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 inHerpetological Review. Researchers took swabs of frog in the genus [read more…]
Invasive Burmese python hatchlings from the Florida Everglades can withstand exposure to salt water long enough to potentially expand their range through ocean and estuarine environments.
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A new study of how lizards use their tails when leaping through the trees shows that they swing the tail upward to avoid pitching forward after a stumble. Theropod dinosaurs — the ancestors of birds — may have done the same. A robot model confirms the value of an actively controlled tail, demonstrating that adding a tail can stabilize robots on uneven terrain and after unexpected falls — critical to successful search and rescue operations.
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BLOOMINGTON — There’s a bit of Indiana Jones in the life of assistant biology professor Edgar Lehr, but where Jones hated snakes, Lehr loves them. He’s a herpetologist who teaches about amphibians and reptiles at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington. [read more…]
AN ALLIANCE of European local authorities, governments, US film stars, Japanese shops, soft drink companies and Russian foundations have stepped in to prevent oil companies from extracting 900 million barrels of crude oil from one of the world’s most biologically rich tracts of land. [read more…]
It’s a basic rule of effective communication: consider your audience. According to a new report that rule of thumb is not lost on wild chimpanzees. Chimps are more likely to make an alarm call about the presence of a snake when others in the group are unaware of the apparent danger they face, the new evidence shows.
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Many animals produce alarm calls to predators, and do this more often when kin or mates are present than other audience members. So far, however, there has been no evidence that they take the other group members’ knowledge state into account. Researchers set up a study with wild chimpanzees in Uganda and found that chimpanzees were more likely to alarm call to a snake in the presence of unaware than in the presence of aware group members, suggesting that they recognize knowledge and ignorance in others.
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When it comes to love songs, female tree frogs are pretty picky. According to a new study, certain female tree frogs may be remarkably attuned to the songs of mates who share the same number of chromosomes as they do. The discovery offers insight into how new frog species may have evolved.
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A new study on the endangered Ozark Hellbender giant salamander is the first to detail its skin microbes, the bacteria and fungi that defend against pathogens.
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People and giant snakes not only target each other for food — they also compete for the same prey, according to a new study.
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Field research has uncovered the world’s smallest frogs in southeastern New Guinea. The discovery also makes them the world’s smallest tetrapods (non-fish vertebrates). The frogs belong to the genus Paedophryne, all of whose species are extremely small, with adults of the two new species — named Paedophryne dekot and Paedophryne verrucosa — only 8 to 9 millimeters in length.
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To coincide with Leap Day (February 29th) 2012, Amphibian Ark is launching a new international event, Leaping Ahead of Extinction: A celebration of good news for amphibians in 2012. [read more…]
Rachel Grant of the Open University and several other researchers have attempted to solve an age-old problem. The multiple effect of O- ions on rock, air ionisation and water, as they leave their silicate home and become “positive holes” has created myths about animals and others for thousands of years. The positive hole becomes what physicists term h* (hydrogen) and a free electron, e,. [read more…]
SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – A federal judge has dashed attempts to ban lawn mowers and golf carts from a golf course that is home to the Californian red-legged frog and the San Francisco garter snake, which are threatened and endangered species, respectively. [read more…]
Some of the nastiest smelling creatures on Earth have skin that produces the greatest known variety of antibacterial substances that hold promise for becoming new weapons in the battle against antibiotic-resistant infections, scientists are reporting. Their research is on amphibians so smelly (like rotten fish, for instance) that scientists term them “odorous frogs.”
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