AJC's Frogroom

It can be very difficult to try and protect the amphibians in your pond over the winter. The frogs, and occasionally newts, that choose to overwinter in the pond risk becoming trapped if ice forms and, sadly, it’s natural for a few to die. To minimise deaths from ‘winterkill’ try to clear fallen snow from the ice, so that light can still reach the plants in the pond and they can continue to produce oxygen. If you have a pump, leaving this running throughout the winter can also help.

Researchers have found that some frogs in Madagascar communicate by more than just sound and sight: they create distinct airborne pheromones, which are secreted chemicals used for communicating with others.

Two newly discovered frog species are considered the smallest ever found. The pipsqueaks live in Papua New Guinea and run about 0.4 inches (8-to-9 millimeters) in length. The two species, Paedophryne dekot and Paedophryne verrucosa, are not only the smallest frogs ever discovered, they are also the smallest of a group of animals called tetrapods (four-legged animals with backbones).

If you thought estate agents knew how to sell a house, take a look at male Emei music frogs. They attract a mate by singing the praises of the burrows they have dug. Other than humans, they are the only animal known to advertise their homes in their calls.

Click the link to listen to the music of the frogs :-)

As part of the new series of animal conservation-based talks being hosted, the next one arranged is to be given by myself on the 10th November. This will cover in detail many aspects of the unusual biology of rare and endangered amphibians, and also highlight the work being undertaken by the Manchester Museum in support of their conservation.

Dotty, who is an Argentine horned frog measuring a massive five inches wide, laid more than 1,000 eggs on Wednesday. They hatched the next day. Within three weeks they will have grown to small froglets and after a year they will match their mother in size. What is a concern to breeder Steve Cantle, 45, who works at pet shop Petzotic in Baker Street, Enfield, is that this unusual species of frog will attempt to eat anything that comes its way, including one of its own kind.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) this week granted the Ozark hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi) protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) but made the unusual decision not to declare critical habitat for the rare, giant salamanders because, it said, doing so could open it to threats from those who would illegally collect the species for the international pet trade.

When biologist Tyrone Hayes discovered that a top-selling herbicide messes with sex hormones, its manufacturer went into battle mode. Thus began one of the weirdest feuds in the history of science.

Spotted salamanders exposed to contaminated roadside ponds are adapting to their toxic environments, according to a Yale paper in Scientific Reports. This study provides the first documented evidence that a vertebrate has adapted to the negative effects of roads apparently by evolving rapidly.

The number of frog species living in the Amazon basin could be several times greater than currently recognized.

The consequences of climate change for animals can seem very direct, as with polar bears in a warming Arctic. Others involve leaps, like the case of an invasive bullfrog: by 2080, it could splash into some of South America’s most ecologically rich protected areas, disrupting unique hotbeds of biodiversity.