Hi! Have a lovely weekend

Evolving toxins makes frogs more likely to go extinct

“A study of amphibians indicates that evolving toxins against predators increases the rate of extinction for prey species”

by @GrrlScientist via #Substack

#Amphibians #extinction #evolution #SciComm https://grrlscientist.substack.com/p/evolving-toxins-makes-frogs-more

Flipping.rocks is a Hometown Mastodon server for people who appreciate arthropods, amphibians, reptiles, fungi etc. If you want a general Fediverse home for chatting with friends and posting about other interests, that’s okay too.

https://flipping.rocks

You can find out more at https://flipping.rocks/about or contact the admin @a

Love is in the, er, water.
Common toads (Bufo bufo) competing for mates and laying spawn in the pond they themselves were born in, in Largs, North Ayrshire.
Their "ribbit" chorus was charming.
#photography #nature #amphibians #wildlife

Rare #frog rediscovered after 130 years https://phys.org/news/2025-03-rare-frog-rediscovered-years.html

Lost for more than a century: the rediscovery of Alsodes vittatus (Anura, Alsodidae), one of the rarest and most elusive #amphibians from #Chile https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/135523/

"This is an important milestone for South American #herpetology... Most of the other Alsodes species are either threatened with #extinction or we don't know enough about them to assess their status"

Ancient #amphibians bounced back from Earth's greatest mass #extinction by exploiting #freshwater prey https://phys.org/news/2025-03-ancient-amphibians-earth-greatest-mass.html

The ecology and geography of #temnospondyl recovery after the #Permian–#Triassic #MassExtinction https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.241200

"the #temnospondyls success lay in their generalist feeding ecology, enabling them to feed on a wide variety of prey... the freshwater habitats they preferred provided them with a relatively stable variety of food resources"

Out on my walk today I realized I could hear #frogs over the audiobook playing in my ears. Took a short detour from the trail to the sound's source, though I didn't manage to actually spot the vocalists.

I find it remarkable sometimes that creatures so loud - typically frogs, birds, and grasshoppers - can still remain practically invisible.

Maybe you can spot one in this video (I can't) but regardless, I invite you to enjoy their song.

Amphibians Tours with Graad!
Human built roads. Nature is okay with that but want to use them too. The toad migration has begun!
1/4

'A little help from my friends'
I saved two from a fast electric bike, a fatbike and a dog
'I am so emotional bby'
One and for one was it too late 'Bright eyes....' ♪

When the average temperature over a day is 8 to 10 °C and this lasts for about 3 days, the male toads wake up. They are smaller, so they warm up faster. For the females it is important that this temperature lasts for about a week. The humidity also affects the
toad migration, they prefer to go out when it is humid, because their skin
is sensitive to drying out.

Most traffic casualties occur during the great migration from about mid-February to the end of March.

This can involve
thousands of animals per night!
#nature #toadmigration #paddentrek #amphibians #animalliberation

New-To-Science Poison Dart Frog Named to Honor Afro-Colombian Music | University of California, Berkeley & Stanford University, published by ZooKeys

by @GrrlScientist

#frogs #amphibians #NewSpecies #zoology #SciComm https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2025/02/17/new-to-science-poison-dart-frog-named-to-honor-afro-colombian-music/

That's a bit of a stretch... Northern dwarf tree frog, Litoria bicolor, Holmes Jungle, NT Ant provided for scale... #photography #AlmostMacrophotography #nature #wildlife #frogs #amphibians #EastCoastKin

great news: Endangered Frogs Born In London Zoo After Rescue From Deadly Fungus, following the zoo’s urgent mission to rescue the critically endangered species from the brink of extinction

by @GrrlScientist

#Endangered #frogs #amphibians #ChytridFungus #SciComm #LondonZoo https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2025/02/10/endangered-frogs-born-in-london-zoo-after-rescue-from-deadly-fungus/

Blood-powered toes give #salamanders an arboreal edge https://phys.org/news/2025-01-blood-powered-toes-salamanders-arboreal.html

Vascular and Osteological Morphology of Expanded Digit Tips Suggests Specialization in the Wandering Salamander https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jmor.70026

"Wandering salamanders are known for gliding through the canopies of redwood forests, but how the small #amphibians stick their landing and take-off with ease? They can rapidly fill, trap, and drain the blood in their toe tips to optimize attachment, detachment and locomotion"

A window well rescue in Edm around 25 years ago...still chuggin' along. I didn't know #amphibians #salamanders lived so long!

Along with all the birds today at Bald Hill, we came across a rough-skinned little friend.

I went to clean the filter of my garden pond this morning, and found it already occupied! I am so pleased to see a (endangered) leopard toad enjoying the pond. It's been so hot and dry around here, it must be a relief to it to find a sheltered watery spot.

A bit later I saw it swimming in a deeper part of the pond. Makes me so happy.

Was at the zoo, saw a cuckoo wasp! Went chasing, but lost it Heard a katydid in that very same bush, so went rummaging! Couldn't find it Saw movement so went looking: a #frog!
I think it's an eastern dwarf tree frog, but I'm not great at #amphibians, and I'm still waiting on the good people at #iNaturalist to offer a second opinion.

500,000 Taxa on iNaturalist! https://www.inaturalist.org/blog/103155-500-000-taxa-on-inaturalist

"that’s 23% of all known species on Earth... #Birds stand out: nearly all species have been observed on #iNaturalist. 349 species (2%) are yet to be recorded... For #reptiles, #amphibians, & #mammals there are about 10x as many unobserved... Like birds, most unobserved species only remain in tropical regions. This is not the case for #fish, #plants, #invertebrates, & #fungi where there are still many left to observe in all parts of the globe"

#Karstmas day 6!

Today we celebrate the Tennessee Cave Salamander, Gyrinophilus palleucus. This is actually the state amphibian for Tennessee! It is a listed species, NatureServe G2 (Imperiled), IUCN B1ab(iii)(Near Threatened).

Back on FB, whenever I'd post photos of one, I'd get folk saying, "OMG an axolotl! How cute!". Nope, wrong country entirely. But similarly, G. palleucus do not typically undergo metamorphosis and they do reach sexual maturity in this larval phase. The fancy term is "paedomorphic", in case you are wondering.

And yes this is a FB link but it is direct to the video, you won't need to log in to see it; I can't find it elsewhere. It is a 3.5 minute long spotlight on the Tn Cave Sal that the TWRA filmed on a survey trip the other year. I'm in it. Look for purple! (If you are visually claustrophobic, may not want to watch, just listen) https://www.facebook.com/tnwildlife/videos/underground-wildlife-survey-tn-cave-salamander/496262361996796/

Remember to follow me or the #Karstmas for more fun cave info this month!

#cave #caves #caving #speleology #biology #karst #geology #ecology #nature #water #underground #ecosystems #herp #herps #herptology #salamander #amphibians

PS I promise I have more vertical and technical stuff to post in the future too!

https://www.europesays.com/1612006/ The Ingles Open Road: Spartanburg Science Center #america #Amphibians #ChapmanCulturalCenter #ChildlikeWonder #ExperientialLearning #FISH #HandsOnExhibits #InglesMarkets_BC #Reptiles #science #SpartanburgScienceCenter #technology #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #US #USA