Frogs

Global warming is killing frogs, salamanders in Yellowstone Park

harminka — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 02:33:51 -0500

Biology graduate student Sarah McMenamin spent 3 summers in a remote area of the park searching for frogs and salamanders in ponds that had been surveyed 15 years ago; Almost everywhere she looked, she found a catastrophic decrease in the population

Ecosystem-level consequences of frog extinctions

harminka — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:08:31 -0500

Streams that once sang with the croaks, chirps and ribbits of dozens of frog species have gone silent. They’re victims of a fungus that’s decimating amphibian populations worldwide.

Australian frog species chooses not to put eggs in 1 basket

harminka — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 08:34:06 -0500

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.

Ultrasonic frogs can tune their ears to different frequencies

harminka — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:26:52 -0500

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.

New study points to agriculture in frog sexual abnormalities

harminka — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:49:54 -0500

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

Few African frogs can morph toes into claws

harminka — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:30:38 -0500

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.

Female concave-eared frogs draw mates with ultrasonic calls

harminka — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:44:34 -0500

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.

Priority regions for threatened frog and toad conservation in Latin America

harminka — Wed, 07 May 2008 01:30:02 -0500

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.

Harlequin frog rediscovered in remote region of Colombia

harminka — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:54:24 -0500

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.

Giant frog jumps continents

harminka — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:24:28 -0600

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 under threat

harminka — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:16:04 -0600

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.

Sunbathing tree frogs' future under a cloud

harminka — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:58:29 -0600

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