog believed ‘extinct’ for 50+ years, found with eDNA testing
- A Brazilian frog species, Megaelosia bocainensis, thought to have gone extinct in 1968 has been found with eDNA testing, which picks up the traces of environmental DNA that are left behind by living organisms in soil, water and air.
- The missing frog’s eDNA was detected in the Atlantic Forest biome in Parque Nacional da Serra da Bocaina, its last known habitat in São Paulo state, Brazil.
- The researchers used metabarcoding — a form of rapid DNA sequencing — in order to monitor entire communities, rather than only specific rare target species.
- The innovative highly sensitive eDNA sampling technique provides a valuable tool for conservation scientists to evaluate the status of threatened species and to confirm the presence of species that are difficult to monitor and often go undetected using traditional methods.

Land grab, logging, mining threaten biodiversity haven of Woodlark Island
- Woodlark Island lies off the coast of Papua New Guinea and is home to dozens of unique species and a more than 2,000-year-old human culture.
- A recent court ruling has seen the land rights granted to Woodlark islanders in 2016 revoked and returned to an agricultural company that in 2007 planned to transform 70% of the island into oil palm plantations.
- Meanwhile, the status of an application submitted to the PNG Forest Authority by a logging company to clear 40% of the island under the guise of an agricultural project remains unknown, despite an ongoing petition signed by more than 184,00 people.
- A mining company has also started expanding infrastructure and clearing forest in preparation for a long-planned open-pit gold mine, but has faced backlash from villagers unhappy with the replacement housing offered as part of a relocation project to make way for the mine. The company also intends to dispose of mining waste via a controversial pipeline into a nearby bay.

Stolen from the wild, rare reptiles and amphibians are freely traded in EU
- A new report illustrates that protected reptiles and amphibians are being illegally caught in their countries of origin, but then legally traded within the European Union due to a lack of internal trade barriers and controls.
- This is the third report in a series highlighting the trade of exotic pets within Europe; it shows that the trade is continuing, and has even become more extensive.
- Traders are particularly interested in rare, endemic reptiles and amphibians, and will refer to scientific papers to locate newly identified species, the report says.
- The report authors recommend that the EU adopt new legislation similar to the Lacey Act in the U.S., which prohibits the trade of species that are protected in foreign countries.

Madagascar giant frog is a new species, but also a deep-fried delicacy
- Two species of giant frog in the genus Mantidactylus from Madagascar have attracted researchers’ attention for their very large size, reaching body lengths of more than 10 centimeters, or 4 inches.
- A new genetic study has revealed the existence of a third species unknown until now: Mantidactylus radaka.
- The number of scientifically accepted Madagascan frog species now stands at 362 and many other species remain to be discovered.
- Scientists recommend further studies to evaluate the conservation status of giant frog habitats and species.

Podcast: Hellbenders, super-spreaders, and other salamanders face uncertain futures
- The United States is home to the world’s greatest diversity of salamanders, so experts are worried about another pandemic that is headed for the country, one that has salamanders in its sights.
- Hellbenders are North America’s largest salamanders, living in rivers and growing to an incredible length of over two feet. Eastern newts are tiny and terrestrial, but both are susceptible to the fungal pathogen called Bsal.
- On this episode we speak with Dr. Becky Hardman from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and Dr. Anna Longo of the University of Florida about these fascinating and unique species, and discuss what is being done to prepare for a Bsal invasion that experts say is inevitable.
- This is the sixth and final episode of the “Mongabay Explores” series about salamanders, published during alternate weeks from our flagship podcast, the Mongabay Newscast.

Sri Lanka’s hourglass frog is only an hourglass frog 77% of the time
- A study into an endemic tree frog in Sri Lanka, Taruga eques, has found wide variations in both color and dorsal marking.
- The authors of the study say this high variance, or polymorphism, squares with what researchers already known about other tree frog species, and makes T. eques’s common name — hourglass tree frog — a misnomer.
- Polymorphism is important in amphibians to help regulate body temperature and evade predators, but hasn’t been researched in frogs in Sri Lanka until this new study, despite the island being known as a biodiversity hotspot.
- Amphibians like T. eques are threatened by habitat loss, forest fragmentation and climate change.

Brazilian Amazon drained of millions of wild animals by criminal networks: Report
- A new 140-page report is shining a bright light on illegal wildlife trafficking in the Brazilian Amazon. The study finds that millions of birds, tropical fish, turtles, and mammals are being plucked from the wild and traded domestically or exported to the U.S, EU, China, the Middle East and elsewhere. Many are endangered.
- This illicit international trade is facilitated by weak laws, weak penalties, inadequate government record keeping, poor law enforcement — as well as widespread corruption, bribery, fraud, forgery, money laundering and smuggling.
- While some animals are seized, and some low-level smugglers are caught, the organizers of this global criminal enterprise are rarely brought to justice.
- The report notes that this trafficking crisis needs urgent action, as the trade not only harms wildlife, but also decimates ecosystems and puts public health at risk. The researchers point out that COVID-19 likely was transmitted to humans by trafficked animals and that addressing the Brazilian Amazon wildlife trade could prevent the next pandemic.

Podcast: Can policy prevent a North American salamander pandemic?
- The United States is home to the world’s greatest diversity of salamanders, so experts are worried about another pandemic that is headed for the country, one that has salamanders in its sights.
- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service imposed a ban on the trade of 201 salamander species in 2016. However, the recent discovery that frogs can also carry Bsal has led scientists to urge the American government to ban the import of all salamander and frog species.
- On this bonus episode of the podcast we speak with two experts about animal trade policy, differences in the way the United States conducts this policy from other nations, and what the U.S. might do to more effectively combat the threat.
- Former Program Manager for the Association of Fish and Wildlife agencies, Priya Nanjappa, and Tiffany Yap, a Staff Scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, share their thoughts on how policy and regulation could head off the looming salamander pandemic.

Habitat of newly described frog in Sumatra threatened by oil palms, roads
- Scientists have described a new frog species found in the southern lowland forests of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island.
- But the habitat where this frog is found is being devastated by encroaching oil palm plantations and infrastructure projects.
- The scientists who described the new species have called for the protection of lowland forests in southern Sumatra where other nearly extinct species live, including tigers and elephants.

Can a mine and a community group save the tiny golden mantella frog?
- The critically endangered golden mantella frog (Mantella aurantiaca) lives exclusively in the eastern portion of Madagascar’s Central Highlands.
- The frog is threatened by habitat loss, brought on in part by the Ambatovy nickel and cobalt mine.
- A rescue plan designed by citizens and supported by Ambatovy has led to the development of techniques for raising and breeding the frog in captivity.
- Specimens raised in captivity were reintroduced into the wild in 2017, but studies examining their fate have yet to be released.

Podcast: International task force unites North America to protect salamander diversity
- The U.S. is home to the world’s greatest diversity of salamanders, so experts are worried about another pandemic that is headed for the country, one that has salamanders in its sights.
- Researchers think that about half of these species may be susceptible to the deadly fungus Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (or ‘Bsal’), and believe it is only a matter of time before it gets to North America.
- On this bonus episode of the podcast we speak with Dr. Jake Kerby who is the former chair of the task force, and details how the group works with federal entities in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico to manage and mitigate the damage of the potential pandemic.
- Dr. Kerby also describes what citizens can do to help.

Audio: Will U.S. scientists find a silent salamander killer in time?
- The U.S. is home to the world’s greatest diversity of salamanders, so experts are worried about another pandemic that is headed for the country, one that has salamanders in its sights.
- On this episode of the podcast we speak with a wildlife disease ecologist with U.S. Geological Survey, Daniel Grear, and with reporter Benji Jones about the programs that are pooling resources to search for any appearance of the dangerous fungus, called Bsal.
- This is a huge task that Jones describes as “searching for a needle in a haystack except the needle is invisible and the hay stretches for thousands of miles.”
- Grear shares how testing efforts are focused on areas of the U.S. that have the greatest concentration and biodiversity of salamanders, and that 11,000 tests have already been recorded, all negative, though experts like him believe it’s just a matter of time before the fungus makes landfall in North America.

Less than a thousand remain: New list of animals on the brink of extinction
- More than 500 vertebrate species are on the brink of extinction, with populations of fewer than a thousand individuals, a new study says.
- According to the authors, the Earth is experiencing its sixth mass extinction, extinction rates accelerating, and human activity is to blame.
- The authors call the ongoing extinction perhaps “the most serious environmental threat to the persistence of civilization, because it is irreversible.”
- “The conservation of endangered species should be elevated to a national and global emergency for governments and institutions, equal to climate disruption to which it is linked,” they say.

Audio: Why are salamanders so diverse in North America?
- Another pandemic is currently on the march, and it’s got salamanders in its sights.
- The United States is home to the world’s greatest diversity of salamanders: we speak with Senior Editor Morgan Erickson-Davis about why this is, and therefore what we stand to lose.
- The disease ‘Bsal’ nearly wiped out a population of salamanders in Europe, and scientists worry it could make landfall in the U.S. via the pet trade.
- Listen here to episode two of our special edition podcast series exploring this topic.

‘Don’t let your cat outside’: Q&A with author Peter Christie
- Journalist Peter Christie has published a new book about the effects that pets have on wildlife and biodiversity.
- In addition to the billions of birds and small mammals killed by free-roaming pets each year, the wild pet trade, invasive pets, disease spread and the pet food industry are harming biodiversity and contributing to the global crisis.
- Christie calls the book “a call to action,” and he says he hopes that humans’ love for their pets might extend to wild species as well.

Audio: North America’s looming salamander pandemic: Is the U.S. ready?
- Another pandemic is currently on the march, and it’s got salamanders in its sights.
- ‘Bsal’ nearly wiped out a population of salamanders in Europe, and scientists worry it could invade the United States–the home of the world’s greatest diversity of salamanders–next.
- Mongabay revisits this issue that the team recently covered in great depth for a special new series of its podcast, to find out what we know about the situation now.
- Is the U.S. ready for Bsal, and can a pandemic in this global salamander hotspot be prevented, unlike the one that’s currently crippling human societies globally? Listen here to episode one of our special podcast series exploring this topic.

Sri Lanka’s marbled rock frog may not be on brink of extinction, modeling suggests
- Using a combination of old-fashioned field work and new-fangled computer modeling, researchers in Sri Lanka have found that the critically endangered marble rock frog (Nannophrys marmorata) occurs over a potentially much larger range than previously thought.
- In a new paper, they suggest that, pending further studies, this finding should qualify the species for removal from the critically endangered list, to which it was added in light of the much smaller range in which it was previously believed to occur.
- The researchers say the discovery should also prompt more field surveys, and raise the possibility that another frog in the genus, N. guentheri, which is considered extinct, may be rediscovered this way.
- At the same time, they also emphasize the need to protect the frogs’ habitats from threats such as the encroachment of illegal cardamom and tea plantations.

The frog that wasn’t there: Survey shines a light on Uganda’s amphibians
- A field survey by herpetologists has failed to find any signs of the Mt. Elgon torrent frog in its native Uganda, raising concerns about the degradation of wetland habitats.
- There are 80 to 100 amphibian species in Uganda, but their habitats are being drained to create farmland and livestock pasture, or to build residential areas and industrial parks.
- Many of the country’s wetlands are also affected by water pollution caused by fertilizer and pesticide runoff from both large- and small-scale farming, as well as industrial effluent and sewage from growing urban centers.
- Scientists say it’s important to keep tabs on frogs and other amphibians because their presence — or absence — serves as a key indicator of ecosystem health.

New assessment shows Sri Lanka’s amphibians being pushed to the brink
- A recent global IUCN Red List assessment of the amphibians of Sri Lanka has highlighted that 72 of them are threatened with extinction, with 20 critically endangered.
- Evaluators identified the rapid loss of wet-zone cloud forests as the most immediate threat to the island’s amphibians, and highlighted three priority sites that are uniquely important for their conservation.
- In recent years, Sri Lanka has recorded the highest number of amphibian extinctions in the world and rediscovered only three of 21 amphibian species previously considered extinct, highlighting the need for more research and strategies for amphibian conservation.
- Though a small Indian Ocean island, Sri Lanka is recognized as an amphibian hotspot, with 116 species, 90% of them found nowhere else on Earth.

‘Just incredible’ reptiles and amphibians of South Africa: Q&A with Tyrone Ping
- Growing up in the suburbs of the sub-tropical city of Durban in South Africa brought Tyrone Ping into daily contact with reptiles and amphibians, spurring a lifelong interest.
- Ping now travels around Southern Africa photographing and documenting the diversity of herps, i.e. reptiles and amphibians for a range of educational uses.
- Many species in the region are cryptic and yet to be properly described – species that have been known about for 20 years still don’t have names, he reports.
- Mongabay spoke with him via email to learn more about the region’s herpetofauna.

Muduga leaping frog is first new member of its genus found in over a century
- A new species of frog endemic to the Western Ghats, a mountain range in India that is considered a global biodiversity hotspot, is the first new addition to the genus Walkerana in more than a century.
- There are three previously known Walkerana species: W. leptodactyla, W. diplosticta, and W. phrynoderma. The newly discovered Muduga leaping frog, Walkerana muduga, is now the fourth member of the genus.
- “After a span of 137 years, we have discovered a new frog species within the genus Walkerana,” K. P. Dinesh, a scientist at the Zoological Survey of India and lead author of the paper describing the new species, said in a statement. “The last few species descriptions within this genus date to 1876 and 1882.”

Predators disproportionately impacted by human land use changes, study finds
- New research looking at whether particular types of wildlife are more affected than others by habitat loss determined that predators are the most impacted, as was expected — but the study results held some surprises nonetheless.
- Because the loss of plant resources makes it harder for large predators to find sufficient food when land use changes occur within their range, researchers expected to find that these types of animals would be especially affected.
- The analysis showed that predators are indeed more affected by habitat loss than other groups — but that larger carnivores are not threatened with the largest declines. It was small invertebrates that were found to face the worst impacts.

Colombia’s ‘Heart of the World’: Mining, megaprojects overrun indigenous land
- The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is an isolated group of mountains situated along Colombia’s northern coast, which has the unique distinction of harboring more threatened endemic species than anywhere else in the world.
- Agricultural expansion has come at the expense of vital habitat over the past several decades. Now, resource exploitation and infrastructure projects planned for the region are further threatening the mountains’ ecosystems, according to scientists and local activists.
- Four indigenous groups inhabit the region: the Kogui, Arhuaco, Wiwa, and Kankuamo. Since 1973, the Colombian government has recognized a ring of sacred sites extending around the base of the mountain range. Collectively known as the “Black Line,” indigenous communities claim them as their ancestral territory.
- Three years ago, the indigenous councils filed a legal action with the Constitutional Court, arguing that their constitutional rights were violated by legal and illegal mining taking place inside the Black Line. In addition to the mining, the councils denounced large-scale infrastructure projects such as the development of a coal-shipping port, hydroelectric dam, and hotel that had been carried out inside the Black Line without indigenous consent. The court has yet to issue a ruling.

Photos: Top 15 new species of 2019
- In 2019, Mongabay covered several announcements of new-to-science species.
- The “discovery” of a new-to-science species is always an awe-inspiring bit of news; the outcome of dogged perseverance, months or years of field surveys, and long periods of sifting through hundreds of museum records.
- In no particular order, we present our 15 top picks.

Female golden rocket frogs know a good father when they hear him
- Female golden rocket frogs prefer males with longer call lengths featuring more pulses, which correlates to their parental care abilities, researchers have found.
- Male removal experiments in Kaieteur National Park in Guyana revealed that hatching success is four times higher in clutches with attentive fathers than those without a father present.
- By honestly advertising their parental care abilities, male frogs can inform females of their potential to protect their eggs and tadpoles from desiccation and predation.

Arhuaco community of Colombia allows scientists to photograph ‘lost’ toad
- The indigenous Arhuaco people of the Sogrome community living in Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta have been residing alongside the the starry night harlequin toad (Atelopus arsyecue) for generations.
- But the critically endangered species has remained undetected by scientists for nearly 30 years.
- Recently, after several years of discussions, the Sogrome community, which considers the harlequin toad sacred and an integral part of its culture, permitted researchers from a Colombian conservation group to go and photograph the toads and share it with the wider scientific community.

Rapid genetic test traces spread of fungus that kills frogs, reveals new strain in Southeast Asia
- The chytrid fungus has devastated frog populations worldwide, but some variants are especially dangerous.
- Researchers collected 222 frog skin swabs from six continents to map the global distribution of these strains.
- A new and targeted genetic screen uncovered an unknown lineage in Southeast Asia and regions where co-existing variants could combine into deadly hybrids.
- Rapid skin swabs could help scientists unravel how the fungus became so deadly in recent decades, leading to tighter laws restricting the international transport of frogs.

New toads named from a Sumatran biodiversity trove that’s under threat
- Researchers have recently described three new species of toads belonging to the Sigalegalephrynus genus of puppet toads living in the highlands of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island.
- The genus was first proposed in 2017 with the description of two species. Researchers believe there may be even more puppet toads left to discover.
- The discovery highlights the vast diversity of Sumatra’s herpetofauna, but also the immense threats the island’s wildlife faces, primarily from loss of habitat to deforestation and agriculture.
- The researchers say all of the newly described species should be listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List.

This toad from central Africa impersonates a deadly viper to avoid predators
- The Congolese giant toad (Sclerophrys channingi) is the first toad found to mimic a harmful snake, in this case the highly venomous Gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica), which has longer fangs and produces more venom than any other known snake species.
- A team of researchers who spent ten years in the field observing the Congolese giant toad and its mimicry behavior published their findings in the Journal of Natural History this week.
- The triangular shape of the toad’s body, its particularly smooth skin for a toad, and its patterns of colors cause the amphibian to look like the viper’s head. In other words, the two are visually similar enough that any predators looking for a meal might certainly be wise to skip right past the Congolese giant toad rather than risk a lethal bite from a Gaboon viper. But just for a little extra insurance, the Congolese giant toad goes even further than mere visual mimicry.

International wildlife trade sweeps across ‘tree of life,’ study finds
- About one in five land animals are caught up in the global wildlife trade, a new study has found.
- The research identified species traded as pets or for products they provide, and then mapped the animals’ home ranges, identifying “hotspots” around the world.
- The team also found that nearly 3,200 other species may be affected by the wildlife trade in the future.
- The study’s authors say they believe their work could help authorities protect species before trade drives their numbers down.

Newly described Chinese giant salamander may be world’s largest amphibian
- The critically endangered Chinese giant salamander is not just one, but three distinct species, researchers have now confirmed in a new study.
- One of the newly recognized species, the South China giant salamander (Andrias sligoi), could be largest amphibian on the planet, the researchers say.
- The researchers say they hope the recognition of the Chinese giant salamanders as three species will help the amphibians’ conservation by triggering separate management plans for the species.

Asian elephant footprints serve as safe spaces for frog nurseries
- Researchers have discovered that Asian elephant footprints can create stable, safe breeding grounds for frogs in Myanmar.
- The scientists believe these stable foot ponds can last for more than a year, and that a series of them provides connectivity for frog populations.
- While the ecosystems services of African savanna and forest elephants have been widely studied, the scientists say more research should be spent on Asian elephants and how they impact their ecosystems.

Indigenous-managed lands found to harbor more biodiversity than protected areas
- Researchers say they found that amphibian, bird, mammal, and reptile abundance in Australia, Brazil, and Canada is highest on lands managed or co-managed by indigenous communities — higher even than on protected areas like parks and wildlife reserves, which were found to have the second highest levels of biodiversity.
- Both indigenous-managed lands and protected areas harbored more biodiversity than unprotected areas included in the study that the researchers selected at random. The researchers also determined that the size and geographical location of any particular area had no effect on levels of species diversity, suggesting that it’s the land-management practices of indigenous communities that are conserving biodiversity.
- The researchers said their results demonstrate the importance of expanding the boundaries of traditional conservation strategies, which frequently rely on establishing protected areas to conserve critical habitat for biodiversity.

Logging, mining companies lock eyes on a biodiverse island like no other
- Woodlark Island sits far off the coast of Papua New Guinea and is swathed in old growth forests home to animals found nowhere else on the planet. However, the island and its unique inhabitants have an uncertain future. Lured by high-value timber, a logging company is planning to clear 40 percent of Woodlark’s forests. Researchers say this could drive many species to extinction.
- The company says logging will be followed by the planting of tree and cocoa plantations, and it has submitted to the government a permit application to clear forests as an agricultural development project. However, an independent investigation found this application process “riddled with errors, inconsistencies and false information” and that the company did not properly obtain the consent of landowners who have lived on the island for generations.
- It is unclear if the application has been approved, but there are signs that the company may be moving forward with its plans.
- Meanwhile, a mining company is pushing forward with its own plans to develop an open-pit gold mine on the island. The mine is expected to result in increased road construction and discharge nearly 13 metric tons of mining waste into a nearby bay.

The frog and the university: Meet the niche new species from Sri Lanka
- The recent discovery of a new frog species in a niche habitat in Sri Lanka’s cloud forest has highlighted the need for conserving the Indian Ocean island’s dwindling montane habitats.
- The frog, Lankanectes pera, is named after the University of Peradeniya, the country’s oldest, and dwells only in pristine streams flowing through canopy-covered montane forests in the highest reaches of the Knuckles Mountain Range.
- Researchers are calling for extensive studies to inform conservation actions for the species, which they’ve recommended be classified as critically endangered, given its small range and population.

Deadly virus detected in wild frog populations in Brazil
- Researchers have detected the first case of ranavirus infection in both native frog species as well as the invasive American bullfrog in the wild in Brazil.
- While the study cannot attribute ranavirus as the cause of death for the observed American bullfrog tadpoles, the findings suggest that ranavirus is spread in the wild, the researchers say.
- Ranavirus infections could be far more widespread in Brazil, and may have simply gone unnoticed until now, the researchers add.

Primates lose ground to surging commodity production in their habitats
- “Forest risk” commodities, such as beef, palm oil, and fossil fuels, led to a significant proportion of the 1.8 million square kilometers (695,000 square miles) of forest that was cleared between 2001 and 2017 — an area almost the size of Mexico.
- A previous study found that 60 percent of primates face extinction and 75 percent of species’ numbers are declining.
- The authors say that addressing the loss of primate habitat due to the production of commodities is possible, though it will require a global effort to “green” the international trade in these commodities.

The health of penguin chicks points scientists to changes in the ocean
- A recent closure of commercial fishing around South Africa’s Robben Island gave scientists the chance to understand how fluctuations in prey fish populations affect endangered African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) absent pressure from humans.
- The researchers found that the more fish were available, the better the condition of the penguin chicks that rely on their parents for food.
- This link between prey abundance in the sea and the condition of penguin chicks on land could serve as an indicator of changes in the ecosystem.

Interest in protecting environment up since Pope’s 2015 encyclical
- New research into the usage of environmentally related search terms on Google suggests that interest in the environment has risen since Pope Francis released Laudato Si’ in 2015.
- Laudato Si’, a papal encyclical, argues that it is a moral imperative for humans to look after the environment.
- Researchers and scholars believe that the pope’s support for protecting the environment could ripple well beyond the 16 percent of the world’s population that is Catholic.

Audio: Exploring a hidden rainforest on an isolated mountain in Mozambique
- On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast, we speak with Julian Bayliss, a conservation scientist and explorer who recently discovered a hidden rainforest on top of an isolated mountain in Mozambique.
- Like many other mountains in eastern Africa, Mount Lico is what’s known as an “inselberg” — a German word that means “island mountain.” Bayliss initially spotted the forest atop Mount Lico using Google Earth. He then confirmed its existence via drone reconnaissance, before mounting a campaign to actually scale Mount Lico’s sheer, 410-foot cliffs and explore the forest firsthand.
- On this episode, Julian Bayliss discusses what it was like to behold the unspoiled forest atop Mount Lico for the first time, the new species he found there, and the significance of the pottery he discovered in the rainforest even though no locals have ever been to the top of the mountain.

Climate change spurs deadly virus in frogs in the U.K.
- As temperatures climb, ranaviruses cause more frog deaths over a longer part of the year, according to a new study.
- The researchers combined data from outbreaks of disease caused by ranaviruses in common frogs (Rana temporaria) with laboratory investigations.
- They say that shaded areas and deeper ponds could provide refuges for afflicted animals that might slow the spread of the virus, but they also caution that this “short-term solution” is only a stopgap as the warming climate continues to make life difficult for amphibians.

’Unprecedented’ loss of biodiversity threatens humanity, report finds
- The U.N.’s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services released a summary of far-reaching research on the threats to biodiversity on May 6.
- The findings are dire, indicating that around 1 million species of plants and animals face extinction.
- The full 1,500-page report, to be released later this year, raises concerns about the impacts of collapsing biodiversity on human well-being.

Scientists urge overhaul of the world’s parks to protect biodiversity
- A team of scientists argues that we should evaluate the effectiveness of protected areas based on the outcomes for biodiversity, not simple the area of land or ocean they protect.
- In a paper published April 11 in the journal Science, they outline the weaknesses of Aichi Biodiversity Target 11, which set goals of protecting 17 percent of the earth’s surface and 10 percent of its oceans by 2020.
- They propose monitoring the outcomes of protected areas that measure changes in biodiversity in comparison to agreed-upon “reference” levels and then using those figures to determine how well they are performing.

To stop extinctions, start with these 169 islands, new study finds
- New research shows that culling invasive, non-native animals on just 169 islands around the world over roughly the next decade could help save almost 10 percent of island-dwelling animals at risk of extinction.
- A team of scientists surveyed nearly 1,300 islands where 1,184 threatened native animals have collided with 184 invasive mammals.
- Their analyses gave them a list of 107 islands where conservationists could start eradication projects by 2020, potentially keeping 80 threatened species from sliding closer to extinction.

Deadly fungal disease has devastated more than 500 amphibian species
- In 2007, the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or Bd, was implicated in the decline or extinction of up to 200 species of frogs.
- Now, by scanning through evidence, researchers have found that in all, chytrid fungus-linked deaths have contributed to the decline of at least 501 amphibian species — that’s 6.5 percent of all amphibian species described by science so far.
- Of these, some 90 species are presumably extinct and another 124 are suffering severe declines, researchers say.

Video: Scientists surprised to discover tiny toadlets can glow
- Pumpkin toadlets (Brachycephalus ephippium) inhabit Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, where they crawl through the leaf litter in search of mates.
- However, researchers found that they can’t hear their own high-frequency mating calls.
- While investigating how they communicate to find mates, the researchers unexpectedly discovered that the frogs fluoresce when exposed to UV light.
- The researchers aren’t sure why they do this, but say it could be a way to avoid predation or attract mates.

Malaysian state chief: Highway construction must not destroy forest
- The chief minister of Sabah, one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo, said that the Pan Borneo Highway project should expand existing roads where possible to minimize environmental impact.
- A coalition of local NGOs and scientific organizations applauded the announcement, saying that it could usher in a new era of collaboration between the government and civil society to look out for Sabah’s people and forests.
- These groups have raised concerns about the impacts on wildlife and communities of the proposed path of the highway, which will cover some 5,300 kilometers (3,300 miles) in the states of Sabah and Sarawak.

Super variable California salamander is ‘an evolutionist’s dream’
- The ensatina is a widespread salamander species that can be found in forests along the entire western coast of North America.
- It is one of only two species that broadly lives up to the “ring species” concept: the ensatina is considered to be a single species, but is characterized by a chain of interconnected populations around California’s Central Valley that can look strikingly different. While the intermediate populations can interbreed, the forms at the southern ends of the loop are so different that they can no longer mate successfully everywhere they meet.
- Ensatinas are among the key predators on the forest floors they occupy, and play a critical role in sequestering carbon.
- Researchers are now trying to figure out if ensatinas and other North American salamanders have any natural defenses against the deadly Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans fungus.

New maps show where humans are pushing species closer to extinction
- A new study maps out how disruptive human changes to the environment affect the individual ranges of more than 5,400 mammal, bird and amphibian species around the world.
- Almost a quarter of the species are threatened by human impacts in more than 90 percent of their range, and at least one human impact occurred in an average of 38 percent of the range of a given species.
- The study also identified “cool” spots, where concentrations of species aren’t negatively impacted by humans.
- The researchers say these “refugia” are good targets for conservation efforts.

Tiny subterranean Texas salamanders could be extinct in 100 years
- A recent study has revealed the existence of three previously undescribed species living underground within an aquifer system in Central Texas.
- The authors say one of these species is critically endangered due to human over-use of the aquifer. In all, they say that this unsustainable use could mean the extinction of all aquifer salamanders in the next century.
- The researchers urge the creation of policies that would regulate groundwater usage, as well as greater protection of particularly at-risk species through the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Latam Eco Review: Icon status for jaguars and fears over lithium mining

The environmental impact of the global demand for lithium and more jaguar protection in South America, plus profiles of five pioneering women in conservation science, and a newly discovered tree frog in Ecuador — these are among the recent top stories from our Spanish-language service, Mongabay Latam. Peru wants jaguar named Latin America’s flagship animal […]
In the Solomon Islands, making amends in the name of conservation
- The Kwaio people of the Solomon Islands have been working with scientists to protect their homeland from resource extraction and development.
- But violent clashes in 1927 between the Kwaio and the colonial government created a rift between members of this tribe and the outside world.
- To heal those old wounds and continue with their conservation work, a trio of scientists joined the Kwaio in a sacred reconciliation ceremony in July 2018.
- Kwaio leaders say that the ceremony opened the door to a more peaceful future for their people.

Latam Eco Review: ‘Andean ostrich’ gets some bling and Patagonia pumas protected

The most recent top stories from our Spanish-language service, Mongabay Latam, followed Romeo, the incredibly rare Bolivian frog who’s finally found a mate; puma protection in Patagonia National Park; and the “Andean ostrich” that now features on a Peruvian coin. Love over extinction: Bolivia’s ‘Romeo’ frog finds his Juliet After a decade of solitude, Romeo, […]
Conservation groups press world leaders to protect 30% of the planet
- Thirteen nature conservation organizations are urging world leaders to back a plan to protect 30 percent of the world’s surface and oceans by 2030.
- Recent research has shown that less than a quarter of the world’s wilderness still remains.
- The group released a statement as negotiators were meeting in Japan to begin drafting a plan to meet that goal.

Romeo finally found his Juliet, and an endangered frog has new prospects for survival
- When Valentine’s Day rolled around last year, Romeo found himself without a date. That’s because Romeo is a Sehuencas water frog and, as far as scientists knew at the time, he was the last surviving member of his species. The last time he even bothered calling for a mate was apparently some time in late 2017.
- So last year, the teams at the Museo de Historia Natural Alcide d’Orbigny and the NGO Global Wildlife Conservation set up a dating profile for Romeo on Match.com as a means of raising money to fund an expedition into Bolivia’s cloud forests in search of a Juliet.
- That expedition led to the rediscovery of the Sehuencas water frog in the wild and the collection of three males and two females, all of whom were taken to the Museo de Historia Natural Alcide d’Orbigny’s K’ayra Center for Research and Conservation of Threatened Amphibians. Once the quarantine period is over, Romeo will finally meet his Juliet — and the species just might make a comeback from the brink of extinction.

New species of tree frog from Ecuador has a mysterious claw
- A team of biologists surveying a remote and largely unexplored part of the Andes in Ecuador have described a new species of tree frog that’s dark brown in color, with bright orange flecks dotting its body.
- The researchers have named the tree frog Hyloscirtus hillisi, after David Hillis, a U.S. evolutionary biologist known for his work on the Hyloscirtus genus of tree frogs.
- While the researchers don’t have an estimate of the frog’s population, they think its numbers are likely low.
- The species’ small habitat also lies near a large-scale mining operation, putting the frog at immediate risk of extinction.

Habitat loss, pigs, disease: U.S. salamanders face a ‘tough situation’
- A pandemic is on the horizon. A fungal pathogen called Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) almost completely wiped out several fire salamander populations in Europe and biologists think it may be only a matter of time until it gets to North America.
- North America is the world’s hotspot of salamander diversity, with around half the world’s species. The U.S. in particular has more salamander species than any other country. But more than 40 percent of U.S. species are threatened.
- Habitat loss is the main reason behind declines of U.S. salamanders. Invasive species like pigs are also a growing threat to many species, and researchers think global declines in insect abundance may also be greatly affecting them.
- Studies indicate many, if not most, U.S. salamanders are susceptible to Bsal – including many threatened species. Biologists worry the disease will be the nail in the coffin for salamander species already weakened by other pressures, and are trying to figure out how they stand to be affected and how best to rescue them.

As a pandemic looms, researchers rush to test salamander vulnerability
- Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), the “salamander-eating” fungus, was first described in 2013 after it had almost entirely killed off several populations of fire salamanders in Europe. Researchers believe it spread there from Asia via the pet trade.
- Researchers have yet to detect it in North America, but are very worried about its impacts if it arrives. The U.S. is home to more salamander species than any other country, many of which belong to families that are known to be particularly susceptible to the disease.
- Biologists are racing to figure out how different species react to Bsal in an effort to know how it may spread and where best to target conservation efforts.
- So far, all salamander species tested at one lab have been susceptible to Bsal infection.

Disappearing salamanders: New research aims to solve a decades-old mystery
- Southern dusky salamanders used to be abundant in Georgia, Florida and parts of Alabama. But that all changed in the 1970s when researchers started noticing sudden declines throughout their distribution.
- Today, southern duskies are found in less than 1 percent of their former range.
- Researchers are conducting the first range-wide study of the species to try to figure out why exactly so many have vanished and what their disappearance has meant to the surrounding environment.
- The researchers say they hope their results can be used to prevent the southern dusky from becoming extinct, as well as help save other declining salamander species.

‘Snot otters’ threatened by disease and stress
- Growing more than two feet in length, the hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) is the largest salamander species in North America.
- Hellbenders have been on the decline for at least 30 years, and in some parts of their range have disappeared completely. Researchers think this may be because they require cool, clean water, and much of their habitat has been degraded by human activity.
- There’s another cause of alarm for hellbender researchers: a pathogenic fungus that stands to devastate salamander populations if it gets to North America.
- So far, research indicates hellbenders can survive this fungus. But they are less able to if they’re already stressed by environmental degradation.

Every sea turtle in global study found to have synthetic fibers and microplastics in their guts
- A recent study found microplastics in the intestines of humans around the globe, and new research has now done the same for sea turtles.
- Researchers studied 102 sea turtles in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans as well as the Mediterranean Sea. According to a paper published in the journal Global Change Biology earlier this month detailing their findings, synthetic particles less than 5 millimeters in length, including microplastics, were found in every single turtle studied.
- More than 800 synthetic particles were found in the 102 turtles included in the study, with the most common being fibers that are shed by things like clothing, car tires, cigarette filters, ropes, and fishing nets as they break down after finding their way into the sea.

Essential ubiquity: How one tiny salamander species has a huge impact
- Red-backed salamanders are little lungless salamanders that live in the deciduous forests of eastern and central U.S. and up into Canada. They have one of the biggest distributions of any North American salamander.
- Their secretive nature means they can be hard to find. However, they’re some of the most abundant leaf-litter organisms in the forests within their range.
- Research indicates that because of their abundance, red-backed salamanders hold pivotal roles in their ecosystems, influencing a forest’s fungal communities. Fungi break down organic matter like fallen leaves, logs, and dead organisms. If nothing were to rot, the forest would soon starve. Red-backed salamanders feed on a wide variety of invertebrates like ants, spiders, centipedes, beetles, snails, and termites — many of which graze on fungus.
- But while red-backed salamanders are still relatively common, they are facing a number of threats. Logging in the southern Appalachian Mountains has reduced their numbers an estimated 9 percent (representing a loss of around 250 million individuals). And a salamander-eating fungus may soon invade North America, which researchers are worried could decimate salamander populations across the continent.

The true story of how 96 endangered sea turtle hatchlings survived a New York City beach
- It was a Thursday, so there probably wouldn’t have been too big of a crowd, but luckily there were at least a few beachgoers out at West Beach, near the western tip of the Rockaway Peninsula, when a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle — a member of a critically endangered species — crawled on shore and started building a nest. Even more luckily, a couple of those beachgoers had the presence of mind to report it to a 24-hour marine wildlife rescue hotline.
- Those calls likely saved the lives of 96 sea turtle hatchlings, all of whom successfully made the trek back out to the ocean a couple months later.
- While human activities are the primary reason Kemp’s Ridleys face an uncertain future — harvesting of adults and eggs, destruction of their coastal nesting habitats, and entanglement in fishing gear are the chief threats to the species — in this case, human intervention was crucial to the turtles’ survival.

‘Death by a thousand holes’: Scientists race to avert a salamander crisis
- A deadly fungus called Bsal decimated salamander populations in Europe, and scientists are very worried that it will soon invade North America.
- North America – and the U.S. in particular – is the world’s hotspot of salamander diversity, hosting about a third of all species. Researchers think half of U.S. species may be susceptible to Bsal.
- Scientists say it may be only a matter of time before Bsal gets to North America. And when it does, they warn that it could mean devastation for salamanders and even drive some species to extinction.
- In an effort to head off the threat, scientists and government officials created the Bsal Task Force in 2015. Next month they intend to release their strategic plan, the culmination of years of collaboration and research, which provides a roadmap for what to do in the event Bsal is detected in North America.

Relative of ‘penis snake’ amphibian named after Donald Trump
- EnviroBuild, a construction materials company based in the U.K., paid $25,000 for naming rights to the amphibian in a charity auction benefiting the Rainforest Trust, a conservation group.
- EnviroBuild chose the name as a cheeky way to spur awareness about President Trump’s climate policies.
- Little else was revealed about the new species, including where or when it was discovered.

Super-spreaders: How the curious life of a newt could ignite a pandemic
- The eastern U.S. is the world’s salamander hotspot, with more species per area than anywhere else on the planet. Often superabundant, salamanders hold important ecological roles in their habitats.
- Eastern newts (Notophthalmus viridescens) are the second most widely distributed salamander species in the U.S. They’re also incredibly mobile and are able to transition to a toxic, terrestrial form to move between ponds.
- Like many other U.S. salamander species, eastern newts are highly susceptible to a fungal pathogen called Bactrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal). While Bsal has yet to make an appearance in North America, it has wreaked havoc on salamander populations in Europe, and biologists worry its impact in the U.S. will be even worse.
- Their susceptibility to Bsal coupled with their mobility mean eastern newts could act as “super-spreaders” of Bsal if the fungus gets to North America. Researchers worry that not only would the newts themselves face massive die-offs, but also they could quickly spread the disease to other salamander species.

Audio: The true story of how 96 critically endangered sea turtle hatchlings survived New York City
- On this episode, the true story of how 96 critically endangered sea turtles survived a New York City beach — with a little help from some dedicated conservationists.
- This past summer, beachgoers in New York City spotted a nesting Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle on West Beach, which is on National Park Service land.
- Luckily, two of those beachgoers had the presence of mind to call the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation’s 24-hour hotline to report the nesting turtle — which very likely saved the lives of 96 Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle hatchlings.

New species of giant salamander described after decades of mystery
- Scientists have described a new species of giant salamander that grows up to 60 centimeters (2 feet) long and is a type of siren, a group of eel-like salamanders that have only front limbs, and large, frilled gills behind their heads.
- The formal description of the species, named the reticulated siren, comes after decades of surveys and exploration.
- The researchers do not have a complete understanding of the reticulated siren yet, but given that much of its habitat lies in wetlands within the endangered longleaf pine ecosystem, the species is of conservation concern, they say.

Seeing Suriname: A visit to the rainforest goes awry (insider)
- Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler writes about getting stranded in a remote part of Suriname.
- While he’s there, Rhett suffers an eye injury that makes for a harrowing few days.
- This post is insider content, which is available to paying subscribers.

Photos: Here are the winners of the 2018 British Ecological Society photo contest
- Chris Oosthuizen of South Africa’s University of Pretoria won the top prize in the British Ecological Society’s “Capturing Ecology” photo competition this year with an image of a single colorful adult king penguin amidst a crowd of brown-colored chicks on Marion Island, part of the Prince Edward Islands in the Indian Ocean.
- Oosthuizen is hopeful that the prize-winning photo might help draw attention to the challenges king penguins face due to the impacts of human activities. “Although the global population of king penguins is large, populations inhabiting islands around the Antarctic face an uncertain future,” he said.
- In total, some 16 images were recognized this year by the British Ecological Society. “Capturing flora and fauna from across the planet, subjects range from African wild dog research to an artistic take on Galapagos iguanas to images exploring the relationships between people and nature,” the group said in a statement.

A living planet begins with thriving forests (commentary)
- In my lifetime, global wildlife populations have seen an overall decline of more than half. That’s a statement of such enormity that it’s hard to process.
- The evidence comes from WWF’s recent Living Planet Report 2018, which shows that, on average, populations of mammals, fish, birds, amphibians, and reptiles declined by 60 percent between 1970 and 2014. And the trends are still going in the wrong direction. My children could be reading about many of these species — such as orangutans and Amur leopards — in history books if conservation actions are not ramped up.
- We need a fundamental shift in the way we treat our one and only planet, a New Deal for Nature and People by 2020, to galvanize serious international action to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity, including efforts to stop the degradation and destruction of our forests.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Map pinpoints ‘last chance’ locations of endangered species
- A new assessment updates the last known ranges for nearly 1,500 species of animals and plants at 853 locations around the world.
- The three-year effort is aimed at helping scientists, governments and conservationists identify the threats that could lead to the extinction of these species and find ways to address them.
- Governments are already using this information to identify target areas for conservation to protect the last remaining habitats of threatened species.
- Nearly half of the sites identified lack formal protection, despite many of them having been flagged as important more than a decade ago.

Inspiration from frogs (insider)
- Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler explains how his love for frogs spurred his interest in tropical rainforests, eventually leading him to start the web site.
- Here he explains why frogs are important and what’s happening to them worldwide.
- This post is insider content, which is available to paying subscribers.

Haiti may lose all primary forest by 2035, mass extinction underway
- Analysis of satellite imagery and aerial photographs indicate that all of Haiti’s remaining primary forest will disappear in less than two decades if current deforestation rates continue. Results indicate primary forest cover in Haiti shrank from 4.4 percent in 1988 to just 0.32 percent in 2016, and that 42 of Haiti’s 50 largest mountains have lost all of their primary forest cover.
- These forests are home to endangered animals found nowhere else in the world; researchers say the country is already experiencing a mass extinction event due to habitat loss.
- Deforestation-intensified flooding has also been implicated in thousands of human deaths.
- Researchers say Haiti’s forest loss is driven largely by charcoal production and agriculture.

Will trade bans stop a deadly salamander plague from invading the US?
- In 2008, scientists started noticing that populations of fire salamanders were disappearing in Western Europe. A few years later, nearly all had vanished from large portions of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. The culprit turned out to be a fungus called Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, or Bsal, which infects the skin of salamanders and often kills them. Research indicates Bsal came from Asia and was spread to Europe via the importation of Asian salamanders.
- The U.S. is home to the world’s highest diversity of salamander species, many of which are thought to be susceptible to Bsal infection. So far, scientists haven’t detected the pathogen in North America, but many believe it’s just a matter of time until it gets here unless drastic action is taken.
- In response, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service imposed a ban on the trade of 201 salamander species in 2016. However, the recent discovery that frogs can also carry Bsal has led to an outcry from scientists urging the government to ban the import of all salamander and frog species.
- However, many hobbyists think a total ban is overkill. They instead favor a “clean trade” in which some imported animals would tested for Bsal.

Audio: Racing to save the world’s amazing frogs with Jonathan Kolby
- On this episode, we discuss the global outbreak of the chytrid fungus, which might have already driven as many as 200 species of frogs to extinction.
- Our guest is biologist and National Geographic explorer Jonathan Kolby, who founded the Honduras Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Center, or HARCC for short, to study and rescue frogs affected by the chytrid fungus. Tree frogs in Cusuco National Park in Honduras, some of which are found nowhere else on Earth, are being decimated by the aquatic fungal pathogen.
- In this Field Notes segment, Kolby plays for us some recordings of the frog species he’s working to save from the deadly fungal infection in Honduras and says that there might be hope that frogs and other amphibians affected by chytrid can successfully cope with the disease.

For an Amazon tribe, phone cameras shine a light on their wildlife
- Armed with smartphone cameras, teams of indigenous Matsés people have partnered with North American herpetologists to inventory the reptiles and amphibians of their territory along the remote divide between Peru and Brazil.
- The easy-to-use cameras are robust, small enough to carry while climbing a tree or crossing a stream, store thousands of images, and can be recharged with low-cost solar panels.
- The teams have built a database of more than 2,000 photos, including several new species, and they have expanded the known distributions of other species.
- The long-term project complements rapid ecological assessments of a poorly studied region and empowers Matsés elders to pass on their knowledge of the region’s forests to both their families and the outside world.

Frogs coping with fatal fungus in Panamanian forest, study finds
- Scientists discovered that frogs in the El Copé forest appear to have found a way to live with chytrid (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis), a fungus that is still devastating amphibian populations in other parts of the world.
- The team found that surviving frog species had similar survival rates whether they were infected with chytrid or not.
- The results offer the possibility that frog communities, though altered, can stabilize after these catastrophic events.

On the hunt for a silent salamander-killer
- Some time around 2008, a mysterious disease started killing off the Netherlands’ fire salamanders. Three years later, 96 percent were dead.
- The disease turned out to be Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), a relative of the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) that has been implicated in the decline or extinction of some 200 frog species around the world.
- Scientists think Bsal originated in Asia and spread to Europe through the pet trade. And they believe it’s only matter of time before it gets to the U.S. – the world’s hotspot of salamander diversity, where nearly half of all species may be susceptible.
- Now, scientists are in a race against time to find the fungus as soon as possible after it gets here in the hopes that quickly enacted quarantines may stop, or at least slow, its spread.

Cheap prices lead to more exotic pets in the wild, research finds
- New research shows that exotic amphibians and reptiles sold inexpensively as pets are more likely to end up in the wild, where they can pose problems for native wildlife.
- The authors of the study believe that many pet owners may not fully understand the responsibility of owning these animals, some of which can grow to large sizes and live for decades.
- They suggest that limiting the numbers of certain species popular as pets could help limit their often-destructive impact on ecosystems.

Earless African pygmy toad discovered on remote mountain in Angola
- Researchers have found a new species of African pygmy toad in Serra da Neve Inselberg, an isolated mountain and Angola’s second-highest peak.
- The new species, formally named Poyntonophrynus pachnodes, or the Serra da Neve pygmy toad, lacks both external and internal parts of the ear that help frogs hear.
- While earless toads aren’t rare, this is the first time a Poyntonophrynus species has been reported without ears.

Researcher names spectacular new frog after his granddaughter
- A researcher has identified a colorful tree frog as a new species.
- Andrew Gray, Curator of Herpetology at Manchester Museum, conducted genetic and biochemical analysis on frogs that were thought to be a morph of Cruziohyla calcarifer.
- His research, published in the journal Zootaxa, showed that individuals collected from Panama and northern South America are genetically distinct.
- He named the new amphibian Sylvia’s Tree Frog, Cruziohyla sylviae, after his 3-year-old granddaughter.

Forest communities pay the price for conservation in Madagascar
- In a two-year investigation of a REDD+ pilot project, a team of researchers spoke with more than 450 households affected by the establishment of a large protected area called the Ankeniheny-Zahamena Corridor, a 3,820-square-kilometer (1,475-square-mile) tract of rainforest in eastern Madagascar.
- The REDD+ project, supported by Conservation International and the World Bank, was aimed at supporting communities by providing support for alternative livelihoods to those communities near the Ankeniheny-Zahamena Corridor protected area.
- They found that the REDD+ project’s preliminary studies identified less than half of those negatively affected by the Corridor’s designation.
- The team also discovered that the value of the one-off compensation, in the form of support to pursue other livelihoods, fell far short of the opportunity costs that the communities are likely to face as a result of losing access to the forest in the coming decades.

Peru: Marañón dry forests protected as a regional conservation area
- Peru has formalized the creation of the Regional Conservation Area of Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests of the Marañón through a Supreme Decree.
- The new regional conservation area will ensure the conservation of a representative sample of this ecosystem, which is home to 143 plant species, 22 bird species and 14 reptile species that live nowhere else in the world.
- A second Supreme Decree, passed on the same day, has formalized the creation of the Regional Conservation Area of the Vista Alegre Omia. These conservation areas are the first of their kind in the Amazonas region.

Madagascar’s native fauna defenseless against toxic invasive toads
- Toxic Asian common toads (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) have spread rapidly around the port city of Toamasina on Madagascar’s east coast, raising concerns that the invasive amphibians could take a severe toll on the island’s unique wildlife species.
- A recent paper vindicates those concerns: through a genetic analysis of 77 endemic species, scientists found that just one demonstrated clear resistance to toad toxins.
- A separate estimate published last month suggests there are now over 7 million Asian common toads in Madagascar. Reports suggest they arrived accidentally with mine construction equipment prior to 2010.

Salamanders have ‘tricks up their sleeves’ for weathering climate change
- North America is the world’s salamander diversity hotspot, and the Appalachian Mountains are home to around 10 percent of all species.
- Salamanders play a big role in forest ecosystems, both as predators and prey, as well as helping keep carbon in the ground.
- Previous research found that global warming stands to make a large portion of the Appalachians unsuitable for salamanders by the end of the century.
- But a new study reveals Appalachian salamanders may be better able to acclimate to warmer, drier conditions than previously believed.

Global frog pandemic may become even deadlier as strains combine
- Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis – Bd for short – causes a disease called chytridiomycosis that affects a frog’s ability to absorb water and electrolytes through its skin. By 2007, Bd had spread around the world and had been implicated in the decline or extinction of some 200 species.
- A new study finds that hybridization between a native strain of Bd and the one that’s caused the global pandemic can lead to greater infection rates and illness strength than either can alone.
- It was conducted by researchers from universities in Brazil and the U.S. who looked at infection in several frog species in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. They chose that region because of its high amphibian biodiversity (despite being one of the most deforested ecosystems on the planet), as well as because it is the only known region in the world where multiple strains of Bd coexist and hybridize.
- The researchers say their results indicate frogs may face a future even more dire than anticipated as different strains of Bd spread around the world and combine into more harmful forms. They call for increasing global monitoring efforts to detect these shifts before they lead to new outbreaks.

Uncertainty around Madagascar mine in wake of cyclone
- The Ambatovy mine complex near Madagascar’s eastern city of Toamasina is a massive operation to extract nickel and cobalt from the country’s rich soil.
- The $8 billion complex represents the largest-ever foreign investment in the country.
- Over the years, local residents have suspected the mine of causing environmental and health problems, including air and water pollution.
- Locals now fear that Tropical Cyclone Ava, which hit Toamasina hard in January, may have exacerbated these problems — fears that Ambatovy and local officials assert are unfounded.

Amber deposits yield oldest evidence of frogs in wet, tropical forests
- Scientists have found the oldest frog fossils known to have been preserved in amber, from deposits in northern Myanmar.
- These fossils, together with other fossils of mosses and bamboo-like plants recovered from the same amber deposits, provide the first definitive evidence that the amber-trapped frogs lived in wet, tropical forests alongside dinosaurs some 99 million years ago, researchers say.
- One of the four frogs, which was trapped in sap alongside an unidentified beetle, has a nearly intact skeleton, and has been described as a new, extinct species, Electrorana limoae.

Bolivia’s Madidi National Park home to world’s largest array of land life, survey finds
- A two-and-a-half-year biological survey of Madidi National Park in Bolivia added 1,382 species and subspecies of plants and animals to the list of those living in the park.
- The team believes that 124 species and subspecies may be new to science.
- WCS, the organization that led the study, said the 18,958-square-kilometer (7,320-square-mile) park is the world’s most biodiverse protected area.

Chinese giant salamander is at least five species — all nearly extinct
- Scientists who spent four years surveying the Chinese giant salamander’s preferred river habitats across 97 counties in China spotted only 24 individuals at four sites.
- None of the 24 individuals were “pure natural forms,” the researchers found, and were likely farm releases or escapees.
- The Chinese giant salamander also represents not one but at least five different species-level lineages. However, the large extent of hybridization in these animals through farming could mean that these distinct lineages are already functionally extinct.

Making the most of conservation science (commentary)
- Increasing numbers of scientific papers on conservation are published every year, but for many people these remain inaccessible behind paywalls, difficult to locate in a vast ocean of research, or time-consuming to read.
- There are increasing attempts to bring the evidence for particular questions together in digestible formats, such as systematic reviews or Mongabay’s Conservation Effectiveness series. One such enterprise is the Conservation Evidence project, which assesses the evidence for the effectiveness of conservation interventions.
- A new edition of the book ‘What Works in Conservation,’ produced by Conservation Evidence, is available and free to download. This book helps us to see which conservation interventions have been shown to work, which have been shown not to work, and where we need more evidence.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Six new peeping frogs discovered in western Mexico
- Scientists have discovered six new species of peeping frog in the western Mexican states of Jalisco, Colima, and Michoacán.
- All six frogs belong to the genus Eleutherodactylus and were described in the journal Mesoamerican Herpetology last month. According to the authors of the article describing the new species, Eleutherodactylus frogs “are among the most diverse and taxonomically challenging groups of amphibians in the New World.”
- The genus Eleutherodactylus consists of five subgenera, four of which are native solely to the West Indies and are relatively well-studied. The six newly discovered frogs belong to the fifth subgenus, Syrrhophus, a group that has received less attention from scientists.

Scientists find ‘ground zero’ of deadly frog pandemic
- First observed by scientists in the 1970s, the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) had spread around the world by the early 2000s. The fungus kills frogs by colonizing their skin and impairing their ability to absorb water and electrolytes.
- By 2007, Bd infection had led to the decline or extinction of around 200 species of frogs, and today is considered one of the biggest single threats to amphibians worldwide.
- For a new study, researchers genetically analyzed hundreds of Bd samples; their results suggest that the fungus is from the Korean peninsula and began spreading between 50-120 years ago with the expansion of international trade.
- The researchers say the pet trade needs much stronger regulations if the spread of Bd – as well as the emerging salamander-killing fungus B. salamandrivorans – is to be stopped before it causes more devastation.

Frogs may be ‘fighting back’ against deadly pandemic
- Chytridiomycosis is caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a type of chytrid fungus.
- Scientists believe Bd originated in Africa, and has spread around the world where it has contributed to the declines and extinctions of at least 200 amphibian species globally.
- But a new study finds populations of several Panamanian frog species exposed to Bd appear to have gained resistance to the pathogen. Previous research indicates U.S. frogs may also have developed resistance after exposure.
- The authors of the study say their findings offer hope for the survival of amphibians around the world. But they caution that detecting the remnant populations that survive infection and helping them persist and proliferate will require extensive monitoring efforts.

More than 40 percent of Madagascar’s freshwater life sliding toward extinction, IUCN finds
- In an assessment of 653 freshwater plant and animal species living on Madagascar and nearby islands, biologists found that 43 percent are threatened with extinction or there isn’t enough information to assess how well they’re doing.
- Nearly 80 percent of endemic plants examined in the study face extinction.
- The team lists unsustainable farming practices, deforestation, dam construction, mining and the overuse of natural resources, such as overfishing, as causes for the widespread declines.

Oil palm plantations’ dearth of biodiversity rubs off on nearby forests, study shows
- Oil palm plantations in Malaysian Borneo host a lower number of frog species than forests in same area.
- However, the plantations exhibit an edge effect that extends as far as 4 kilometers, resulting in a decline in the diversity of frog species in adjacent forests.
- The researchers suggest that for small forest patches or narrow corridors to be of long-term conservation value in oil palm landscapes, their sizes and widths need to adequately account for these edge effects.

‘Photo Ark’ a quest to document global biodiversity: Q&A with photographer Joel Sartore and director Chun-Wei Yi
- The film “RARE: Creatures of the Photo Ark” follows National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore as he travels the world snapping pictures of thousands of different animal species.
- In the last 12 years, Sartore has photographed nearly 8,000 species.
- “RARE: Creatures of the Photo Ark” was named Best Conservation Film at the New York WILD Film Festival.

East Africa’s Albertine Rift needs protection now, scientists say
- The Albertine Rift in East Africa is home to more than 500 species of plants and animals found nowhere else on the planet.
- Created by the stretching apart of tectonic plates, the unique ecosystems of the Albertine Rift are also under threat from encroaching human population and climate change.
- A new report details a plan to protect the landscapes that make up the Rift at a cost of around $21 million per year — a bargain rate, scientists argue, given the number of threatened species that could be saved.

Ecuador announces a new national park in the Andes
- The new Río Negro-Sopladora National Park comprises more than 30,000 hectares of almost-intact alpine plateaus and forests in Ecuador’s Andes and will protect an estimated 546 species of plants and animals.
- In July 2017, after just 12 days of exploring the area, investigators found three new species of amphibians. Scientists think more species await discovery in the forests and alpine plateaus of the new park.

Photos: Top 20 new species of 2017
- There’s still so much we don’t know about life on planet Earth that scientists discover new species with whom we share this planet nearly every day.
- For instance, this year scientists described a new species of orangutan in Sumatra — just the eighth great ape species known to exist on planet Earth. And that’s just one of many notable, bizarre, or downright fascinating discoveries made this year.
- Here, in no particular order, we present the top 20 new species discovered in 2017.

Roads, dams and railways: Ten infrastructure stories from Southeast Asia in 2017
- Southeast Asia is one of the epicenters of a global “tsunami” of infrastructure development.
- As the countries in the region work to elevate their economic standing, concerns from scientists and NGOs highlight the potential pitfalls in the form of environmental degradation and destruction that roads, dams and other infrastructure can bring in tow.
- Mongabay had reporters covering the region in 2017. Here are 10 of their stories.

Do protected areas work in the tropics?
- To find out if terrestrial protected areas are effective in achieving their environmental and socioeconomic goals, we read 56 scientific studies. (See the interactive infographic below.)
- Overall, protected areas do appear to reduce forest cover loss. But other ecological outcomes of protected areas, like biodiversity or illegal hunting, remain extremely understudied.
- The evidence on socioeconomic impacts is very thin. What limited rigorous research exists shows that protected areas do not exacerbate poverty generally, but anecdotal studies suggest that protected areas could be making other aspects of people’s well-being worse off.
- This is part of a special Mongabay series on “Conservation Effectiveness”.

As 2017 hurricane season ends, scientists assess tropical forest harm
- This year’s Atlantic hurricane season – one for the record books – ended on 30 November, seeing six Category 3 to 5 storms wreaking massive destruction across the Caribbean, in the U.S. and Mexico. While damage to the built environment is fairly easy to assess, harm to conserved areas and species is more difficult to determine.
- Satellite images show extensive damage to the 28,400-acre El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico, the United States’ only national tropical rainforest. However, observers on the ground say the forest is showing signs of a quick recovery.
- More serious is harm to already stressed, endangered species with small populations. El Yunque’s Critically Endangered Puerto Rican parrot was hard hit: out of 50 endemic wild parrots, 16 are known dead. Likewise, the Endangered imperial parrot endemic to Dominica, spotted just three times since Hurricane Maria.
- Ecosystems and species need time to recover between storms. If the intensity of hurricanes continues to increase due to escalating global warming as predicted, tropical ecosystem and species resilience may be seriously tested.

Brilliant blue tarantula among potentially new species discovered in Guyana
- In the forests of the Potaro plateau of Guyana, scientists have discovered a bright blue tarantula that is likely new to science.
- The discovery was part of a larger biodiversity assessment survey of the Kaieteur Plateau and Upper Potaro area of Guyana, within the Pakaraima Mountains range.
- Overall, the team uncovered more than 30 species that are potentially new to science, and found several species that are known only from the Kaieteur Plateau-Upper Potaro region and nowhere else.

Brilliantly colored ‘lost’ salamander rediscovered after 42 years
- The striking, yellow-hued Jackson’s climbing salamander was first reported to science in 1975, then never recorded again.
- But last month, a guard at a recently created amphibian reserve in Guatemala’s Cuchumatanes Mountain range spotted a juvenile of the species while he was patrolling.
- Conservationists are excited because the salamander was “rediscovered” in a reserve especially created to help protect the habitat of amphibians like the Jackson’s climbing salamander.

Seychelles home to new species of caecilian, a legless amphibian
- The Petite Praslin caecilian (Hypogeophis pti) is the world’s newest — and possibly the smallest — caecilian, a type of legless amphibian.
- Scientists discovered the animal on the island of Praslin in the Seychelles, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean.
- The new species is the seventh caecilian species found in the Seychelles, where the amphibians have been evolving for 64 million years.

Study maps out reptiles’ ranges, completing the ‘atlas of life’
- The study’s 39 authors, from 30 institutions around the world, pulled together data on the habitats of more than 10,000 species of reptiles.
- They found little overlap with current conservation areas, many of which have used the numbers of mammal and bird species present as proxies for overall biodiversity.
- In particular, lizards and turtles aren’t afforded much protection under current schemes.
- The authors report that they’ve identified high-priority areas for conservation that protects reptile diversity, ranging from deserts in the Middle East, Africa and Australia, to grass- and scrublands in Asia and Brazil.

Island-hopping toxic toad threatens iconic Komodo dragon
- The islands of Wallacea, which include parts of Indonesia, are home to many species that exist nowhere else in the world.
- The Asian common toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) has spread across the islands under the conservation radar while conservationists struggle to cope with a similar invasion in Madagascar.
- If the advance of the toad across Wallacea is not stopped, scientists worry it could have devastating consequences for the world’s largest lizard, the Komodo dragon.

Biodiversity of Indian Sunderbans recorded in one compendium for first time
- Zoological Survey of India has, for the first time, published a detailed record of the animal and protozoa species of the Sunderban of West Bengal.
- Sunderbans forests, locally known as Badabon, are one of the richest biodiversity hotspots in India. This UNESCO World Heritage site is known for its mangroves, coastal forests that serve as a biological buffer between the land and sea.
- This unique ecosystem is famous for the royal Bengal tiger, Gangetic dolphin, and estuarine crocodile.

Booming legal Amazon wildlife trade documented in new report
- Wildlife trade attention has recently focused on Africa. But a new report spotlights the brisk legal international trade in plants and animals from eight Amazon nations. The report did not look at the illegal trade, whose scope is largely unknown.
- The US$128 million industry exports 14 million animals and plants annually, plus one million kilograms by weight, including caiman and peccary skins for the fashion industry, live turtles and parrots for the pet trade, and arapaima for the food industry.
- The report authors note that such trade, conducted properly, can have benefits for national economies, for livelihoods, and even for wildlife — animals bred in captivity, for example, can provide scientists with vital data for sustaining wild populations.
- The report strongly emphasizes the need for monitoring, regulating and enforcing sustainable harvest levels of wild animals and plants if the legal trade is to continue to thrive, and if Amazonian forests and rivers are not to be emptied of their wildlife.

Four new toads discovered in Sumatra
- Scientists discovered four new species of toads who, unlike their cousins, live isolated in the highlands of Sumatra.
- The four toads are distinguishable from one another by their skin patterns, limb shapes and voices.
- In the wake of the discovery, one of the researchers called on the Indonesian government to strengthen the monitoring of harvesting quotas for toad exports so that scientists can keep track of its population in the wild.

Good quality monitoring surveys key to wildlife conservation: new study
- Most population monitoring surveys of wild animals and plants are poorly designed, a new study says.
- Populations that are monitored are sometimes not representative of the community we seek to understand, for example, which can lead to highly misleading estimated trends, scientists say.
- Existing monitoring programs should be reviewed, scientists say, and available technologies can be used to collect reliable data on population trends.

Sixth mass extinction ‘tsunami’ coming, but preventable
- Biologist Thomas Lovejoy writes in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that we can stop the current spate of biodiversity and species loss that the Earth is experiencing.
- Pointing to a recent study showing that many animals are declining in numbers in addition to those facing the imminent risk of extinction, Lovejoy argues that we need to address all of the impacts that humans have on ecosystems.
- He calls for the restoration of degraded forests and wetlands — activities in which everyone can participate — to facilitate the movement of wildlife between habitats and bring back the services that ecosystems provide.

Three new frog species found in Peruvian Andes with more to come
- Few biological surveys have been conducted in the Pui Pui Protected Forest in the decades since it was established in 1985, and “the potential for additional discoveries is enormous,” according to one researcher who helped discover the three new frog species.
- The three new species all belong to a family of land-breeding frogs called Craugastoridae whose embryos hatch as froglets rather than going through a tadpole stage, which allows them to survive in a wide array of habitat types with sufficient moisture.
- The researchers say they will describe three more new frogs as well as two new lizards they’ve discovered in the Pui Pui Protected Forest in future papers.

First ‘intrusions’ into unbroken forests drive pulses of biodiversity loss
- The study examined ‘initial intrusions’ into tropical forests and their effect on the threat status of species.
- The researchers found that deforestation at current rates in high-priority areas such as Borneo, the Congo Basin, and the Amazon could push 121 to 219 species closer to extinction in the next 30 years.
- While the authors point out that their conclusions are not a call to protect only intact landscapes, the data could help policymakers working with limited resources to decide where to place new protected areas.

Ongoing mass extinction causing ‘biological annihilation,’ new study says
- Building on research in which they showed that two species have gone extinct per year over the past century, a team of biologists analyzed the population trends for 27,600 vertebrates around the world.
- They found that nearly a third of the animals they looked at were on the decline.
- In a closer look at 177 well-studied mammals, the team found that all had lost 30 percent or more of their home ranges, and 40 percent had lost at least 80 percent of their habitat.

How a mass extinction event gave us the majority of frogs alive today
- Based on fossil records and the available genetic data, scientists have generally estimated that modern frog species first began to appear at a steady pace between 150 million and 66 million years ago. But new research shows that the timeframe for the first appearance of modern frog species was significantly tighter than that.
- While most frogs alive at the time were also wiped out by the mass extinction event 66 million years ago, the researchers theorize that, with so many other species having disappeared, there were suddenly an abundance of new ecological niches that the surviving frogs could fill. Moving into all of those different habitats essentially jumpstarted the evolutionary process and allowed for rapid frog diversification.
- Nearly 90 percent of the short-bodied, tailless amphibians roaming our planet right now first appeared in the years following the cataclysmic event that caused all dinosaurs but birds to go extinct, according to the study.

Photos: Four new species of burrowing frogs discovered in India
- The four new species include Kadar Burrowing Frog (Fejervarya kadar), CEPF Burrowing Frog (F. cepfi), Manoharan’s Burrowing Frog (F. Manoharani) and Neil Cox’s Burrowing Frog (F. neilcoxi).
- Two of the newly described frogs, the Kadar Burrowing Frog and CEPF Burrowing Frog, could be facing serious threats, the researchers warn.
- The Rufescent Burrowing Frog was previously listed as a Least Concern species under the IUCN Red List because of its wide distribution, but the new study shows that the species is actually restricted to a much smaller area.

New ‘Elfin mountain toad’ discovered in Annamite Mountains of Vietnam
- A team of Russian and Vietnamese researchers described Ophryophryne elfina, the Elfin mountain toad, in the journal ZooKeys last month.
- The toad, one of the smallest species of horned mountain toads ever described to science, was given the name Ophryophryne elfina, which roughly translates to “elfish eyebrow toad” — and the researchers who made the discovery say that there is evidence to suggest that the species could already be considered endangered.
- The species name “elfina,” of course, derives from the English word “elf,” small, magical forest creatures found in German and Celtic folklore.

Skin slime of Indian frog can kill flu virus
- A team of researchers jolted some of the recently discovered Hydrophylax bahuvistara with mild electricity, collected their skin secretions, and then returned them to their natural habitat in India.
- Then, from the secretions, the team identified and isolated 32 peptides (building blocks of proteins).
- One of these peptides can attach itself to the surface of some strains of influenza viruses (such as the H1 strains of flu) and destroy them, the researchers observed.

‘We can save life on Earth’: study reveals how to stop mass extinction
- Researchers analyzed 846 regional ecosystem types in 14 biomes in respect to the “Nature Needs Half” scientific concept that states proper functioning of an ecosystem requires at least half of it to be there.
- They found 12 percent of ecoregions had half their land areas protected while 24 percent had protected areas and native vegetation that together covered less than 20 percent.
- The study indicates the tropical dry forest biome is the most endangered. Closely behind it are two others: the tropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, and the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. All are highly biodiverse, providing habitat for many species.
- The researchers say while many ecosystems have been highly degraded, achieving 50 percent protection is still possible – if current conservation goals are scaled up.

New genus created for arboreal toads in Indonesia
- The proposed genus was created to fit two new species of toad.
- The name of the genus, Sigalegalephrynus, was inspired by the toads’ resemblance to a wooden puppet from North Sumatra.
- The toads appear to have mating calls that are unlike those of other amphibians in the Sunda Shelf.

Do the Locomotion: Bio-inspired technology creates amphibious robots that mimic salamander movement
- The Salamandra robotica I and Salamandra robotica II model the system of neural networks that guides both swimming and walking movements in live salamanders.
- The Pleurobot takes bio-inspired engineering a step further by modeling salamander skeletal kinematics.
- Amphibious biobots can be used for a variety of applications, including environmental monitoring animal behavior studies, and search-and- rescue missions.

Two new clown tree frogs discovered in the Amazon
- Clown frogs are widespread throughout the Amazon region and get their name from their unique, bright coloration.
- The two newly discovered clown frogs were previously considered to belong to other species, but researchers were able to show that they are their own distinct species after analyzing their DNA and the calls they make.
- According to the international team of researchers who made the discovery, the conservation status of both clown frogs has yet to be determined — but it is likely that the species could already be considered threatened, especially given that both are reported to have particularly small distribution areas that are endangered by habitat destruction.

New ‘stone’ frog discovered in Vietnam
- Researchers first collected specimens of the frog in 2013 while surveying forests covering limestone hills in Vietnam’s Lai Chau and Tuyen Quang Provinces.
- After analyzing and comparing this frog’s appearance, call, as well as DNA with that of closely related frogs, the team confirmed that it was indeed a new species.
- Unfortunately, the researchers suspect that the new species is already threatened with extinction and recommend listing it as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Stepping on their paws: study explores recreation’s unfun impacts on wildlife
- In a meta study of 274 papers, researchers found that 59% of the time impacts on wildlife were negative.
- Reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates appear especially vulnerable to tourist impacts.
- More research is needed, especially in the developing world.

World’s first fluorescent frog discovered
- The polka dot tree frog is the first record of a fluorescent amphibian, researchers say.
- The scientists traced the fluorescence to a new group of molecules, which they named hyloins, occuring in the frog’s lymph tissue, skin and glandular secretions.
- Fluorescence in these tree frogs most likely enhances brightness and visual detection among individuals under conditions of moonlight or twilight, researchers say.

Among their many impacts, roads are driving rapid evolutionary adaptation in adjacent populations
- The global road network covers close to 40 million miles, and is projected to grow by 60 percent by 2050.
- The field of road ecology, which has emerged over the past two decades, has looked at a variety of roads’ negative consequences, such as roadkill, contamination runoff, and forest and habitat fragmentation.
- As scientists continue to add to our understanding of the evolutionary dynamics that lead to adaptation and maladaptation in road-adjacent populations, our ability to predict and in turn reduce negative road effects will also increase, the authors argue.

Climate change driving widespread local extinctions; tropics most at risk
- Climate change forces three fates on species: adapt, flee or die. A new meta-analysis compiled data from 27 studies to see how species distributions have changed over timescales of 10-159 years, and included 976 species. Almost half (47 percent) had seen some local populations disappear along the warming edge of their ranges.
- The tropics were especially vulnerable to climate change-driven local extinctions. The data showed that 55 percent of tropical and subtropical species experienced local extinctions, whereas the figure was only 39 percent for temperate species. Though the tropical data set was not large, this higher tropical risk concurs with past studies.
- Tropical species are at greater risk due to climate change because they live in some of the world’s hottest environments, so are already at the upper limit of known temperature adaptation, are restricted to small areas, particular rare habitats, and narrow temperature ranges, or have poor dispersal ability and slow reproductive rates.
- Scientists see multiple solutions to the problem: beyond the curbing of greenhouse gas emissions, they recommend conserving large core areas of habitat, and preserving strong connectivity between those core areas, so plants and animals can move more freely between them as required as the world warms.

Short film takes you into the Amazon with researcher who discovered a new frog species
- Back in January, biologist Jennifer Serrano and a team of researchers published a paper officially describing a new species of poison dart frog found in the Peruvian Amazon, which was given the name Ameerega shihuemoy, to science.
- Finding Frogs, a short documentary by filmmaker Nick Werber, captures the sense of awe and discovery inherent in doing fieldwork like Jennifer Serrano’s.
- In this Q&A, Mongabay speaks with Werber about his motivation for making the documentary in the first place, the difficulties of shooting a film in a humid environment like a rainforest, and why it’s so important for scientific discoveries to be more widely shared via media like film.

Nearly half of Mount Oku frogs are in danger of croaking, study finds
- Survey work discovers at least 50 amphibian species living on Mount Oku, a dormant volcano in Cameroon.
- Mount Oku’s puddle frogs are vanishing – and no one knows why. Some species may already be extinct.
- Researchers say survey work is often overlooked for ‘sexier’ science, but this could hamper saving species.

Newly discovered Tanzanian frog already facing extinction
- The new frog was collected in 2001 from Ruvu South Forest Reserve in Tanzania, in habitat atypical for spiny reed frogs.
- The scientists who collected it couldn’t identify it in the field. Fourteen years later, they sequenced the frog’s DNA, which revealed that it was a species previously unknown to science.
- The new species is represented by just one museum specimen. Recent attempts to find more in Ruvu South Forest Reserve failed to turn up the sought-after frogs, leaving researchers worried the species is being wiped out by dramatic deforestation affecting the reserve and surrounding areas.

7 new frogs discovered in India, some smaller than a thumbnail
- All the newly described species belong to the genus Nyctibatrachus, commonly known as night frogs.
- Apart from being tiny, these frogs live a secretive life under forest leaf litter or marsh vegetation and they sound like insects, making it difficult for researchers to locate them.
- But these species seem to be common and abundant in the locations they were found, researchers say.
- Despite being commonly encountered, all seven species might be threatened by habitat loss.

African bush babies gain a new genus
- Genetic data has pointed toward a unique group of dwarf galagos living in Africa for a long time, but the physical similarity between the primates in the Galago family has confounded scientists.
- Using these genetic clues as a guide, a team of researchers examined the skulls and teeth of galagos and analyzed their calls.
- They concluded that five species previously placed in other genera should be placed in a sixth genus of the family Galagidae. They chose the name ‘Paragalago’ for the new genus.

Field Notes: Predicting how the pet trade spreads infectious disease
- The exotic animal trade is a multi-billion dollar industry, and the US is the world’s leading importer. While the US government is on the alert for well known animal-transmitted diseases, there is no mandatory health surveillance for most animals coming though US ports for commercial distribution.
- Live animal imports could bring new diseases into the US and infect endemic wildlife, with devastating consequences as, for example, was seen with the worldwide exposure of amphibians to Chytrid fungus which resulted in the decline of more than 200 species.
- Elizabeth Daut is drawing on her training as a veterinarian and her extensive experience with wildlife to create a computer model that evaluates the risk of importing infectious diseases to the US via the exotic animal trade.
- Predictions produced by her model could help prioritize which species and exporting countries might warrant extra attention at ports of entry. With a better understanding of disease risks, government agencies could improve surveillance and develop better infectious disease prevention plans.

Audio: An in-depth look at Mongabay’s collaboration with The Intercept Brasil
- Branford is a regular contributor to Mongabay who has been reporting from Brazil since 1979 when she was with the Financial Times and then the BBC.
- One of the articles in the series resulted in an official investigation by the Brazilian government before it was even published — and the investigators have already recommended possible reparations for an indigenous Amazonian tribe.
- We also round up the top news of the past two weeks.

Bright lights, big city, tiny frog: Romer’s tree frog survives Hong Kong
- Discovered in the 1950s, Romer’s tree frog has so far been declared extinct, rediscovered, immediately declared Critically Endangered, been seriously threatened by an international airport, and become the focus of one of the first ever successful, wholesale population relocation projects conducted for an amphibian.
- At just 1.5 to 2.5 centimeters (0.6 to 1 inch) in length, this little brown frog lives at just a few locations within the sprawl of Hong Kong Island, as well as on a few outlying islands. It lives in moist forest leaf litter on the forest floor, and depends on temporary fish-free pools of water for breeding.
- When Hong Kong planned a major new international airport within the shrinking habitat of the Romer’s tree frog, scientists responded quickly, studying the animal’s lifestyle, eating and breeding habits; they then instituted a captive breeding program at the Melbourne Zoo, and launched a restoration program. It worked.
- While some restoration site populations have since failed, others continue to thrive. And with new protections now in place, scientists hold out some hope that Romer’s tree frog may be a Hong Kong resident for many years to come.

The Philippines declares more than 100,000 acres as critical habitat
- Critical habitats — portions of land outside protected areas that have known habitats of threatened or endemic species — are usually small, focusing on one or a few species.
- The newly declared Cleopatra’s Needle Critical Habitat is the Philippines’ largest, and aims to protect several threatened species.
- The declaration of CNCH involved over three years of negotiations with various stakeholders including Indigenous Peoples communities, government agencies, universities, non-government and private-sector organizations.

New species of poison frog discovered in Amazonian slopes of Andes in southeastern Peru
- The species was found in just nine locales in the buffer zones of Manu National Park and the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, at the transition between montane forests and the lowlands, from 340 to 850 meters (1,115 to 2,788 feet) above sea level.
- The region that the Amarakaeri poison frog calls home is considered one of the most biodiverse on the planet for herpetofauna, but it is also threatened by human activities, including agriculture, gold mining, logging, and an illegally constructed road meant for the transport of fuel for illegal miners and loggers in the area.
- Based on IUCN Red List criteria, the research team that made the discovery propose that A. shihuemoy likely qualifies as Near Threatened.

Exotic populations hold hope for internationally traded endangered species
- Researchers identified 49 globally threatened species that have established wild populations outside their native distributions on all continents except Antarctica.
- Sometimes, the exotic populations do better than their native counterparts.
- Such introduced populations can offer a unique opportunity to save endangered species, researchers say.

Photos: Top 20 new species of 2016
- This year, scientists discovered and described several thousand new species of animals and plants.
- Many of these new species are already on the brink of extinction, threatened by poaching, illegal wildlife trade, habitat destruction and diseases.
- Mongabay presents the top new species discovered in 2016.

Bastion of biodiversity protected in eastern DRC
- The Kabobo Natural Reserve, together with the adjoining Ngandja and Luama Katanga Reserves, protects nearly 7,000 square kilometers of important habitat for biodiversity, watersheds and forests near Lake Tanganyika.
- The Wildlife Conservation Society said that the involvement of local communities has been critical to protecting the area, and that their participation will continue in the management of the reserve.
- Surveys of the Kabobo Natural Reserve put the number of land animals present at 558 and plat species at 1,410.
- Scientists first discovered Prigogine’s black and white colobus monkey (Colobus angolensis prigoginei) in the area in the 1950s.

Top scientists: Amazon’s Tapajós Dam Complex “a crisis in the making”
- BRAZIL’S GRAND PLAN: Build 40+ dams, new roads and railways at the heart of the Amazon to transport soy from the interior to the coast and foreign markets, turning the Tapajós Basin and its river systems into an industrial waterway, leading to unprecedented deforestation, top researchers say.
- ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS: “The effects would clearly be devastating for the ecology and connectivity of the greater Tapajós Basin,” says William Laurance, of James Cook University, Australia; a leading rainforest ecology scientist. “It is not overstating matters to term this a crisis in the making.”
- HUMAN IMPACTS: The dams would produce “A human rights crisis, driven by the flooding of indigenous territories and forced relocation of indigenous villages… [plus] the loss of fisheries, reduced fertility of fertile floodplains, and polluting of clean water sources,” says Amazon Watch’s Christian Poirier.
- CLIMATE IMPACTS: “The worst-case scenario… over 200,000 square kilometers of deforestation,” says climatologist Carlos Nobre, which would be “very serious” and create “regional climate change.” Tapajós deforestation could even help tip the global scales, as the Amazon ceases being a carbon sink, and becomes a carbon source — with grave consequences for the planet.

Scientists discover the real vocalists behind the ‘singing snake’: tree frogs
- Natives from some parts of the Amazon region have long believed that a deadly pit viper, the bushmaster, can sing.
- But the true vocalists behind the call are two species of large tree frogs that live in hollow tree trunks in the Amazonian forests.
- The first frog is the little known Tepuihyla tuberculosa, and the second frog is a newly discovered species that has been named Tepuihyla shushupe.

Yosemite’s yellow-legged frogs bounce back from near extinction
- A recent study found a large-scale increase in the endangered Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog in Yosemite National Park in California.
- The sevenfold increase is due to fewer predatory trout and greater resistance to the chytrid fungus.
- The frogs have a long way to full recovery, but may be more resilient than researchers previously thought.

The Philippines’ Mindanao is a treasure trove of reptile and amphibian diversity
- Species identified include 49 species of lizards, 40 species of frogs, 35 species of snakes, one caecilian, one species of freshwater turtle and one crocodile.
- Northeastern Mindanao is home to species from both mainland Mindanao and the eastern Visayas, creating a biodiversity “bulls eye.”
- Due to the island’s complex politics and history of conflict, relatively few surveys and studies have been conducted in Mindanao.
- Researchers hope their findings will underscore the need to protect the island’s forest ecosystems.

These 3 new miniature salamanders are already headed for extinction
- The tiny salamanders belong to the elusive genus Thorius, members of which are the smallest four-legged animals on earth, scientists say.
- The three new species have been named the pine-dwelling minute salamander (Thorius pinicola), the long-tailed minute salamander (Thorius longicaudus) and the heroic minute salamander (Thorius tlaxiacus).
- The researchers recommend listing all three species as critically endangered since their populations have declined by more than 80 percent over the last 30-40 years.

New frog species discovered near Australian airport
- In a swamp, some 6 miles away from the Newcastle airport in New South Wales, Australia, scientists have discovered a new species of frog that is only slightly bigger than a human fingertip.
- The tiny frog has a unique black and white marbled underbelly, and striking orange patches on its groin that become visible when the frog extends its legs, according to the new study.
- The researchers have named the new frog species Mahony’s Toadlet (Uperoleia mahonyi) after Michael Mahony of the University of Newcastle for “his contributions to the study of Australian amphibians”.

Climate change is impacting all aspects of life on Earth: new study
- Of the 94 ecological processes reviewed in the study, over 80 percent showed signs of distress in response to less than 1°C rise in global average temperature, the researchers found.
- These changes not only disrupt interactions between species, but impact people’s health and well-being too, the researchers warn.
- To combat the negative effects of climate change, the study stresses on recognizing the role of large, intact natural ecosystems, and urges policy makers and politicians to accept the impacts of climate change, and take steps to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Global wildlife populations on pace for two-thirds decline by 2020
- The World Wildlife Fund monitors trends in 14,152 populations of 3,706 vertebrate species around the globe for its biennial Living Planet Report.
- The group found that there was a 58 percent overall decline in global wildlife population sizes between the years 1970 and 2012.
- According to the report, food production is the leading cause of habitat destruction and over-exploitation of wildlife across the globe.

Rabbs’ fringe-limbed tree frog now presumed to be extinct
- “Toughie,” the last known Rabbs’ fringe-limbed tree frog, was found dead in his enclosure by his keepers at the Atlanta Botanical Garden on September 26.
- Environmental writer Andrew Revkin noted that Toughie’s death came “four years after the only other known member of this tropical species died at the Atlanta Zoo. Both were males, so the species was at its end well before they passed away.”
- The natural range of Rabbs’ fringe-limbed tree frogs (Ecnomiohyla rabborum) was in the mountains of central Panama, where it would use its massive webbed hands and feet to glide from tree to tree in the cloud forest canopy it called home.

Deforestation jumps into Peru reserve, 1,600 hectares of rainforest lost
- El Sira Communal Reserve is home to several indigenous groups, as well as endangered species found nowhere else.
- Located in central Peru’s Amazon rainforest, El Sira is surrounded by deforestation for cropland, cattle pasture, and gold mining.
- A recent analysis finds that these activities have invaded the northern portion of El Sira reserve, with 1,600 hectares of forest cleared since 2013.
- Satellite data indicate this may be a growing trend, with far more tree cover loss recorded in September 2016 than during September 2015.

New ‘sleeping beauty’ frog discovered in fragmented Peruvian forest
- The new species belongs to the Pristimantis genus and is named after the central Amazon mountain range in which it was found.
- Scientists found two populations of the frog: one in Tingo Maria National Park and another outside the park in an area heaviy deforested for agriculture.
- The surrounding region has become a hotbed of cattle ranching in recent years, yet has hasn’t attracted conservation attention given to other areas of Peru.

‘All they need is a head start’: reforesting India’s Western Ghats
- The Western Ghats mountain chain lines South India’s west coast and provides important habitat for many unique species. But development pressure has led to the loss of large areas of forest within and around the range.
- One area that has been particularly hard-hit is the Nilgiris District, in the state of Tamil Nadu. Two centuries of land conversion for timber, tea, and other plantations has displaced much of the region’s native forests and grasslands.
- A team of conservationists is hoping to reverse the deforestation by restablishing native vegetation on degraded land.
- However, the effort is not without its critics who say that it may be more effective to simply let forests come back by themselves.

Tadpoles found living in Japanese streams with hottest water ever recorded for an amphibian
- Scientists at Hiroshima University and Japan’s SOKENDAI, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, found the tadpoles in shallow mud pools in the forests of the small, subtropical volcanic island of Kuchinoshima, which lies approximately 310 kilometers (192 miles) due South of Nagasaki, in the East China Sea.
- The researchers theorize that living in the hot springs, or onsen, may speed the tadpoles’ growth, benefit their immune systems, and allow them to survive on small volcanic islands where any other natural sources of freshwater are a rarity.
- No adult frogs were found in the onsen, suggesting that the species may be adapted to high water temperatures only as tadpoles.

Replanting oil palm plantations reduces frog diversity, but researchers say there are ways to fix that
- An international team of researchers compared frog populations in mature palm plantations that were about 21 to 27 years old with populations on plantations that had been re-planted within the past two years in Sumatra, Indonesia.
- They found a loss in both number of frog species (31 percent lower) and number of total frogs (47 percent lower) in young oil palm plantations as compared to mature plantations.
- The researchers say that practices such as staggered replanting and maintaining connectivity between mature oil palm patches could help maintain frog diversity, but more studies are needed for the many different types of wildlife that live in oil palm plantations.

Unknown, ignored and disappearing: Asia’s Almost Famous Animals
- Asia is home to a vast array of primates and other mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds and fish — all fascinating, all uniquely adapted to their habitats. Many are seriously threatened, but little known by the public.
- One conservation argument says that protecting charismatic species like tigers, rhinos and orangutans and their habitat will also protect lesser known species such as pangolins, langurs and the Malayan tapir. But this is a flawed safety net through which many little known species may fall into oblivion.
- Over the next six months, Mongabay will introduce readers to 20 Almost Famous Asian Animals — a handful of Asia’s little known fauna — in the hope that familiarity will help generate concern and action.
- In this first overview article, we rely as much on pictures as on words to profile some of Asia’s most beautiful, ugly, strange, magnificent and little known animals.

Video: Baby frogs escape from snake in seconds
- The secret to the embryos’ quick-escape lies in their hatching glands — special glands, which release an enzyme that dissolves the egg membrane.
- In many frogs, hatching glands are loosely scattered on the embryos’ bodies, which release the enzyme slowly, over several hours or days.
- But in the embryos of the red-eye treefrogs, the hatching glands are concentrated around their snouts, and the embryos can release the enzyme all at once, the study found.

New ‘froggy-style’ mating position discovered in Bombay night frogs
- While mating, most male frogs mount and hug their female partners in one of six known forms of embrace called amplexus.
- But the secretive Bombay night frog, found only in the Western Ghats, has revealed a seventh, never-before-recorded form of amplexus, scientists write in a new paper published in PeerJ.
- Unlike other frogs that typically use amplexus to get close to the female and fertilize her eggs as soon she releases them from her body, a male Bombay night frog loosely rests on the female, releases sperm over the female’s back and quickly moves away before the female has released her eggs.

Thousands of Southeast Asian newts being collected from the wild for pet trade
- Large numbers of Southeast Asian newts are being collected from the wild and sold in the United States and the European Union to meet the demands of the international pet trade, a new study has found.
- Most of these newts are being caught from the wild, the team note.
- The trade in Southeast Asian newts is largely unregulated and unrecorded, researchers say, and these newts are being harvested in far greater numbers than what trade statistics suggest.

The Borneo rainbow toad has been missing for 87 years — until now
- There are roughly 7,000 species of amphibian in the world, and as many as half of them are believed to be currently threatened with extinction, while more than 250 of those species haven’t been seen since the turn of the century.
- In 2010, former Conservation International scientist and photographer Dr. Robin Moore launched a 21-country effort to search for frogs, salamanders, and toads that hadn’t been documented in years.
- It took eight months of repeated searches, but a team of scientists finally found the Borneo rainbow toad, and thereby became the first to record its distinctive coloration.

The top 10 most biodiverse countries
- Today (May 22) is World Biodiversity Day. In celebration, below is a look at the world’s ten most biodiverse countries as measured by species richness.
- This list takes a simplified approach, created a weighted index using five groups of animals — amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles — and one group of plants — vascular plants.
- One major caveat: The list does not include invertebrates due to paucity of data in many countries. If we were able to include invertebrates, it would further boost tropical countries in the rankings.
- Note: the rankings were updated on December 23, 2023.

7 conservationists win the ‘Green Oscars’
- This year’s Whitley Awards have been given to seven conservationists chosen from a pool of over 120 applicants from 53 countries for their “innovative conservation projects”.
- At an awards ceremony held last evening at the Royal Geographic Society in London, the seven winning conservationists received £35,000 (~$50,700) in project funding.
- Hotlin Ompusunggu from Borneo won the 2016 Whitley Gold Award that is given to an outstanding past recipient of a Whitley Award who has gone on to make a significant contribution to conservation.

Researchers unearth the surprising secret of India’s dancing frogs
- Dancing frogs of the Micrixalidae family (named for their unusual courtship behavior) are endemic to India’s Western Ghats.
- For years, no one could find Micrixalidae tadpoles, making them the only unknown tadpoles of any known frog family.
- Then, finally, researchers discovered them – living underground.

5 reasons why many conservation efforts fail
- Managing natural resources is complex.
- Some conservation efforts, such as the recovery of the southern white rhinos, have seen triumph. But often these wins are short-lived.
- Mongabay examines five reasons (in no particular order) that may have contributed to the failure of many conservation efforts.

Will mining company drive mass extinction of Madagascar’s wildlife?
- An invasive toxic toad, called the Asian toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus), is rapidly spreading throughout the island country, threatening the survival of its rare and endemic species, scientists say.
- A number of factors point towards Ambatovy mine as the most likely culprit, experts allege in a report.
- Despite the growing evidence, Ambatovy has shown no real effort to address the problem, scientists say.

Australia announces a new spider species called ‘Brian’
- Dolomedes briangreenei, nicknamed “Brian,” is a newly described species of water spider that lives in Queensland.
- The spider was named after U.S. physicist Brian Greene, and finds prey by sensing vibrational waves.
- The spiders eat fish, frogs, and tadpoles – including those of the highly invasive and ecologically destructive cane toad.

For Leap Day, 35 pictures of frogs
- Leap Day only happens every four years but when the next one comes around, the planet may have lost a few more frog species: amphibians are the most endangered group of animals on the planet.
- This post includes a set of 35 frog pictures to remind us what we’re losing.
- This post is a commentary — the views are the author’s own.

Soil carbon could be key to protecting global biodiversity and climate at same time
- Worldwide, we’re spending less than a third of what it would take to protect global biodiversity and meet biodiversity targets adopted by the UN.
- Add to that the cost of meeting global emissions reduction targets, estimated to be anywhere from several hundred billion to several trillion dollars, and it’s clear that any way to do more with less is welcome indeed.
- Now researchers argue that, in addition to helping the world reduce emissions, soil carbon can also help determine exactly where wildlife and natural habitat conservation funds would be most effectively deployed.

Two new jewel-eyed tree frog species discovered in Taiwan, display strange reproductive behavior
- Researchers have identified two new species of tree frogs with jewel-colored eyes on the Island of Taiwan.
- The tadpoles of these frogs display a strange reproductive behavior: the tadpole embryos feed on their mother’s unfertilized eggs, while still inside the mother’s womb.
- Team suspects that Taiwan could be home to several other new amphibian species.

Madagascar scientists unsure how best to guard frogs from fungus
- The Chytrid fungus — blamed for declines in 200 amphibian species globally — has missed Madagascar so far. But one new study says Bd is there and spreading, so funds should be focused on disease mitigation, while another study says it hasn’t taken hold, and more controls should be applied at Madagascar’s borders.
- Scientists and policymakers the world over face similar tough decisions when they try to determine how to use limited funds to best deal with the sudden emergence of wildlife disease epidemics, such as white-nose syndrome, which has killed millions of North American bats since its appearance in 2006.
- Lessons learned from past epidemics are helping U.S. scientists and federal agencies cope with the Bsal fungus, as they seek cooperation from the international pet trade to quarantine the nation and protect wild salamanders.

Tropical forest protected areas might be working better than you think
- To assess the state of biodiversity in protected tropical forests, researchers monitored 244 species of ground-dwelling mammals and birds in 15 protected tropical areas in Africa, Central and South America, and Southeast Asia.
- The team analyzed more than 2.5 million pictures captured by over 1,000 camera traps.
- The researchers say their findings portray a “more optimistic outlook” regarding the impacts of establishing protected areas in tropical forests.

Over 40 years, half of China’s land vertebrates disappear
- To quantify China’s loss of biodiversity, researchers analyzed data from 1,385 representative populations of 405 terrestrial vertebrate species: 161 mammals, 184 birds, and 60 amphibians and reptiles.
- Chinese reptile and amphibian populations fared the worst, declining by 97 percent. Primates declined by 84 percent.
- Yet despite these dismal statistics, the report is also sprinkled with kernels of optimism, such as China’s growing bird populations, which rose by 43 percent, and its increasing number of nature reserves.

Scientists rush to save an iconic frog from an active volcano in Ecuador
- No one can say exactly when Volcán Cotopaxi will erupt again, but the volcano remains active ever since it erupted last year for the first time in nearly 140 years.
- When Cotopaxi, located about 50km (30 miles) from Quito, Ecuador, does blow again, it will send lava, mud and ash cascading down the Pita River, which runs along the volcano’s flank — and that could wipe out one of Ecuador’s most endangered frog species.
- A team of scientists has already collected 45 tadpoles and taken them to Balsa de los Sapos, an ex situ conservation facility maintained by the Museum of Zoology at the Catholic University of Ecuador.

Rediscovered tree frogs get their own genus, eat their own eggs
- Researchers have rediscovered populations of tree frogs in several northern Indian states and China that were presumed extinct for 150 years.
- The frogs are unique enough to merit their own genus – the world’s 18th genus of tree frogs. They reproduce in water-filled tree hollows, with the tadpoles subsisting off unfertilized eggs.
- Like many of India’s amphibians, the newly rediscovered frogs are under heavy pressure from habitat loss.

Scientist makes painful discovery: a frog able to inject toxic venom
- A frog species with a toxic venom injection defense mechanism has been described in the semi-arid northeastern region of Brazil.
- Carlos Jared, a Brazilian scientist at the Butantan Institute made the discovery by chance after having his hand head-butted by a tree frog.
- One distinctive and interesting feature of the morphology of the Greening’s frog is the similarity of its skull to that of a spiny cactus plant.

Two new frog species discovered in remote Madagascar rainforest
- Both frogs belong to a group under the genus Rhombophryne characterized by small, fleshy spines over their eyes, but have fewer spines above each eye than any other member of the group.
- One of the scientists that discovered the frogs called them “another example of the great diversity of animals in tropical areas that have yet to be described before many of these areas disappear as a result of the deforestation suffered by tropical regions, especially Madagascar.”
- Madagascar is thought to be home to as many as 500 species of frogs found nowhere else on Earth, many of them as understudied as they are threatened.

Photos: The top 20 new species of 2015
- While the threat of extinction looms closer than ever for many species, 2015 was not all gloom.
- Scientists discovered thousands of new species this year, some seen and classified for the first time and completely novel to science.
- Below are Mongabay’s top picks for species discoveries in 2015.

The inadequate global zoo response to the amphibian extinction crisis
- Amphibians have experienced massive declines worldwide.
- The 6.2% of globally threatened amphibians held by zoos compares poorly with global totals for birds (15.9%), mammals (23%), and reptiles (38%).
- There is a feeling of disappointment in the conservation community regarding the response of zoos to the amphibian crisis.

Organized crime role in Latin American wildlife trade hidden in shadow
- Potential profits from domestic and international trafficking in rare Amazon parrots, sea cucumbers, totoaba, and other wildlife are soaring — attracting the same Latin American criminal syndicates notorious for drug, gun and human trafficking.
- Interpol and other international policing organizations have so far shown little interest in curbing the escalating Central and South American trade, while continuing to focus efforts in Asia and Africa.
- An October 2015 Cancun, Mexico conference held by the region’s law enforcement officials may herald a new era of cooperation between states as they begin to cooperate to police the trade.

U.S. a major destination for trafficked Latin American wildlife
- A new Defenders of Wildlife report finds that US consumers are hungry for parrots, turtles, iguanas, tropical fish and other wildlife, along with wildlife products, illegally imported from South America.
- The 130 US Fish and Wildlife agents tasked with inspecting millions of tons of cargo that pass through the nation’s seaports, airports and border crossings have an impossible task — an unknown sum of illegally trafficked wildlife escapes their notice.
- The only way to stop the illegal trade into the US, and better protect Latin American species and ecosystems, is for the US government to increase enforcement and penalties, and for American consumers to stop buying illicit wildlife products.

Success! Biologists may have found a way to eliminate amphibian-killing fungus in the wild
- For the first time, scientists say that they have succeeded in treating fatal chytrid fungal disease in a wild toad species.
- Study found that treating tadpoles with antifungal drug itraconazole, and applying agricultural disinfectant Virkon S on toad habitat, managed to rid the toads of infection for continued period of time.
- But the cure may not be applicable over other vast, complex landscapes, other researchers warn.

Eden Besieged: Amazonia’s Matchless Wildlife Pillaged by Traffickers
- Jaguars, parrots, spectacled bears, giant river otters, turtles, and thousands of other species, already under pressure from Amazon habitat loss and development, are now threatened by a growing wave of animal trafficking.
- Uncounted numbers of animals, and animal parts, are smuggled into the U.S. annually, with America’s 130 US Fish and Wildlife Service agents overwhelmed by the millions of tons of imported goods entering the nation.
- As rainforests are drained of wildlife by traffickers — sometimes with the aid of indigenous hunters armed with modern weapons — indigenous people are drawn away from their traditional cultures into modern cash economies.

Poisonous amphibians may be more likely to go extinct
- Globally, amphibians are going extinct at alarming rates.
- New research indicates amphibians that use poisons or other chemical defenses may have higher historic extinction rates than those without such defenses.
- Human-caused factors may now be overpowering historic extinction rates.

Latin American wildlife trafficking takes to the air
- Last September, German tourist Maciej Oskroba was caught checking bags at Juan Santamaría Airport carrying dirty t-shirts, and more than 400 live snakes, frogs and lizards stuffed into poorly ventilated plastic food containers.
- Customs officials have seen numerous cases where smugglers have hidden hummingbirds in specially sewn pockets in their clothes. What isn’t known is how many wildlife traffickers outwit airport x-ray machines and officials.
- Costa Rican legal loopholes still likely allow passage through Juan Santamaría Airport of shark fins bound for bowls of Asian shark fin soup.

The impacts of haze on Southeast Asia’s wildlife
- Authorities and researchers are still shockingly ignorant of the ecological impacts of the smoke from Indonesia’s annual fires.
- Some creatures are likely finding it harder to sing, which is often crucial for attracting mates, defending territory and more.
- An orangutan disease called airsacculitis might be more prevalent during the smoky season.

Farmed and legally exported Colombian poison frogs take on the illegal pet trade
- Considered the “holy grail” by frog enthusiasts worldwide, Lehmann’s poison frog used to be so common that it littered the ground in its native habitat.
- A 2013 documentary that aimed to find a red morph of Lehmann’s poison frog could only find a single one in a remote part of its range.
- The dire situation faced by this and other endangered poison frogs in Colombia prompted an animal scientist to start Tesoros de Colombia, an organization with the objective of ending illegal frog smuggling.

Journey to oblivion: unraveling Latin America’s illegal wildlife trade
- The trafficking of elephants in Africa has gained tremendous media attention. Not so the illegal trade in birds, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and fish of Central and South America, a problem of epidemic proportion.
- The trafficking routes — out of rainforests and natural habitats, through local markets, to border crossings, airports and seaports, and on to consumers in the U.S., Europe, China and elsewhere — are shrouded in secrecy.
- Latin American trafficking laws are weak and full of loopholes; few traffickers are caught, and when they are, they are often given a slap on the wrist. Stricter laws, enforcement, and penalties are needed, before it is too late.

Chinese Giant Salamander: millions farmed, nearly extinct in the wild
- The Chinese Giant Salamander can grow to as much as a meter in length, but it is a mysterious and enigmatic creature threatened by over-exploitation, disease, and habitat loss.
- Millions are being raised on farms, but the vast majority of breeding stock for those farms are either wild-caught, or first generation offspring of wild-caught animals. The wild salamander’s extinction would also likely spell doom for the farming industry.
- Conservation programs are underway to save wild Chinese Giant Salamanders, and along with them, the remaining watersheds and wild river habitats in which they live.

Latin American illegal wildlife trade exploding in scope and scale
- Latin America is astoundingly biologically diverse, while its enforcement of wildlife trading laws is extremely weak, creating the perfect market for traffickers.
- Traffickers sell the majority of animals domestically, though there is a huge international market with a high demand for birds, fish, monkeys and more — the rarer the animal, the higher the asking price, and bigger the profit.
- The legal trade often provides cover for illegal trafficking, with large numbers of wild-caught animals laundered by legally sanctioned captive breeders.

São Paolo Trafficking: Smuggling Brazil’s Wildlife
- Brazil possesses extraordinary biodiversity, which makes it a place in which wildlife traffickers thrive, earning US $2 billion annually, while draining wild lands of tropical birds, fish, turtles, snakes and mammals in unsustainable numbers.
- While the country has strong wildlife protection laws, these are very poorly enforced, and a legal loophole, allowing 1,000 licensed wildlife breeders to operate, results in animals being captured illegally and “laundered” by captive breeders.
- “To turn the tide on [trafficking] of this magnitude, a global response is going to have to be much better — and all possible support needs to be provided to the countries… on the front lines,” said Helen Clark, Administrator for the UN Development Programme in September.

Eaten to extinction? India’s purple frog faces another threat
- Described in 2003, the Indian purple frog is facing heavy threats from habitat loss as its forests are converted to cropland.
- Researchers monitored part of its range for five years, finding that harvesting of tadpoles by local communities may also be taking a big toll on populations.
- But they say community outreach and education programs can help convince people to stop eating them.

You know climate change threatens the planet — but your bank account?
- Hurricane Patricia is expected to reach the Mexican state of Jalisco Friday evening as a dangerous Category 5 hurricane capable of causing catastrophic destruction.
- A number of states and several business groups prepare to sue the EPA over climate change rules.
- Scientists say summer of 2015 saw the hottest temperatures in more than 4,000 years.

New study re-assesses conservation status of Peruvian amphibians
- The conservation status of 38 amphibian species that had been previously determined to possibly meet IUCN criteria for being listed as Threatened species was re-assessed.
- Researchers found that the status of 14 of the 38 species should be changed.
- The major threat to the re-assessed amphibians is habitat loss due to logging and agriculture, with significant dangers presented by disease, pollution, and illegal harvesting for consumption and the pet trade.

Cupid’s syringe: A love potion for troubled amphibians
- Many of the world’s amphibian species are in trouble.
- Conservationists are attempting to breed some of them as a way to replenish wild populations, but many are reluctant to breed in captivity.
- Captive-breeding programs are turning to an injectable compound called Amphiplex, which can cause amphibians to mate or to release their eggs or sperm.

Tracking the tiny: Harmonic direction finders aid study of small amphibians
- Research into small amphibians has been stymied by limited means of tracking their movements, hindering conservation efforts.
- Harmonic direction finding technology, adapted from avalanche rescue systems, is being used to track some of the world’s smallest amphibians.
- It has helped improve scientists’ understanding of chytridiomycosis, a disease causing massive decline of amphibians around the world.

Biologist finds “we are on pace to create a mass extinction” of frogs worldwide
- John Alroy, a professor of biology at Australia’s Macquarie University, says “a runaway train of extinction is now likely to produce what would be seen as a global mass extinction.”
- A large majority of the 200 extinct frog species were probably lost in the past few decades, just as extinctions and severe population crashes began accelerating in the 1970s and 1980s.
- The current extinction rate for frogs is four orders of magnitude higher than the long-term background average, Alroy found.

Conservation groups buy land from 109 coffee farmers, create reserve for rare salamanders
- During an expedition in 2014, biologists discovered that coffee farmers had bought one of the last remaining habitats for the rare and endangered Finca Chiblac salamander and long-limbed salamander.
- To protect the salamanders, conservation groups purchased the 2,000-acre plot of land from the farmers at over $600,000.
- All 109 farmers have now vacated the area, and conservation groups have established the San Isidro Amphibian Reserve on the land.

Photos: Hundreds of new species discovered in the Eastern Himalayas
- According to a new report released on World Habitat Day, scientists working with a variety of research institutions and organizations discovered more than 200 new species in the Eastern Himalayas in just five years.
- Among the newly discovered species are a blue-eyed frog, a “bejeweled” pit viper and a fish that can live out of water for four days.
- The region is at a severe risk from climate change, which is already having an adverse impact on biodiversity and ecosystem health.

Scientists find a fix for a ‘frog’s worst nightmare’
- Globally, more than 40 percent of amphibians are threatened with extinction.
- Researchers found palm oil plantations harbor many fewer species than primary forest, or even logged forests.
- They say preserving and restoring riparian forests in palm oil plantations could significantly improve amphibian biodiversity — but it would still be no match for primary forest.

Good news: Stunning ‘extinct’ toad rises again in Ecuador (photos)
- A thought-to-be-extinct toad from the highlands of Ecuador has been rediscovered.
- The Azuay Stubfoot-Toad (Atelopus bomolochos) hadn’t been seen since 2002 and was presumed by some researchers to be extinct in the wild due to chytrid.
- It’s not the first time that an Atelopus species has seemingly risen from the dead.

Major expedition uncovers new species in Bolivia
- ID Madidi will explore 14 sites throughout Madidi National Park over the next year and a half.
- At their first study site, the researchers found a new species of frog.
- With two sites under their belt, they’ve recorded 60 vertebrates not known to inhabit the park.

‘Act before it is too late’: scientists urge ban on salamander imports to avert pandemic

Amphibian experts recommend an immediate ban on salamander imports to the U.S. to prevent the spread of a deadly salamander fungus that is wreaking havoc on European salamanders.
Invasion of Poisonous Asian toad in Madagascar is a greater threat to biodiversity than previously thought

Invasive species are among the greatest threats to the world’s biodiversity, and amphibians rank among the most devastating vertebrate invaders. That’s why the discovery of the Asian toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) in Madagascar’s second largest city and main port of Toamasina in March 2014 so alarmed conservationists. Should the newly introduced toad spread across the island […]
New study finds the brilliant-thighed poison frog can learn its way home

Poison dart frogs (Dendrobatidae), named for their poisonous secretions used by indigenous tribes to coat blow gun darts, may possess another less deadly talent. According to a recent study, published in the journal Biology Letters, the curiously named brilliant-thighed poison frog (Allobates femoralis) can use its memory to find its way home through the rainforest. […]
Scientists identify frog through DNA without leaving forest

Scientists conduct first ever in-field DNA test…and potentially discover new species Ana Rodriguez Prieto conducting a test run of the new technology in Italy. Photo courtesy of MUSE. Yesterday, a team of Italian scientists caught a frog in a montane forest in Tanzania. And then they made history: using a small blood sample the team […]
Recently discovered ‘punkrocker’ frog changes skin texture in minutes

Skin texture variation in one mutable rainfrog (Pritimantis mutabilis), which changes from spiny at 0 seconds to smooth at 330 seconds. Photo courtesy of the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. Click to enlarge. In 2006, a husband-and-wife team – Katherine and Tim Krynak – discovered a tiny new frog species, smaller than a U.S. […]
New wormy amphibians discovered in Southeast Asia

Worms come in all different sizes, shapes, textures, colors, and flavors. Some attack human digestive systems, some surface after a rainstorm, and some come in plastic wrappers, covered in sour sugar, at the local grocery store. Despite their similar features and anatomies, many of the real worms (not the sugar kind) demonstrate convergent evolution, meaning […]
Madagascar’s frog haven: rich, underexplored, threatened

Biodiversity may reduce the threat of disease

Frog species used in the study (clockwise from top-right): Scinax hayii, Proceratophrys boiei, Hylodes phyllodes, Brachycephalus pitanga, Hypsiboas bandeirantes. Photo credit: Gui Becker Biodiversity level changes can have consequences for species and habitats around the world. A new study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, reaffirms previous findings that higher diversity in […]
Scientists rediscover endangered Andean toad in Ecuador

In 1970 researchers uncovered the Tandayapa Andean toad (Andinophryne olallai), previously unknown to science, in the Pichincha Province of Ecuador. Given that only a single individual was discovered, even after further exploration in the following years, the toad was soon presumed to be extinct. Forty-two years later, however, a research team rediscovered the species in […]
Scientists rediscover Critically Endangered streamside frog in Costa Rica

In the past 20 years, amphibian species around the world have experienced rapid decline due to climate change, disease, invasive species, habitat loss and degradation. Populations have decreased by approximately 40 percent with nearly 200 species thought to have gone extinct since 1980. However, despite these discouraging statistics, new research efforts are turning up lost […]
How a frog with a strange name is helping improve conservation in Brazil

Protecting the biodiversity of the Amazon basin is an immense undertaking, and to its credit the Brazilian government has a set procedure for doing so. However, there are gaps in the process that may prevent the authorities from fully protecting the species that call this place home. To investigate this, a recent study in mongabay.com’s […]
Pictures: the top new animal discoveries of 2014

Part I of II. See Part II The Ankarafa skeleton frog was described in the summer of 2014. The frogs are called ‘skeleton’ because of their semi-transparent skins. Photo by: Gonçalo M. Rosa. Seemingly every year scientists set a new record with the number of species they describe. 2014 will be no exception. Below are […]
Puerto Rico’s only native toad bounces back from edge of extinction

Captive breeding program increases Puerto Rican crested toad from 200 to thousands The Puerto Rican crested toad (Peltophryne lemur) has had a miraculous journey. Once common on the islands of Puerto Rico and Virgin Gorda, its population declined by more than 80 percent over the past decade, leaving behind just some 200 individuals in the […]

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