The team asserts, based upon their results, that amphibian diversity world-wide is being under-estimated at an “unprecedented level”. The researchers hope that their “integrative taxonomic survey” approach to specimen analysis will be adopted by other scientists to improve their inventory counts and also buttress other biodiversity preservation initiatives through helping scientists and policy makers prioritize conservation efforts within these hot spots.
University of Georgia researchers discovered a two inch long salamander near Toccoa, Georgia. It is reportedly the first discovery of a new four-footed species in the US in fifty years.
It was in the spring of 2007 that the salamander was first discovered, but the details have not been published until this year, in the Journal of Zoology. The first one to be spotted was a female, and later the researchers returned to the creek area of the first discovery, and found a male.
University of Costa Rica scientists discovered a new species of frog in a mountainous region of their country. The frog is about 2 cm. in length and lives in the Altamira-Valle de Silencio area at an altitude of around 8,000 feet. The habitat there is rainforest with cool temperatures.
The frog was named Diasporus ventrimaculatus. Females are black and the males are orange, or grey.
A recent study documented the discovery of 100-200 new amphibian species in Madagascar.
One of the researchers, Dr. Miguel Vences, stated: “People think that we know which plant and animal species live on this planet. But the century of discoveries has only just begun – the majority of life forms on Earth is still awaiting scientific recognition.”
By Jake Richardson •
February 5, 2009
Scientists from Conservation International and the Ecotropia Foundation have discovered ten new amphibian species.
Their discoveries took place in a mountainous area near Panama called Tacarcuna. The newly identified species include three transparent, or ‘glass’ frogs, three poison dart frogs, and one frog with spiky skin and orange legs. Glass frogs have a partly transparent skin which makes some of their internal organs visible. Frogs with this type of smooth, absorbent skin are seen by some as indicators of ecological health because they are very sensitive to toxins. They live mainly in forests, except during the breeding season.
By Levi Novey •
September 14, 2008
A team of scientists on an expedition to study frogs has found the “rarest frog in the world” in Costa Rica. Thought to be extinct for over 20 years, last year hope was renewed when an individual male from the species was found by one of the team’s researchers. Last week the team found a pregnant female, suggesting that this species is still reproducing and has not been made extinct by a deadly skin fungus that is decimating amphibian populations.
Scientists on a Conservation Leadership Programme expedition have recently discovered a critically endangered frog species that hasn’t been seen in nature for 14 years. The Carrikeri Harlequin frog was found in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Mountains of Colombia.
Photo courtesy of the Conservation Leadership Programme.
Today, Feb. 29, Leap Day, marks the official start of the “Year of the Frog,” a global campaign aimed at raising awareness of the threat of mass extinction facing one-third to one-half of all frogs and other amphibians around the world. Check out the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ events database to find out what froggy activities are [...]
