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Most frogs in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands to lose habitat by 2100: Study
Amphibians in Brazil’s Pantanal, one of the world’s largest and most biodiverse wetlands, could lose huge swaths of their habitat as the region dries out from climate change, a new study has found. Researchers studied the Upper Paraguay River Basin (UPRB), which stretches into parts of Paraguay and Bolivia and fully contains the Pantanal. Of […]
Endangered Chilean frogs thrive in London while waiting out deadly fungus
A total of 86 Darwin’s frogs are being housed at London Zoo to keep them safe from a deadly infectious disease that has affected over 500 amphibian species worldwide. In October 2024, conservationists from the Zoological Society of London, the NGO Ranita de Darwin and other partners rescued 53 southern Darwin’s frogs (Rhinoderma darwinii) from […]
Longer periods of drought threaten Brazilian amphibians
- According to a study, global warming will increase droughts in up to 33% of the habitats of frogs, toads and treefrogs; in Brazil, the strongest impacts will be felt on the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest — precisely those with the greatest diversity of amphibians.
- Drought and amphibians are not a viable combination: These animals depend on water and humidity to survive; without that, they may dehydrate in a few hours and die.
- The Atlantic Forest is home to more than 700 species of anuran amphibians, more than 50% of which are endemic; in the Amazon, the greatest focus of potential extinction is the Arc of Deforestation.
- In a warmer and drier climate, the question is whether there will be time for these animals to adapt or evolve over generations to survive these new conditions.
Future for Nature Award 2025 winners conserve frogs, pangolins, dwarf deer
Three young conservationists were recently named winners of the 2025 Future For Nature (FFN) Awards for their initiatives to conserve amphibians, pangolins and Andean wildlife. The winners will each receive 50,000 euros ($54,000), FFN said in a statement. “Working in conservation can be tough,” Anthony Waddle, the winner from Australia, told Mongabay by email. “We […]
New frog species show how geology shapes Amazon’s biodiversity
- DNA testing of two new-to-science frog species has shown they share a common ancestor — a species that lived 55 million years ago in the mountains of what is today Brazil’s Amazonas state.
- The multidisciplinary study drew together biologists and geologists to map how geological changes in the mountain range shaped not just its geography but also the diversity of species in the region.
- The two endemic species were collected on two separate peaks — Neblina and Imeri — and their discovery has led to further understanding of the origins and evolution of biodiversity in the Amazon.
- Another expedition to the Tulu-Tuloi Range, located 200 kilometers (120 miles) from Imeri, is scheduled for 2025.
One of the tiniest frogs ever is discovered in Brazil, defying size limits
A frog smaller than a pencil eraser has hopped into the record books as the one of the smallest vertebrates known to science. Researchers formally described the species in late October 2024 after encountering it in the Atlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil’s São Paulo state. At a length of 6.95 millimeters (0.27 inches), Brachycephalus dacnis […]
Study shores up reputation of Bolivia’s Madidi National Park as amphibian haven
Madidi National Park in Bolivia is one of South America’s most amphibian-rich protected areas, new research has found. The park is home to at least 127 species of amphibians, the study’s authors write, representing nearly 46% of Bolivia’s total amphibian diversity. Madidi’s diversity is a reflection of the park’s “extraordinary altitudinal gradient,” Robert Wallace, co-author […]
How an international effort is keeping North America free of a deadly amphibian disease
Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, better known as Bsal, is a fungal pathogen that causes chytridiomycosis, a deadly disease that’s contributing to an amphibian decline across most of the world. But it hasn’t reached North America. A new paper published by scientists from the North American Bsal Task Force confirms that after a decade of testing and monitoring, there’s […]
Rare mutant blue-skinned frog spotted in Australia
In a remote part of Australia, researchers recently stumbled upon an unusual, blue-skinned tree frog. This individual is a rare genetic mutant of the magnificent tree frog, a large amphibian that’s normally green in color, researchers say. The magnificent tree frog (Litoria splendida), also called the splendid tree frog, is found only in the far […]
Frog ‘saunas’ may help threatened frogs fight off deadly fungus
- Researchers have developed simple, sun-heated shelters that allow frogs to raise their body temperatures and fight off a deadly fungal disease called chytridiomycosis.
- The study focused on the green and golden bell frog in Australia, a threatened species, showing that frogs given access to these warm shelters cleared infections faster and developed resistance to future infections.
- This innovative approach could provide a valuable, low-cost tool for protecting various amphibian species threatened by the fungal disease, which has devastated amphibian populations worldwide.
- The research comes at a critical time, as a recent study found that two in five amphibian species are now threatened with extinction, with climate change becoming a primary threat.
A tale of two frogs: The tough uphill battle for rediscovered species
- Some scientists worry that widespread enthusiasm over rediscovering lost or presumed-extinct species can underplay the rocky road to recovery that these species often face. Research suggests many rediscovered species have restricted ranges and small populations and remain highly threatened after their rediscovery.
- Rediscovered amphibians are particularly at risk due to their often-small ranges and risk of amphibian disease. A recently rediscovered harlequin frog species in Ecuador (tentatively identified as Atelopus guanujo), exemplifies challenges which can include intense funding competition and little legal protection or government support for imperiled species.
- The story of the rediscovered dusky gopher frog in the U.S. state of Mississippi illustrates how amphibians can benefit from strong conservation laws and government funding. Thanks to a long-term effort to conserve the dusky gopher frog, the species is now enroute to population recovery.
- Globally, rediscovered species face a range of outcomes — from full recovery to declines so severe populations aren’t genetically viable, or risk extinction due to single events. Outcomes vary based on funding, interest in conserving a particular species, and how much communities and institutions get involved in conservation.
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.
Three new species of frogs found nestled in Madagascar’s pandan trees
- Scientists have described three new frog species that dwell exclusively in the spiky leaves of pandan trees in Madagascar’s eastern rainforests.
- While the frogs are new to science, locals have observed them for generations, and they’ve been given names in Malagasy.
- The frogs have a unique life cycle completely restricted to the trees, meaning they entirely depend entirely on intact pandan trees.
- Pandan trees, from the genus Pandanus, are threatened by deforestation driven by mining, agriculture and development, while slashing, burning and deforestation threaten Madagascar’s extraordinary biodiversity in general.
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.
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.
‘What we need to protect and why’: 20-year Amazon research hints at fate of tropics
- In its bold outlines, many informed people understand that climate change is reducing tropical biodiversity and thereby degrading the functionality and ecoservices of tropical forests. But what are the specific mechanisms by which these forests are being diminished over long time frames?
- One project on the slopes of the Peruvian Amazon has tried to make exactly that type of assessment, via a 20-year ongoing research project that meticulously observes a narrow transect of rainforest stretching from the Amazon lowlands near sea level to the Andean highlands above 3,352 meters (11,000 feet).
- The international team conducting this work, the Andes Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research Group (ABERG), is painstakingly observing changes in more than 1,000 tree species, birds, frogs, snakes and more to determine not only how much climate change is affecting them, but untangling how the change process works.
- This type of in-depth research is vital to conserving tropical rainforest diversity, the carbon storage capacity it offers, and its assistance in maintaining long-persisting regional and global precipitation patterns vital to agriculture and other water needs. Mongabay contributor Justin Catanoso traveled to Peru to observe ABERG at work.
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.
No croak: New silent frog species described from Tanzania’s ‘sky island’ forests
- Scientists have described a new-to-science species of frog from Tanzania’s Ukaguru Mountains with a unique trait: it’s silent.
- The males of this species have tiny spines on their throats, which may serve as a means of species recognition for the females.
- Researchers encountered the species during an expedition in search of another species, the elusive Churamiti maridadi tree toad, which has only been spotted twice in the wild and is feared to be extinct.
- The Ukaguru Mountains have a high degree of endemism, and describing this new species highlights the vast amount of knowledge still to be gained about this biodiversity-rich area.
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.
Toxic new frog species from Ecuador named after Family Guy’s Seth MacFarlane
- A new-to-science frog species has been found in Ecuador and named in honor of Seth MacFarlane, the U.S. film and television creator responsible for the show “Family Guy.”
- The frog was found as part of an expedition to catalog and protect species in the Andes. All told, researchers have only found four individual frogs, all within a few square meters of ridgeline atop Cerro Mayordomo, a mountain on the edge of the Amazon basin.
- The frogs’ vibrant patterns likely serve as a warning sign of their toxicity, with researchers reporting burning and tingling skin after collecting the first specimen.
- Ecuador’s forests are home to more than 600 known species of frogs, and more are being described every year. Six other new-to-science species of frogs have been found on Cerro Mayordomo alone.
Tiny new tree frog species found in rewilded Costa Rican nature reserve
- On a private nature reserve in Costa Rica, Donald Varela-Soto searched for the source of a shrill frog call for six months. What he found turned out to be a new species, a tiny green tree frog that has been named Tlalocohyla celeste.
- Scientists think the Tapir Valley tree frog may be critically endangered. Its only known habitat is the 8-hectare (20-acre) wetland within the Tapir Valley Nature Reserve, which adjoins Tenorio Volcano National Park.
- Varela-Soto and a partner bought the reserve, a former cattle pasture, to protect and restore forest and provide habitat connectivity for wildlife, including the native Baird’s tapir. The reserve has since become a living laboratory for different restoration techniques.
- Today, the Tapir Valley Nature Reserve hosts species such as jaguars, collared peccaries, and tapirs, and many birds. Ecotourism provides income for Varela-Soto’s family and others. The reserve has been hailed as “a great example of how wildlife and humans can co-exist.”
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.
Chocolate frog? New burrowing frog species unearthed in Amazon’s rare peatlands
- Researchers dug up a new-to-science species of burrowing frog in the Peruvian Amazon that resembles chocolate. The frog has been nicknamed the tapir frog for its distinctive-looking snout.
- Herpetologists used the frog’s call to locate and dig up three individual frogs. DNA analyses confirmed that, although the species was known to locals, it had not yet been described by science.
- The team found the small frogs in one of the rarest habitats in the Amazon rainforest, the Amazon peatlands. A past study found that peatlands in the Peruvian Amazon store 10 times the amount of carbon as nearby undisturbed rainforest.
- The discovery was made during a rapid inventory of the Lower Putumayo Basin. A conservation area is proposed for the region and researchers say the tapir frog is yet another reason to conserve this peatland and the surrounding area.
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.”
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.
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.
Well, hello there: Glass frogs ‘wave’ to communicate near noisy waterfalls
- A researcher discovered that an obscure species of nocturnal glass frog, Sachatamia orejuela, uses visual signaling as well as acoustical calls to communicate within their environment.
- Other frog species are known to communicate visually, although they are unrelated to S. orejuela and are found on different continents.
- A recent paper on the discovery also provides the first known description of the acoustical call of S. orejuela, endemic to Ecuador and Colombia.
Top positive environmental stories from 2020
- 2020 was a difficult year for many, but positive stories emerged.
- This year, species were brought back from the edge of extinction; interest in renewable energy surged; environmental monitoring technology improved; new protected areas were created; and a few Indigenous women leaders got some long-overdue credit and recognition.
- In no particular order, we look back at some of our top positive environmental stories from 2020.
Top 15 species discoveries from 2020 (Photos)
- In 2020, Mongabay and others reported on several announcements of species new to science.
- Snakes, insects, many new orchids, frogs, and even a few mammals were named in 2020.
- In no particular order, we present our 15 top picks.
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.
‘Don’t give up!’ The last known Loa water frogs produce 200 tadpoles
- The last known 14 Loa water frogs (Telmatobius dankoi) were evacuated from a swiftly vanishing stream in northern Chile last year and taken to a zoo in the capital, Santiago.
- In late October this year, after more than a year of meticulous care, they have produced 200 tadpoles.
- Because water frogs require very specific conditions for survival, they are especially vulnerable to threats from development, drought, pollution and disease.
- The goal for the captive Loa water frogs is to breed enough healthy individuals to release them back into to the wild. But until they have a safe home to go to, they will remain in the protection of the zoo.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Field research, interrupted: How the COVID-19 crisis is stalling science
- Travel, social and funding restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have taken a toll on scientific research worldwide.
- Graduate students and early-career scientists have seen their plans for field research and projects thrown into uncertainty, while science conferences on issues from climate change to conservation have been postponed.
- Researchers working with live organisms are having to make the tough decision of which ones to keep alive amid a shortage of resources.
- Long-term research projects, some going back decades, face an unprecedented break in data gathering, and there’s widespread uncertainty about how long grants and other funding sources will be available.
‘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.”
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.
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.
Deforestation for potential rubber plantation raises concerns in Papua New Guinea
- The project, ostensibly for a 125-square-kilometer (48-square-mile) rubber plantation, began in mid-2018.
- Satellite imagery shows that Maxland, working with a local landowner company, has built logging roads and deforested patches of the Great Central Forest on Manus Island.
- Like Papua New Guinea as a whole, Manus is home to a wide variety of unique wildlife — just one aspect of the forest on which human communities have depended for thousands of years.
- Government forestry and environment officials were aware of the importance of the forest and a local forest management committee protested the project before it began, but it’s been allowed to continue anyway.
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.
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.
World’s largest frog moves heavy rocks to build nests, study finds
- The goliath frog, the world’s largest known frog species, sometimes moves large stones and rocks weighing more than half its weight to create dammed ponds on sandy riverbanks to serve as nesting sites, a new study has found.
- Digging out a large nest that is more than a meter wide by moving large rocks requires a lot of physical strength, which could be a potential explanation for why goliath frogs are among the largest frogs in the world, researchers say.
- The goliath frog is endangered, yet there’s still a lot that researchers do not understand about the frog’s behavior.
Conservation tech prize with invasive species focus announces finalists
- The Con X Tech Prize announced its second round will fund 20 finalists, selected from 150 applications, each with $3,500 to create their first prototypes of designs that use technology to address a conservation challenge.
- Seven of the 20 teams focused their designs on reducing impacts from invasive species, while the others addressed a range of conservation issues, from wildlife trafficking to acoustic monitoring to capturing freshwater plastic waste in locally-built bamboo traps.
- Conservation X Labs (CXL), which offers the prize, says the process provides winners with very early-stage funding, a rare commodity, and recognition of external approval, each of which has potential to motivate finalists and translate into further funding.
- Finalists can also compete for a grand prize of $20,000 and product support from CXL.
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.
New eDNA sampling system aims for cleaner, more efficient field research
- Researchers tested a new self-preserving filter housing system that automatically preserves eDNA from water samples, while reducing the risk of DNA contamination and plastic waste.
- Scientists who use eDNA currently rely on cumbersome cold storage or liquid preservatives and single-use sampling equipment to preserve their eDNA samples, which are highly sensitive to degradation as well as contamination.
- The new system incorporates a hydrophilic plastic material in its filter housing that physically pulls water from the sample without having to add chemicals.
- In a six-month test, it allowed data collectors to preserve samples quickly and easily, at ambient temperature and with far reduced plastic waste, preventing degradation for weeks and with slightly higher amounts of captured DNA than a standard method.
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.
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.
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.
How India’s shrub frogs crossed a bridge to Sri Lanka – and changed forever
- A new study traces the migration of a genus of shrub frogs, endemic to India’s Western Ghats, to Sri Lanka some 27 million years ago.
- A constantly changing climate gave rise to various types of habitats over the course of geological time, allowing isolated populations of the same species to evolve in vastly different ways.
- One group of frogs later even migrated back across to India.
- The researchers hope to identify historical reasons that may be driving current trends of species diversity and distribution.
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.
Latam Eco Review: Pumas hate disco and Ecuador’s newly described glass frog
Ecuador’s most recently described glass frogs, a model plan for coastal management in Colombia, and using lights to scare away pumas in Chile were among the top recent stories from our Spanish-language service, Mongabay Latam. Colombia: Integrated coastal management protects local species and culture A fisheries zoning plan is protecting both local species and artisanal fishing […]
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.
180 years of herps: Q&A with Luis Ceríaco on Angola’s atlas of life
- Angola’s new atlas of amphibians and reptiles is a compendium of nearly 400 species recorded from thousands of scattered sources published between 1840 and 2017.
- The atlas includes the history of research into Angola’s herpetofauna as well as detailed distribution and conservation concerns of 117 species of frogs and 278 species of reptiles currently recognized in the country.
- By placing all available data on Angola’s herpetofauna in a single document, the atlas could serve as a tool for those interested in biodiversity conservation in the country, researchers say.
- Mongabay spoke with Luis M.P. Ceríaco, one of the researchers involved in the project, to know more about the atlas.
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 […]
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, […]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Latam Eco Review: Harlequin frogs, sustainable ranching, and miracle coral
These were the most read stories published by our Spanish-language service, Mongabay-Latam, last week: Scientists in Colombia strive to understand what is happening with the Athelopus frog genus in order to save them from extinction, while a cattle ranch in Bolivia opts for an ambitious sustainable tourism project, and more. Keep up to date with […]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Study finds hundreds of thousands of tropical species at risk of extinction due to deforestation
- Scientists have long believed that the rate at which we are destroying tropical forests, and the habitat those forests represent, could drive a global mass extinction event, but the extent of the potential losses has never been fully understood.
- John Alroy, a professor of biological sciences at Australia’s Macquarie University, examined local-scale ecological data in order to forecast potential global extinction rates and found that hundreds of thousands of species are at risk if humans disturb all pristine forests remaining in the tropics.
- Mass extinction will occur primarily in tropical forests because Earth’s terrestrial biodiversity is so heavily concentrated in those ecosystems, Alroy notes in the study.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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”.
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.
Climate change pledges not nearly enough to save tropical ecosystems
- Last December, 178 nations pledged to cut their carbon emissions enough to keep global temperatures from rising by more than 2 degrees Celsius — with an aspirational goal of 1.5 degrees. A study in the journal Nature has found that pledges so far are insufficient to keep the world from blasting past the 2 degree mark, even as scientists meet this week in Geneva to consider plans to reach the goal.
- While scientists have long known that extreme temperature rises in the Arctic presaged ecosystem devastation there, they believed that less extreme temperature rises in the tropics might have smaller, less serious impacts on biodiversity.
- Recent findings, however, show that major tropical ecosystems, ranging from coral reefs and mangroves to cloud forests and rainforests are already seriously threatened by climate change with likely dangerous repercussions for wildlife.
- While nations work to commit to, and achieve, their Paris commitments, scientists say it is vital that tropical countries continue to protect large core tracts of wild land linked by wild corridors in order to conserve maximum biodiversity — allowing for free, unhampered movement of species as climate change unfolds.
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.
Two new rain frogs found in Ecuadorian Andes
- The scientists named the new species Pristimantis llanganati, after the national park where it was found, and Pristimantis yanezi, after Mario Yánez, director of the Ecuadorian Museum of Natural Sciences.
- The scientists who made the discovery of the two new species wrote in a paper published in the journal ZooKeys last week that it is premature to say anything definitive about the health of the frogs’ populations.
- The Pristimantis genus is already one of the most diverse frog genera in the world, with nearly 500 species.
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.
Bolivian expedition finds seven new species (PHOTOS)
- The expedition is midway through its two-year exploration of Madidi National Park.
- In addition to species new to science, the researchers have also found multitudes of plants and animals that were not known to live in the park.
- Their next stop is Madidi’s Andean foothills.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Meet Peru’s new fleshbelly frog
- New species has ‘striking’ markings on its abdomen.
- It was found in unlogged, montane cloud forest.
- Its discoverers think more species unknown to science may live in the area, urge exploration and protection.
Almost Famous Animals
The Almost Famous Animals reporting project publicizes the plight of little known and threatened tropical, subtropical, and temperate zone animals, and serves to highlight the wildlife scientists working to protect them. The fight to save charismatic wildlife like tigers and pandas is relatively well known worldwide. But how about the battle to save the beleaguered […]
‘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.
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. […]
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 discover fanged frogs that give birth to tadpoles
Photograph of newly described frog (Limnonectes larvaepartus) (male, left, and female) from the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. It is the only frog known that gives direct birth to tadpoles. Photo credit: Jim McGuire Photos Scientists have discovered a new species of fanged frog (Limnonectes larvaepartus) that is the world’s only known frog able to […]
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 […]
The biggest new species discoveries in 2014 (photos)
Part II of II. See Part I The Etendeka round-eared sengi (Macroscelides micus). Photo by: Galen Rathbun/California Academy of Sciences. Biologists describe upwards of 15,000 previously undocumented species every year. Some of these species are complete surprises, occasionally representing new genera. Others may be identified after genetic analysis distinguishes them from closely-related species. Some — […]
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 […]
New poison dart frog needs immediate conservation plan
The holotype specimen, which scientists used as the basis to describe a new species of poison dart frog: Andinobates geminisae. Photo by: Cesar Jaramillo, STRI. It was a surprising discovery in an unlikely location. In a leaf litter nearly four inches deep under a dense canopy of rainforest trees, researchers Marcos Ponce and Abel Batista […]
Rediscovered in 2010, rare Indian frog surprises by breeding in bamboo
Raorchestes chalazodes. Photo by: Seshadri K. S. For a long time, this rare white spotted bush frog lived a secretive life: the Critically Endangered Chalazodes bubble-nest frog (Raorchestes chalazodes) was last seen in 1874 and presumed to be extinct. That is until 2010 when a year-long expedition to try and locate ‘lost’ amphibians in India […]
The Search for Lost Frogs: one of conservation’s most exciting expeditions comes to life in new book
An interview with Robin Moore, author of the new book, In Search of Lost Frogs: The Quest to Find the World’s Rarest Amphibians The Cuchumatan golden toad (Incilius aurarius) from the Cuchumatanes mountains of Guatemala, found during a search for lost salamanders. This species was only discovered as recently as 2012. It is so new […]
Scientists uncover six potentially new species in Peru, including bizarre aquatic mammal (photos)
This potentially new lizard species was discovered on the last day of a survey in a cloud forest in Andean Peru. Photo: Luis Mamani. A group of Peruvian and Mexican scientists say they have uncovered at least six new species near South America’s most famous archaeological site: Machu Picchu. The discoveries include a new mammal, […]
Scientists honor missing activist by naming a spider after him
Aposphragisma brunomanseri goblin spider. Courtesy of the Natural History Museum of Berne Swiss researchers have honored the memory of a missing indigenous peoples activist by naming an undescribed species of spider after him, reports the Bruno Manser Fund, the group he founded. Bruno Manser, an environmentalist who campaigned on behalf of the nomadic Penan people […]
Selective logging hurts rainforest frogs
Bob Inger’s Bush Frog (Raorchestes bobingeri), a species found in the study site. Photo by K.S. Seshadri Selective logging in India’s Western Ghats forests continues to affect frogs decades after harvesting ended, finds a new study published in Biotropica. The research, conducted by K. S. Seshadri of Pondicherry University and the Ashoka Trust for Research […]
New skeleton frog from Madagascar is already Critically Endangered
Ankarafa skeleton frog’s (Boophis ankarafensis) mating. Photo by: Gonçalo M. Rosa. Sometimes all it takes is fewer clicks. Scientists have discovered a new species of frog from Madagascar that stuck out in part because it “clicked” less during calls than similar species. Unfortunately the scientists believe the new species—dubbed the Ankarafa skeleton frog (Boophis ankarafensis)—is […]
Yellow spots, orange stripes: vivid new frog species discovered in Malaysia
New species discovered in threatened swamps Scientists have identified a new species of frog on the Malay Peninsula. The newly named Hylarana centropeninsularis was discovered in a swamp and genetic analyses revealed that it is evolutionarily distinct from its stream-dwelling cousins. After publishing the discovery in the online journal Herpetologica, Kin Onn Chan, a doctoral […]
Dancing frogs: scientists discover 14 new species in India (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
Scientists have discovered 14 new species of frogs in the mountainous tropical forests of India’s Western Ghats, all of which are described in a recent study published in the Ceylon Journal of Science. The new species are all from a single genus, and are collectively referred to as “dancing frogs” due to the unusual courtship […]
Game of thorns: colorful, spiky tree frog discovered in Vietnam
Evening fog settled quickly on Mount Ngoc Linh, as the steady drone of cicadas and crickets took up their usual nighttime chorus. The night calm was broken by sudden crashing through the thick bamboo stands and excited voices. High in this isolated cloud forest in central Vietnam, Dr. Jodi Rowley and her colleagues had come […]
Amphibian pandemic may have hit Madagascar, hundreds of species at risk of infection
Madagascar is one of the world’s hotspots for amphibian diversity, home to so many frog species that many of them don’t even have names. But soon the island may also harbor a fungus causing drastic declines – even extinctions – of frogs around the world. Ironically, the wildlife trade that’s often blamed for helping spread […]
Several Amazonian tree frog species discovered, where only two existed before
We have always been intrigued by the Amazon rainforest with its abundant species richness and untraversed expanses. Despite our extended study of its wildlife, new species such as the olinguito (Bassaricyon neblina), a bear-like carnivore hiding out in the Ecuadorian rainforest, are being identified as recently as last year. In fact, the advent of efficient […]
Frog creates chemical invisibility cloak to confuse aggressive ants
The African stink ant (Pachycondyla tarsata, previously Paltothyreus tarsatus) creates large underground colonies that are home to anywhere from hundreds to thousands of ants, and occasionally a frog or two. The West African rubber frog (Phrynomantis microps) hides in the humid nests to survive the long dry season of southern and central Africa. However, the […]
Scientists uncover new species of Andean marsupial frog
The term “marsupial frog” might sound like a hoax, but, believe it or not, it’s real. Recently, herpetologists welcomed a new species, known as Gastrotheca dysprosita and described in the journal Phyllomedusa. Unlike mammal marsupials, which typically carry their young in pouches on their torsos and are found primarily in Australia, the Gastrotheca genus of […]
287 amphibian and reptile species in Peruvian park sets world record (photos)
Ameerega macero poison dart frog in Manu N.P. Photo by Alessandro Catenazzi. It’s official: Manu National Park in Peru has the highest diversity of reptiles and amphibians in the world. Surveys of the park, which extends from high Andean cloud forests down into the tropical rainforest of the Western Amazon, and its buffer zone turned […]
New frog species discovered on tallest mountain in Indochina
A team of Australian and Vietnamese researchers recently discovered a new species of frog in the high elevations of Vietnam’s Mount Fansipan, according to a new paper in Zootaxa. The amphibian was named Botsford’s leaf-litter frog (Leptolalax botsfordi) as a tribute to Christopher Botsford for his role in amphibian biodiversity research in Asia. “I had […]
High-living frogs hurt by remote oil roads in the Amazon
Often touted as low-impact, remote oil roads in the Amazon are, in fact, having a large impact on frogs living in flowers in the upper canopy, according to a new paper published in PLOS ONE. In Ecuador’s Yasuni National Park, massive bromeliads grow on tall tropical trees high in the canopy and may contain up […]
Not seen in over 130 years, ‘extinct’ frog rediscovered in Sri Lanka
In 1876—the same year that the first telephone call was made—the British scientist Albert Günther described a new species of frog from Sri Lanka, but the species, known as the webless shrub frog (Pseudophilautus hypomelas), was never seen again. Having disappeared into history, scientists considered the species extinct—that is until a 2010 expedition stumbled on […]
Sky islands: exploring East Africa’s last frontier
- The montane rainforests of East Africa are little-known to the global public.
- The Amazon and Congo loom much larger in our minds, while the savannas of East Africa remain the iconic ecosystems for the region.
- However these ancient, biodiverse forests – sitting on the tops of mountains rising from the African savanna –
are home to some remarkable species, many found only in a single forest.
- A team of international scientists – Michele Menegon, Fabio Pupin, and Simon Loader – have made it their mission to document the little-known reptiles and amphibians in these so-called sky islands, many of which are highly imperiled.
Microhabitats could buffer some rainforest animals against climate change
As temperatures increase worldwide due to anthropogenic climate change, scientists are scrambling to figure out if species will be able to survive rapidly warming ecosystems. A new study in Global Change Biology offers a little hope. Studying reptiles and amphibians in the Philippines, scientists say some of these species may be able to seek refuge […]
Strange mouth-brooding frog driven to extinction by disease
An unusual species of mouth-brooding frog was likely driven to extinction by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), making an unusual example of ‘extinction by infection’, argue scientists writing in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. A team of researchers led by Claudio Soto-Azat of the Universidad Andres Bello in Santiago and the Zoological Society of London […]
Thought-to-be-extinct ‘halloween’ frog rediscovered in Costa Rica
A breeding population of a critically endangered harlequin toad thought to be extinct in Costa Rica has been discovered in a tract of highland forest in the Central American country, reports a paper published in Amphibia-Reptilia. Atelopus varius, an orange-and-black harlequin toad, was once relatively common from central Costa Rica to western Panama. But beginning […]
New to science: 2 lizards, 1 frog discovered on Australian expedition (pictures)
New leaf-tail gecko. Photo copyright Tim Laman / National Geographic Researchers from James Cook University and National Geographic discovered three new herp species — a cryptic leaf-tail gecko, a colorful skink, and a frog — during an expedition to northeastern Australia. The species are described in three papers published in October in the journal Zootaxa. […]
Small invertebrates could be key to uncovering the mysteries of killer amphibian fungus
In 2004, the first-ever Global Amphibian Assessment (GAA) reviewed all 5,743 amphibian species known to science and concluded that 32% were threatened with extinction – a number far exceeding corresponding figures for birds and mammals (12 to 23% respectively). In addition to the usual culprits of climate change and habitat destruction, a startling 92.5% of […]
Scientists discover cocoa frog and 60 other new species in remote Suriname (photos)
In one of the most untouched and remote rainforests in the world, scientists have discovered some sixty new species, including a chocolate-colored frog and a super-mini dung beetle. The species were uncovered in Southeastern Suriname during a Rapid Assessment Program (RAP); run by Conservation International (CI), RAPS involve sending teams of specialists into little-known ecosystems […]
Amphibians evolve resistance to popular pesticide
Rachel Carson and, more recently, Sandra Steingraber have successfully drawn popular attention to the risks of pesticides on wildlife. Many of the environmental consequences of pesticides have now been well documented by scientists; however, studies investigating the evolutionary consequences of pesticides on non-target species are largely missing. Not surprisingly, most studies looking at how species […]
Photo essay: India’s Western Ghats is a haven for endemic amphibians
The Western Ghats are a globally recognized repository of biological diversity for our planet. We know very little about most species found here, particularly the ecologically sensitive and spectacularly beautiful 179 amphibians. Astonishingly, 87% of all Western Ghats frogs are endemic and found nowhere else on the planet. Our collaborative research project with Drs Paul […]
Global warming may ‘flatten’ rainforests
Climate change may push canopy-dwelling plants and animals out of the tree-tops due to rising temperatures and drier conditions, argues a new study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The development may be akin to “flattening” the tiered vegetation structure that characterizes the rainforest ecosystem. The conclusion is based on surveys of frogs […]
New poison dart frog discovered in ‘Lost World’
Scientists have described a new species of poison dart frog after discovering it during a study to determine the impact of tourism on biodiversity in a tract of rainforest known as “The Lost World” in Guyana. The scientists named the frog Allobates amissibilis — in Latin, “that may be lost” — in recognition of its […]
Vocal-sac breeding frog possibly extinct
Somewhere in the wet pine forests of Chile, a male frog is gulping-up a bunch of eggs. No he’s not eating them, he’s just being a good dad. Darwin’s frogs are known for their unique parenting-style: tadpoles are incubated in the vocal sac of the father. First recorded by Charles Darwin during his world famous […]
Amazonian students help monitor threatened frog populations
The 2013 Zoos and Aquariums: Committing to Conservation (ZACC) conference runs from July 8th—July 12th in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by the Blank Park Zoo. Ahead of the event, Mongabay.com is running a series of Q&As with presenters. For more interviews, please see our ZACC feed. Forest bromeliad treefrog (Osteocephalus cabrerai). Photo by: Marcy Sieggreen. […]
The best place for frog-spotting in Costa Rica
Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center (CRARC) outside of Siquirres in Limón Province, Costa Rica. I’ll be doing a feature story on CRARC soon, but I want to share a few pictures from the trip. Briefly, CRARC aims to conserve some of the world’s most endangered amphibian […]
Palm oil expansion endangering rare frogs in Malaysia
Expansion of the palm oil industry in Malaysia is destroying key habitat for endangered frogs, putting them at greater risk, finds a new study published in the journal Conservation Biology. Over a two-year period, Aisyah Faruk of the Zoological Society of London and colleagues documented the impact of oil palm plantations on the peat swamp […]
Turning up the temperature might save frogs’ lives
Over the past 30 years, amphibians worldwide have been infected with a lethal skin disease known as the amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis). “The disease can cause rapid mortality, with infected frogs of susceptible species dying within weeks of infection in the laboratory.” Jodi Rowley, a herpetologist with the Australian Museum told mongabay.com. “This disease […]
Two new frog genera discovered in India’s Western Ghats, but restricted to threatened swamp-ecosystems
The misty mountains of the Western Ghats seem to unravel new secrets the more you explore it. Researchers have discovered two new frog genera, possibly restricted to rare and threatened freshwater swamps in the southern Western Ghats of India. The discoveries, described in the open-access journal Zootaxa, prove once again the importance of the mountain […]
Saviors or villains: controversy erupts as New Zealand plans to drop poison over Critically Endangered frog habitat
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New Zealand’s Department of Conservation (DOC) is facing a backlash over plans to aerially drop a controversial poison, known as 1080, over the habitat of two endangered, prehistoric, and truly bizarre frog species, Archey’s and Hochsetter’s frogs, on Mount Moehau. Used in New Zealand to kill populations of invasive mammals, such as rats and the […]
Scientists discover 8 new frogs in one sanctuary, nearly all Critically Endangered (photos)
A new species discovered in the Peak Wilderness Sanctuary: Pseudophilautus sirilwijesundarai. Photo by: L.J. Mendis Wickramasinghe. Two surveys in the mountainous forests of Sri Lanka’s Peak Wilderness Sanctuary have uncovered eight new species of frogs, according to a massive new paper in the Journal of Threatened Taxa. While every year over a hundred new amphibians […]
Scientists clone extinct frog that births young from its mouth
Australian scientists have produced cloned embryos of an extinct species of frog known for its strange reproductive behavior, reports the University of New South Wales. The amphibian, the gastric-brooding frog (Rheobatrachus silus), one of only two species that swallowed its eggs, brooded the young in its stomach, and gave birth through its mouth. But it […]
Captive frogs may be spreading diseases to wild cousins across Southeast Asia
Lethal chytrid fungus discovered in Singapore. The bullfrog is believed to be spreading chytrid fungus to wild frogs in Southeast Asia. Photo courtesy of WCS. Scientists have documented a series of links between exotic frogs for trade and diseases in wild frogs in Southeast Asia, including the first documented case of the chytrid fungus—a virulent […]
Starry frog rediscovered after thought extinct for 160 years (photos)
The starry shrub frog has been rediscovered after believed extinct for nearly 160 years. Photo by: L.J. Mendis Wickramasinghe. In 1853 Edward Frederick Kelaart, a physician and naturalist, collected a strange frog on the island of Sri Lanka then a British colony known as Ceylon. The specimen was a large shrub frog (about 2 inches […]
Frogs radio-tracked for first time in Madagascar
A radio-tagged Scaphiophryne gottlebei individual from the Zahavola site. Photo by Gonçalo Rosa Researchers have radio-tracked frogs for the first time in Madagascar. The effort, undertaken by a group of European scientists, is detailed in the current issue of Herpetologica. Attaching tiny radio transmitters weighing 0.3-0.35 grams (1/100 of an ounce) to 36 rainbow frogs […]
Popular pesticides kill frogs outright
European common frog (Rana temporaria). Photo by: Richard Bartz. Commonly used agrochemicals (insecticides, fungicides and herbicides) kill frogs outright when sprayed on fields even when used at recommended dosages, according to new research in Scientific Reports. Testing seven chemicals on European common frogs (Rana temporaria), the scientists found that all of them were potentially lethal […]
Common toads ravaged by killer disease in Portugal
An adult common midwife toad. Photo by: Gonçalo M. Rosa. The chytrid fungus—responsible for millions of amphibian deaths worldwide—is now believed to be behind a sudden decline in the common midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans), according to a new paper in Animal Conservation. Researchers have detected the presence of the deadly fungus in the Serra da […]
New giant flying frog discovered near city of 9 million
Helen’s tree frog. Photo courtesy of Jodi Rowley. Jodi Rowley is no stranger to discovering new amphibians—she’s helped describe over 10 in her short career thus far—but she was shocked to discover a new species of flying frog less than 100 kilometers from a major, bustling Southeast Asian metropolis, Ho Chi Minh City. Unfortunately, the […]
New rare frog discovered in Sri Lanka, but left wholly unprotected
A female Polypedates ranwellai. Photo courtesy of Mendis Wickramasinghe. Sri Lanka, an island country lying off the southeast coast of India, has long been noted for its vast array of biodiversity. Islands in general are renowned for their weird and wonderful creatures, including high percentages of endemic species—and Sri Lanka, where scientists recently discovered a […]
Artificial ‘misting system’ allows vanished toad to be released back into the wild
A captive Kihansi spray toad at the WCS Bronx Zoo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. In 1996 scientists discovered a new species of dwarf toad: the Kihansi spray toad (Nectophrynoides asperginis). Although surviving on only two hectares near the Kihansi Gorge in Tanzania, the toads proved populous: around 17,000 individuals crowded the smallest known habitat […]
Tiny new frog discovered in India bypasses the free-swimming tadpole stage
A tiny new frog species has been discovered in the rainforests of India’s Western Ghats. The frog, named the Kakachi Shrub frog (Raorchestes kakachi), is endemic to the the region. It is described in the journal Zootaxa. Raorchestes kakachi males attain a length of 2.5 cm (1 inch), while females can reach a length of […]
Private reserve safeguards newly discovered frogs in Ecuadorian cloud forest
The Las Gralarias glass frog is the world’s newest glass frog. It was discovered by Carl Hutter on the Reserva las Gralarias, after which the researcher subsequently named the new amphibian. Photo by: Jaime Garcia. Although it covers only 430 hectares (1,063 acres) of the little-known Chocó forest in Ecuador, the private reserve of las […]
Climate change may be worsening impacts of killer frog disease
Climate change, which is spawning more extreme temperatures variations worldwide, may be worsening the effects of a devastating fungal disease on the world’s amphibians, according to new research published in Nature Climate Change. Researchers found that frogs infected with the disease, known as chytridiomycosis, perished more rapidly when temperatures swung wildly. However scientists told the […]
3000 new species of amphibians discovered in 25 years
Red-eyed tree frog. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. The number of amphibians described by scientists now exceeds 7,000, or roughly 3,000 more than were known just 25 years ago, report researchers in Berkeley. David Wake, an emeritus biology professor at the University of California, this week announced the 7,000th amphibian cataloged on AmphibiaWeb, a project […]
Scientists testing anti-fungal bacteria on diseased frogs in California
Researchers are treating tadpoles in Kings Canyon National Park with a bacteria they hope will provide immunity to an infamous fungal disease, reports the San Francisco Gate. The bacteria could be key not only to saving California’s mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa), which is listed as Endangered by the IUCN Red List, but also frog […]
New colorful rainforest frog named after Prince Charles (PICTURES)
Hyloscirtus princecharlesi. Photo by Luis A. Coloma. Researchers have discovered a previously unknown species of frog and named it in honor of Price Charles, according to a paper published in the journal Zootaxa. The species, dubbed Hyloscirtus princecharlesi, was one of two ‘new’ species described from highly endangered clouds forests in Ecuador. The second species […]
96 percent of the world’s species remain unevaluated by the Red List
The IUCN Red List releases its 2012 update, adding 247 species to its threatened categories. The king cobra has been evaluated by the IUCN Red List for the first time and listed as Vulnerable. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Nearly 250 species have been added to the threatened categories—i.e. Vulnerable, Endangered, and Critically Endangered—in this […]
Frog secretion illicitly used to help racehorses run faster
Waxy monkey frog. A compound found in the secretions of a South American frog is being used to illegally boost the performance of racehorses, reports The New York Times. A testing lab commissioned by racing regulators found dermorphin — a painkiller derived from skin secretions of the waxy monkey tree frog (Phyllomedusa sauvagei), an amphibian […]
Extinct toad rediscovered after hiding for 133 years in Sri Lanka
The Kandyan dwarf toad hadn’t been seen for over a century until researchers stumbled on it in 2009. Photo courtesy of: L.J. Mendis Wickramasinghe. A small toad not seen since 1876, and considered by many to be extinct, has been rediscovered in a stream in Sri Lanka. First recorded in 1872, the Kandyan dwarf toad […]
EPA considers ban on herbicide that triggers sex reversal in frogs
Juvenile Agalychnis annae tree frog The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will weigh a ban on Atrazine, a widely used herbicide linked to sex reversal and other reproductive problems in amphibians and fish. The chemical, which is manufactured by Syngenta, has been banned in the European Union since 2004 but some 80 million pounds Atrazine are […]
New frog species leaves scientists’ fingers yellow
The yellow dyer rain frog (Diasporus citrinobapheus) is a new species of frog discovered in Panama. Photo by: Andreas Hertz. A beautiful, yellow frog species has been discovered in western Panama, according to a new paper in ZooKeys. Scientists were surprised when handling the new species to find their fingers stained bright yellow by its […]
Frog photos for Save the Frogs Day
Red-eye treefrog. Today is Save the Frogs Day, a global event that aims to raise awareness on the plight of amphibians, which are increasingly endangered by climate change, habitat loss and degradation, pollution, invasive species, overexploitation, and the outbreak of a deadly fungal disease. In recognition of Save the Frogs Day, there are dozens of […]
Mad frog bonanza: up to 36 new frogs discovered in tiny Madagascar forest
Confirmed new frog species from Betampona Forest Reserve in the Boophis genus. Photo by: Gonçalo M. Rosa. A forest less than half the size of Manhattan sports an astounding number of frogs, according to a new paper in Biodiversity Conservation. Two surveys of Madagascar’s Betampona Nature Reserve, which covers 2,228 hectares, has uncovered 76 unique […]
Two new frogs discovered in Philippines spur calls for more conservation efforts
Newly discovered Platymantis species. Photo by: Arvin Diesmos. Two new frogs have been discovered on the Philippine island of Leyte during a biological survey last year by Fauna and Flora International, which also recorded a wealth of other species. Discovered in November on the island’s Nacolod mountain range, the frogs have yet to be named. […]
Photos: the aye-aye of frogs rediscovered after 62 years
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The Bururi long-fingered frog was rediscovered after missing for 62 years. Photo by: David Blackburn. A pair of researchers have rediscovered a long-lost frog in the tiny African country of Burundi. Known as the Bururi long-fingered frog (Cardioglossa cyaneospila), the species hadn’t been seen for over 60 years—since the Soviet Union tested its first nuclear […]
Tink frog calls allow researchers to measure population
Given their often tiny size and cryptic nature, how does one determine frog populations in the rainforest? Just eavesdrop. A new study in mongabay.com’s open access journal Tropical Conservation Society (TCS) employed automated recorders to listen to amphibian calls to determine if the common tink frog (Diasporus diastema) could be found in recovering secondary forests […]
World’s most toxic frog gets new reserve
Golden poison frog. Photo by: © ProAves. Touching a wild golden poison frog could kill you within minutes: in fact, a single golden poison frog, whose Latin name Phyllobates terribilis is even more evocative than its common one, is capable of killing 10 humans with its one milligram dose of poison. Yet the deadly nature […]
Celebrate frogs on leap day!
The San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research in California, USA has been a partner in the recovery of the Southern California population of Mountain Yellow-legged Frogs, Rana muscosa, over the past five years and continues to make progress in captive breeding and reintroduction efforts of this endangered species. Photo: Ken Bohn, San Diego Zoo. […]
Vampire and bird frogs: discovering new amphibians in Southeast Asia’s threatened forests
An interview with Jodi Rowley, a part of our on-going Interviews with Young Scientists series.
Frog perfume? Madagascar frogs communicate via airborne pheromones
Researchers have found that some frogs in Madagascar communicate by more than just sound and sight: they create distinct airborne pheromones, which are secreted chemicals used for communicating with others. A paper published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition relates that some male members of the Mantellinae family in Madagascar use large glands on their inner […]
Photos: 46 new species found in little-explored Amazonian nation
A possible new species of frog: Hypsiboas sp. (nickname “cowboy frog”) has white fringes along the legs and a spur on the heel. The frog was discovered low on a small branch during a night survey in a swampy area west of the RAP base camp at the Koetari River during Conservation International’s Rapid Assessment […]
Photos: program devoted to world’s strangest, most neglected animals celebrates five years
One of EDGE’s focal mammals: the red slender loris (Loris tardigradus). Photo by: James T. Reardon/ZSL. What do Attenborough’s echidna, the bumblebee bat, and the purple frog have in common? They have all received conservation attention from a unique program by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) called EDGE. Five years old this week, the […]
New frog trumps miniscule fish for title of ‘world’s smallest vertebrate’
The new species Paedophryne amauensis is the world’s smallest vertebrate…so far. Photo from: Rittmeyer EN et al. (2012) Ecological Guild Evolution and the Discovery of the World’s Smallest Vertebrate. PLoS ONE 7(1): e29797. How small can you be and still have a spine? Scientists are continually surprised by the answer. Researchers have discovered a new […]
Frog plague found in India
Hyloscirtus colymba tree frog being fed after being treated for Chytridiomycosis in Panama. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. The chytrid fungus, which is responsible for the collapse of numerous amphibian populations as well as the extinction of entire species, has been located for the first time in India, according to a paper in Herpetological Review. […]
Our top nature pictures of 2011
Red-eyed treefrog My reporting for mongabay.com took me to six continents in 2011 and I was fortunate to take photos on several of the trips. Overall I added more than 10,000 new photos to the travel section of the site during the year. Most of my pictures this year are from Indonesia, Colombia, Panama, and […]
Giant monkey frog pic takes prize in photo contest
Giant Monkey Frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor). Photo by Gowri Varanashi of New Jersey Gowri Varanashi has won mongabay.com’s amphibian photo contest with her picture of a Giant Monkey Frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor) taken along the Tambopata river in the Peruvian Amazon. Fans of the mongabay.com page on Facebook participated in the vote, selecting among more than 60 […]
The dark side of new species discovery
This interview is an excerpt from The WildLife with Laurel Neme, a program that explores the mysteries of the animal world through interviews with scientists and other wildlife investigators. “The WildLife” airs every Monday from 1-2 pm EST on WOMM-LP, 105.9 FM in Burlington, Vermont. You can livestream it at theradiator.org or download the podcast […]
Herpetology curator: behind-the-scenes of ‘new species’ discoveries
This interview is an excerpt from The WildLife with Laurel Neme, a program that explores the mysteries of the animal world through interviews with scientists and other wildlife investigators. “The WildLife” airs every Monday from 1-2 pm EST on WOMM-LP, 105.9 FM in Burlington, Vermont. You can livestream it at theradiator.org or download the podcast […]
The world’s tiniest frogs, the size of a Tic Tac, discovered in New Guinea
A holotype of Paedophryne dekot (BPBM 37753), B paratype of Paedophryne dekot (BPBM 37754), C paratype of Paedophryne verrucosa (BPBM 37743), and D paratype of Paedophryne verrucosa (BPBM 37745). Image and caption courtesy of ZooKeys. Scientists have discovered the world’s tiniest frogs in Papua New Guinea. Paedophryne dekot and Paedophryne verrucosa attain a length of […]
New species of frog sings like a bird
The male Quang’s tree frog has uniquely complex vocalizations. Photo by: Jodi J. L. Rowley/Australian Museum. If you’re trudging through the high-altitude forests of northern Vietnam and you hear bird song, you might want to check the trees for frogs. Yes, that’s right: frogs. A new species of tree frog has been discovered in Vietnam […]
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