AWeb News

A New Tiny Frog

From the AWeb site:

"A tiny new frog (the Old World's smallest) has been discovered living and breeding inside pitcher plants on Borneo. Das and Haas (2010) describe the new species, Microhyla nepenthicola, in the journal Zootaxa. Adult male frogs measure between 10.6 and 12.8 mm in snout-vent length (SVL); new metamorphs measure just 3.5 mm on average (one-third the diameter of a pea). Although pitcher plants are carnivorous and consume insects that fall in, Microhyla nepenthicola tadpoles suffer no ill effects from developing inside the pitcher's digestive liquid.

A Cure for Chytridiomycosis?

from the AmphibiaWeb site:

Can amphibians in the wild be saved from the deadly fungal disease chytridiomycosis, using bioaugmentation of naturally occurring amphibian anti-fungal skin bacteria? This summer will be the first test, in California.

Invasive Amphibian Species

From AmphibiaWeb News:

What distinguishes invasive amphibian species at the earliest stage of becoming invasive?

Tadpoles Making Noise--Under Water

From the AWeb Site:
CalPhotos

A new paper from Acta Zoologica (Natale et al. 2010) reports that the tadpole of Ceratophrys ornata makes distress calls underwater, the first example of any larva communicating by sound underwater, and the first known of any vertebrate larva to make sounds.

Species Monitoring and Conservation: Amphibians

From the AWeb site:

The Smithsonian is partnering with George Mason University to offer a course in amphibian monitoring and conservation next month (May 16-28), at the National Zoo's Conservation and Research Center in Virginia. The course will include lectures, lab and field exercises, and case studies.

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Lorestan Newt Is Listed by CITES

From the AWeb site:


Neurergus kaiseri, the Lorestan newt, has just been granted protection from international trade under CITES Appendix I, as of March 21, 2010.

Atrazine and Amphibians

From the AmphibiaWeb Site:

Atrazine is the most common pesticide contaminant in ground, surface, and drinking water. It also is a potent endocrine disruptor at very low concentrations across vertebrate taxa. In a new PNAS paper, Hayes et al. (2010) showed that atrazine exposure during larval development at levels below the EPA drinking water standard can profoundly affect male Xenopus laevis (African Clawed Frog) sexual function and morphology. In the most severe cases, male frogs were completely feminized morphologically and behaviorally, producing eggs and mating with other males.

Ambystoma californiense Listed As Endangered

From AmphibiaWeb

The California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense) has finally been granted protected status under the California Endangered Species Act, by a 3-2 vote of the California Fish and Game Commission on March 3, 2010. This native Californian species depends on ephemeral vernal pools for breeding, 95% of which have been lost in recent decades.

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Monogamous Frogs

The first known monogamous amphibian species, based on genetic data, is Dendrobates imitator (Brown et al. 2010) as reported in a paper in the April issue of American Naturalist.

2010: International Year of Biodiversity

from the AmphibiaWeb site:

2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity! Amphibians are the most threatened vertebrate taxon, with at least 42% of species declining in numbers and nearly a third already threatened with extinction or lost entirely (Stuart et al. 2004). Please help conserve habitat, fund fieldwork and conservation, and become more aware of your local amphibians and the particular threats they face.

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