Smithsonian scientists find the frog legs trade may facilitate spread of pathogens
Most countries throughout the world participate in the $40-million-per-year culinary trade of frog legs in some way, with 75 percent of frog legs consumed in France, Belgium and the United States. view more (2009-11-20)
Amphibians as environmental omen disputed
Amphibians, for years considered a leading indicator of environmental degradation, are not uniquely susceptible to pollution, according to a meta-analysis to be published in Ecology Letters. view more (2009-11-12)
Catching a killer one spore at a time
A workshop at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama has dramatically improved the ability of conservationists and regulatory agencies to monitor the spread of chytridiomycosis-one of the deadliest frog diseases on Earth. view more (2009-10-20)
The first gene-encoded amphibian toxin isolated
Researchers in China have discovered the first protein-based toxin in an amphibian -a 60 amino acid neurotoxin found in the skin of a Chinese tree frog. This finding may help shed more light into both the evolution of amphibians and the evolution of poison. view more (2009-08-18)
Biologists rediscover endangered frog population
For the first time in nearly 50 years, a population of a nearly extinct frog has been rediscovered in the San Bernardino National Forest's San Jacinto Wilderness. view more (2009-07-28)
Mangrove-dependent animals globally threatened
More than 40 percent of a sample of amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds that are restricted to mangrove ecosystems are globally threatened with extinction, according to an assessment published in the July/August issue of BioScience. view more (2009-07-01)
Spring fishing season arrives... and with it, amphibian diseases
Waterdogs, they're called, these larvae of tiger salamanders used as live bait for freshwater fishing. view more (2009-04-08)
Amphibians may develop immunity to fatal fungus
Amphibian populations are declining worldwide, principally because of the spread of the fungal disease chytridiomycosis. Researchers know that some amphibian populations and species are innately more susceptible to the disease than others. view more (2009-04-01)
Scientists document salamander decline in Central America
The decline of amphibian populations worldwide has been documented primarily in frogs, but salamander populations also appear to have plummeted, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, biologists. view more (2009-02-10)
10 new amphibian species discovered in Colombia
Scientists today announced the discovery of 10 amphibians believed to be new to science, including a spiky-skinned, orange-legged rain frog, three poison dart frogs and three glass frogs, so called because their transparent skin can reveal internal organs. view more (2009-02-03)
Global warming link to amphibian declines in doubt
Evidence that global warming is causing the worldwide declines of amphibians may not be as conclusive as previously thought, according to biologists. The findings, which contradict two widely held views, could help reveal what is killing the frogs and toads and aid in their conservation. view more (2008-11-13)
Pitt Research Finds That Low Concentrations of Pesticides Can Become Toxic Mixture
Ten of the world's most popular pesticides can decimate amphibian populations when mixed together even if the concentration of the individual chemicals are within limits considered safe. view more (2008-11-12)
Study rules out inbreeding as cause of amphibian deformities
Although research has linked inbreeding with elevated rates of deformity in a wide variety of animals, a new study finds it plays no part in the high incidence of malformation among salamanders. view more (2008-10-29)
Study Confirms Amphibians' Ability to Predict Changes in Biodiversity
Biologists have long suspected that amphibians, whose moist permeable skins make them susceptible to slight changes in the environment, might be good bellwethers for impending alterations in biodiversity during rapid climate change. view more (2008-10-29)
Stanford researchers: Global warming is killing frogs and salamanders in Yellowstone Park
Frogs and salamanders, those amphibious bellwethers of environmental danger, are being killed in Yellowstone National Park. The predator, Stanford researchers say, is global warming. view more (2008-10-29)
UGA study reveals ecosystem-level consequences of frog extinctions
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. view more (2008-10-17)
Captive breeding introduced infectious disease to Mallorcan amphibians
A potentially deadly fungus that can kill frogs and toads was inadvertently introduced into Mallorca by a captive breeding programme that was reintroducing a rare species of toad into the wild, according to a new study published today in the journal Current Biology. view more (2008-09-22)
My, what big teeth you had! Extinct species had large teeth on roof of mouth
When the world's land was congealed in one supercontinent 240 million years ago, Antarctica wasn't the forbiddingly icy place it is now. But paleontologists have found a previously unknown amphibious predator species that probably still made it less than hospitable. view more (2008-09-12)
Dying frogs sign of a biodiversity crisis
Devastating declines of amphibian species around the world are a sign of a biodiversity disaster larger than just frogs, salamanders and their ilk, according to researchers from the University of California, Berkeley. view more (2008-08-13)
New findings on immune system in amphibians
Krakow/Halle. Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) genes produce proteins that are crucial in fighting pathogen assault. Researchers from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) characterized genetic variation and detected more than one MHC class II locus in a tailed amphibian. view more (2008-06-20)
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