Photo © Martin Pettitt - CC License
The terrible news circulating the Internet this week is that the British Common frog (Rana temporaria) is on the verge of dying out in some parts of Britain, because of a disease called ranavirus which causes them to bleed to death. Thought to have come to Britain via imported fish and amphibians some time in the 1980s, it has now spread from the South East of England to Cornwall, Wales and even as far north as Manchester.
News Source: Telegraph.co.uk
cld10081720, originally uploaded by cclborneo.
It may have a big name - Microhyla nepenthicola, but this newly discovered frog species is actually the smallest amphibian ever recorded in Asia, ranging in size from only 10.6 to 12.8 millimetres! It is entirely dependent on the pitcher plant Nepenthes ampullaria wherein its tadpoles develop and has been named after it.
Save the Frogs!
Today is Save the Frogs Day 2010!
SAVE THE FROGS! is America's first and only public charity dedicated exclusively to amphibian conservation. Their mission is to protect amphibian populations and to promote a society that respects and appreciates nature and wildlife. Their vision is a world in which not a single amphibian species is threatened with extinction.
There's a surprising, if not a little disquieting, amphibian news story floating around the Internet this week following a report in the journal Acta Zoologica - scientists have discovered a species of frog whose tadpoles let out a metallic sounding "scream" if they are under distress.
The screaming tadpoles are those of the horned frog Ceratophrys ornata which is found in Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. Scientist Dr Guillermo Natale of the National University of La Plata in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and his colleagues made the discovery when they were studying the mating calls of adult frogs.
The Prince's Rainforests Project has just released a new online, interactive booklet that describes how rainforests are on the front line in the fight against climate change and explains how a new form of international collaboration could help to reduce tropical deforestation, with many benefits for developed and developing countries.
The book features beautiful photographs by Daniel Beltrá including a stunning shot of a crested forest toad, one of the thousand or so species of frog and toad that live in the Amazon basin. The booklet contains a forward by HRH The Prince of Wales, as well as eyewitness stories from internationally-recognised figures who have already endorsed the PRP proposals, including Sir David Attenborough, Chief Almir of the Suruí tribe and Jared Diamond.
Click here to experience The Burning Issue
If you live in the UK you can pick up a FREE hard-copy version at Borders UK, HMV, John Lewis, Waitrose, Waterstones, or WH Smith.
One of the hottest frog stories buzzing on the Internet these days must surely be the sensational story of the discovery of a lost world inside the crater of Mount Bosavi, an extinct volcano on Papua New Guinea, in which scientists have found some 40 previously undiscovered species. As well as a headline-grabbing giant rat - we're talking BIG here, think the size of a cat - there is also a frog with fangs and a further fifteen other new frog species!
All promises to be revealed in Lost Land Of The Volcano on BBC1 at 9 o’clock tonight.
Remember the days when people used to smirk at Prince Charles and his "eccentric" ideas about helping the environment and his organic farming methods on his estates? Well, times have thankfully changed and he's been able to enlist some of the world's biggest stars including Frog Tees favourite Kermit the Frog, as well as his sons Princes William and Harry, in the making of an awareness video for his new Rainforests Project.
In one of the most dramatic frog rescue stories of recent years, 50 examples of the once common but now endangered 'mountain chicken' frogs from Montserrat (leptodactylus fallax) have been airlifted to safety and moved to several European zoos. It is hoped that the rescued frogs will breed in captivity in a bid to save them from extinction.
Source: Guardian.co.uk
Mountain Chicken
Originally uploaded by Tad 20D
Anybody visiting Frog Tees is undoubtedly a big fan of frogs...but just how far would you be prepared to go to REALLY show you care?!
Check out more amazing Frog Tattoos here!
Frog Tattoo
Originally uploaded by Salvatore C
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Whilst recent frog news has been doom laden with numerous species threatened by environmental changes and the deadly chytridiomycosis fungus, there is thankfully some very good news from Columbia buzzing through the Internet right now!
Nine frog species - including three poisonous varieties and three transparent-skinned glass frogs - were found in the mountainous Tacarcuna area of the Darien region near Colombia's border with Panama.
There is great slide show at CNN International
Ten new amphibian species discovered in Colombia(Yahoo!)
Originally uploaded by MashGet
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