After losing their homes last fall during the devastating Camp Fire that destroyed most of the town of Paradise, Calif., many residents are anxious to rebuild. Hundreds of them, however, will have to wait. About 800 properties are located near a waterway that’s the home of endangered frogs and other species. Before clean-up efforts can […]
Tag: frogs
Deadly Fungus Has Decimated More Than 500 Amphibian Species
One of the most threatening invasive species on earth is so small it can’t be seen with the human eye, but it’s ravaging amphibians around the world and has become one of the deadliest diseases known to science. Chytridiomycosis is caused by the chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or Bd as it’s become known, which kills […]
Florida Is ‘Raining Iguanas.’ Will The Invasive Reptiles Adapt?
While much of the northern part of the U.S. copes with blizzard conditions, in Florida, it’s raining iguanas. Florida residents have been sharing pictures of the reptiles belly up in backyards and on the side of roads. The effect is brought on by the abnormally cold weather hitting the East Coast of the United States. […]
Storks could become poisoned by pesticides during their migration to Africa
Not all storks migrate to Africa. Many stay for the winter in the Iberian Peninsula, where landfills have become a permanent source of food. Scientists from Extremadura have analysed the presence of pollutants and pesticides (some prohibited in Spain) in the blood of nestlings from three colonies, two of which are close to landfill sites. […]
First video footage of 2 EDGE amphibians in the Western Ghats, India!
The Zoological Society of London’s “EDGE (Evolutionary Distinct and Globally Endangered) of Existence programme is the only global conservation initiative to focus specifically on threatened species that represent a significant amount of unique evolutionary history” Mammals, Amphibians and Coral Reefs on a global scale have been prioritized in this manner. Of the Top 100 EDGE […]
Amazonian students help monitor threatened frog populations
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, amphibians are the most threatened group of animals on Earth: currently around 30 percent of the world’s amphibians are listed as threatened with extinction. However this percentage doesn’t include those species about which too little is known to evaluate (26 percent). Amphibians face many threats but […]
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 […]