A groundbreaking new study into the mating and nesting practices of a common Australian frog has found they partner up to eight males sequentially – the highest recorded of any vertebrate.

Researchers have discovered that a frog that lives near noisy springs in central China can tune its ears to different sound frequencies, much like the tuner on a radio can shift from one frequency to another. It is the only known example of an animal that can actively select what frequencies it hears, the researchers say.

A farm irrigation canal would seem a healthier place for toads than a ditch by a supermarket parking lot.

Biologists at Harvard University have determined that some African frogs carry concealed weapons: When threatened, these species puncture their own skin with sharp bones in their toes, using the bones as claws capable of wounding predators.

Most female frogs don’t call; most lack or have only rudimentary vocal cords. A typical female selects a mate from a chorus of males and then –silently – signals her beau. But the female concave-eared torrent frog, Odorrana tormota, has a more direct method of declaring her interest: She emits a high-pitched chirp that to the human ear sounds like that of a bird.

Nearly 35% of all amphibians are now threatened of extinction raising them to the position of the most endangered group of animals in the world. Decline of amphibian populations and species is ongoing due to habitat loss, fungal disease, climate shift and agrochemical contaminants. These impacts are even worse to frogs that reproduce in water bodies such as streams and ponds.

After 14 years without having been seen, several young scientists supported by the Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP), have rediscovered the Carrikeri Harlequin Frog (Atelopus carrikeri) in a remote mountainous region in Colombia.

A giant frog fossil from Madagascar dubbed Beelzebufo or ‘the frog from Hell' has been identified by scientists from UCL (University College London) and Stony Brook University, New York.

Indigenous water frogs can be crowded out by immigrant or imported species. This is the finding of a Franco-German study. The scientists investigated water frog populations in France and Northern Spain and noticed that the marsh frog, which normally occurs only in Eastern Europe, has the potential to crowd out indigenous species like Graf’s hybrid frog (Rana grafi) and the Iberian water frog.

Animal conservationists in Manchester are turning to physics to investigate whether global warming is responsible for killing sun-loving South American tree frogs.

A brightly coloured tropical frog under threat of extinction is the focus of a new research project hoping to better understand how environment and diet influence its development and behaviour.

The Living Desert is putting the finishing touches on its newest exhibit, Amazing Amphibians- Frogs on the Edge, which opens November 10th and will remain as long as the crisis continues. The exhibit, which takes up most of the Eagle Canyon Reptile Facility, will house about 12 different species of Amphibians, from familiar Frogs and Toads, to exotic Salamanders and the little known group of Amphibians called Caecilians.