Eaten to extinction? India’s purple frog faces another threat
New research finds local harvesting and consumption of tadpoles may be putting the already-endangered Indian purple frog at further risk of extinction.
Amphibians News
You know climate change threatens the planet — but your bank account?
Could this giant 3D printer stop climate change? [National Geographic] You may be familiar with this amazing technology. It is a 400-million-year-old solar-powered device that extracts CO2 from the atmosphere…
New study re-assesses conservation status of Peruvian amphibians
Eight Peruvian amphibian species listed as Data Deficient by the IUCN should be re-assessed as Threatened. That’s one conclusion of a new study published in Mongabay’s journal Tropical Conservation Science.…
Cupid’s syringe: A love potion for troubled amphibians
hen Dale McGinnity rushed to the Nashville Zoo at 3 a.m. one morning in 2011, it was to witness the culmination of a six-year effort. One of the zoo's eastern…
Tracking the tiny: Harmonic direction finders aid study of small amphibians
round one third of amphibian species are considered globally threatened by the IUCN, due primarily to habitat loss, overexploitation for the wildlife and pet trades, climate change, and disease. Adding…
Biologist finds “we are on pace to create a mass extinction” of frogs worldwide
When John Alroy, a professor of biology at Australia’s Macquarie University, was asked by a reporter how many of the species populating Earth had already gone extinct, he realized he…
Conservation groups buy land from 109 coffee farmers, create reserve for rare salamanders
It’s good news for two of the world’s rarest salamanders: Finca Chiblac salamander (Bradytriton silus) and the long-limbed salamander (Nyctanolis pernix). A consortium of international conservation groups has purchased 2,000…
Photos: Hundreds of new species discovered in the Eastern Himalayas
The Eastern Himalayas in South Asia is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, and now there are more than 200 new species known to science to prove the point —…
Scientists find a fix for a ‘frog’s worst nightmare’
The authors of a study published this week say riverbank forests could hold a key to saving frogs on palm oil plantations.
Good news: Stunning ‘extinct’ toad rises again in Ecuador (photos)
A thought-to-be-extinct toad from the highlands of Ecuador has been rediscovered by three teams of scientists. The Azuay Stubfoot-Toad (Atelopus bomolochos) hadn't been seen since 2002 and was presumed by…
Major expedition uncovers new species in Bolivia
Identidad Madidi is bringing biologists to little-known parts of Madidi National Park, where they are finding some surprising things.
‘Act before it is too late’: scientists urge ban on salamander imports to avert pandemic
Amphibian experts recommend an immediate ban on salamander imports to the U.S. to prevent the spread of a deadly salamander fungus that is wreaking havoc on European salamanders.
Invasion of Poisonous Asian toad in Madagascar is a greater threat to biodiversity than previously thought
Invasive species are among the greatest threats to the world’s biodiversity, and amphibians rank among the most devastating vertebrate invaders. That’s why the discovery of the Asian toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus)…
New study finds the brilliant-thighed poison frog can learn its way home
Poison dart frogs (Dendrobatidae), named for their poisonous secretions used by indigenous tribes to coat blow gun darts, may possess another less deadly talent. According to a recent study, published…
Scientists identify frog through DNA without leaving forest
Scientists conduct first ever in-field DNA test...and potentially discover new species Ana Rodriguez Prieto conducting a test run of the new technology in Italy. Photo courtesy of MUSE. Yesterday, a…
Recently discovered ‘punkrocker’ frog changes skin texture in minutes
Skin texture variation in one mutable rainfrog (Pritimantis mutabilis), which changes from spiny at 0 seconds to smooth at 330 seconds. Photo courtesy of the Zoological Journal of the Linnean…
New wormy amphibians discovered in Southeast Asia
Worms come in all different sizes, shapes, textures, colors, and flavors. Some attack human digestive systems, some surface after a rainstorm, and some come in plastic wrappers, covered in sour…
Madagascar’s frog haven: rich, underexplored, threatened
Biodiversity may reduce the threat of disease
Frog species used in the study (clockwise from top-right): Scinax hayii, Proceratophrys boiei, Hylodes phyllodes, Brachycephalus pitanga, Hypsiboas bandeirantes. Photo credit: Gui Becker Biodiversity level changes can have consequences for…
Scientists rediscover endangered Andean toad in Ecuador
In 1970 researchers uncovered the Tandayapa Andean toad (Andinophryne olallai), previously unknown to science, in the Pichincha Province of Ecuador. Given that only a single individual was discovered, even after…
Scientists rediscover Critically Endangered streamside frog in Costa Rica
In the past 20 years, amphibian species around the world have experienced rapid decline due to climate change, disease, invasive species, habitat loss and degradation. Populations have decreased by approximately…
How a frog with a strange name is helping improve conservation in Brazil
Protecting the biodiversity of the Amazon basin is an immense undertaking, and to its credit the Brazilian government has a set procedure for doing so. However, there are gaps in…
Pictures: the top new animal discoveries of 2014
Part I of II. See Part II The Ankarafa skeleton frog was described in the summer of 2014. The frogs are called 'skeleton' because of their semi-transparent skins. Photo by:…
Puerto Rico’s only native toad bounces back from edge of extinction
Captive breeding program increases Puerto Rican crested toad from 200 to thousands The Puerto Rican crested toad (Peltophryne lemur) has had a miraculous journey. Once common on the islands of…
New poison dart frog needs immediate conservation plan
The holotype specimen, which scientists used as the basis to describe a new species of poison dart frog: Andinobates geminisae. Photo by: Cesar Jaramillo, STRI. It was a surprising discovery…
Rediscovered in 2010, rare Indian frog surprises by breeding in bamboo
Raorchestes chalazodes. Photo by: Seshadri K. S. For a long time, this rare white spotted bush frog lived a secretive life: the Critically Endangered Chalazodes bubble-nest frog (Raorchestes chalazodes) was…
Pet trade likely responsible for killer salamander fungus
New chytrid fungus may threaten hundreds of salamander species As if amphibians weren't facing enough—a killer fungal disease, habitat destruction, pollution, and global warming—now scientists say that a second fungal…
The Search for Lost Frogs: one of conservation’s most exciting expeditions comes to life in new book
An interview with Robin Moore, author of the new book, In Search of Lost Frogs: The Quest to Find the World's Rarest Amphibians The Cuchumatan golden toad (Incilius aurarius) from…
Scientists uncover six potentially new species in Peru, including bizarre aquatic mammal (photos)
This potentially new lizard species was discovered on the last day of a survey in a cloud forest in Andean Peru. Photo: Luis Mamani. A group of Peruvian and Mexican…
Scientists honor missing activist by naming a spider after him
Aposphragisma brunomanseri goblin spider. Courtesy of the Natural History Museum of Berne Swiss researchers have honored the memory of a missing indigenous peoples activist by naming an undescribed species of…
Selective logging hurts rainforest frogs
Bob Inger's Bush Frog (Raorchestes bobingeri), a species found in the study site. Photo by K.S. Seshadri Selective logging in India's Western Ghats forests continues to affect frogs decades after…
New skeleton frog from Madagascar is already Critically Endangered
Ankarafa skeleton frog's (Boophis ankarafensis) mating. Photo by: Gonçalo M. Rosa. Sometimes all it takes is fewer clicks. Scientists have discovered a new species of frog from Madagascar that stuck…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Narco airstrips beset Indigenous communities in Peruvian Amazon
- 15 illegal narco-trafficking airstrips found near Peru Indigenous communities
- Satellite data show bursts of deforestation continue in Indonesian national park
- Fires rip through Indigenous territories in Brazilian Amazon
Oceans
- Samoa’s new marine spatial plan protects 30% of the country’s ocean
- Tuna fishing devices drift through a third of oceans, harming corals, coasts: Study
- Indigenous Bajo suffer child deaths & toxic sludge amid green energy push
- Southeast Asia’s fisheries thrive despite decades of overfishing warnings: Study
Amazon Conservation
- ‘World’s largest’ carbon credit deal in the Amazon faces bumpy road ahead
- New conservation model calls for protecting Amazon for its archaeological riches
- Brazil dredges Amazon rivers to ease drought isolation, raising environmental concerns
- ‘We need white men on our side to save the Amazon from destruction,’ 92-year-old Indigenous Chief Raoni says
Land rights and extractives
- Indigenous Bajo suffer child deaths & toxic sludge amid green energy push
- ‘Colombia’s Amazon peoples provide solutions’: Interview with José Homero Mutumbajoy
- Should mining companies consider no-go zones where isolated Indigenous peoples live? (Commentary)
- Brazil sets a date to remove illegal miners from Munduruku land, more details await
Endangered Environmentalists
- Environmental & rights activists flee and hide as M23 captures DRC’s cities
- Environmental journalist in Cambodia shot and killed by suspected logger
- Vietnam sentences yet another energy expert over renewables research
- Mother Nature Cambodia activists sentenced to prison — again
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- On a Borneo mountainside, Indigenous Dayak women hold fire and defend forest
- Fenced in by Sulawesi national park, Indigenous women make forestry breakout
- In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
Conservation Effectiveness
- How effective is the EU’s marquee policy to reduce the illegal timber trade?
- How sharing and learning from failures can transform conservation (commentary)
- Is planting trees as good for the Earth as everyone says?
- Failure in conservation projects: Everyone experiences it, few record it
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- An ‘ocean grab’ for a property megaproject leaves Jakarta fishers grounded
- Study: Indonesia’s new capital city threatens stable proboscis monkey population
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
