Extinction event that wiped out dinosaurs cleared way for frogs
The mass extinction that obliterated three-fourths of life on Earth, including non-avian dinosaurs, set the stage for the swift rise of frogs, a new study shows.
View ArticleSkin microbe diversity can vary with forest type and habitat in Brazilian frogs
The diversity of microbes on the skin of frog species in Brazil's Atlantic Forest can vary with habitat, according to a study published July 5, 2017 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Ananda Brito...
View ArticleIn the egg, American bullfrogs learn how to avoid becoming lunch
When exposed to potential predators as an embryo, the invasive American bullfrog becomes harder to kill when it becomes a tadpole, according to a new study by Oregon State University researchers.
View ArticleThree species of tiny frogs discovered in Peruvian Andes
A University of Michigan ecologist and his colleagues have discovered three more frog species in the Peruvian Andes, raising to five the total number of new frog species the group has found in a remote...
View ArticleEndangered frog habitat sparks California farm lawsuit
Tiny frogs and toads used to swarm over the Sierra Nevada. Now, the government says nearly 2 million acres of land needs to be preserved to prevent them from going extinct.
View ArticleTiny jumping spiders found preying on frogs and lizards
A trio of researchers from Switzerland and the U.S. has found documented evidence of tiny regal jumping spiders killing and eating much larger frogs and lizards. In their paper published in Journal of...
View ArticleMechanisms explaining positional diversity of the hindlimb in tetrapod evolution
In the evolution of tetrapods, the position of the hindlimb has diversified along with the vertebral formula, which is the number of small bones forming the vertebra. Tetrapods, as the name implies,...
View ArticleWood frogs research clarifies risks posed to animals by warming climate
As conditions warm, fish and wildlife living at the southern edge of their species' ranges are most at risk, according to Penn State researchers who led a major collaborative study of how wood frogs...
View ArticleWhy poison dart frogs don't poison themselves
(Phys.org)—A pair of researchers with the State University of New York has found the source of poison dart frogs' immunity from their own poison. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National...
View ArticleNew study contradicts assumption that true frogs diversified as they expanded...
Evolutionary biologists long have supposed that when species colonize new geographic regions they often develop new traits and adaptations to deal with their fresh surroundings. They branch from their...
View ArticleBaw Baw frog charms researchers in battle against extinction
Scientists are racing against time to save Victoria's unique Baw Baw frog - facing extinction from a fungus threatening a third of Australia's frog species.
View ArticleEmerging disease further jeopardizes North American frogs
A deadly amphibian disease called severe Perkinsea infections, or SPI, is the cause of many large-scale frog die-offs in the United States, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.
View ArticleThis dance is taken: Hundreds of male frog species change colors around...
Some of nature's most vibrant colors occur in frogs, who peek out from rainforests and marshes in startling shades of blue, yellow and red. But for hundreds of species, only males flaunt flashy...
View ArticleFoster tadpoles trigger parental instinct in poison frogs
Poison frogs, especially male poison frogs, are very caring parents. After the tadpoles hatch, the males piggyback their offspring to distant pools spread around the rainforest where they can feed and...
View ArticleBite force research reveals dinosaur-eating frog
Scientists say that a large, now extinct, frog called Beelzebufo that lived about 68 million years ago in Madagascar would have been capable of eating small dinosaurs.
View ArticleTiny Brazilian frogs are deaf to their own calls
Pumpkin toadlets, found on the leaf litter of Brazil's Atlantic forest, are among the smallest frogs in the world. An international team from Brazil, Denmark and the United Kingdom, has discovered that...
View ArticleWhy poison frogs don't poison themselves
Don't let their appearance fool you: Thimble-sized, dappled in cheerful colors and squishy, poison frogs in fact harbor some of the most potent neurotoxins we know. With a new paper published in the...
View ArticleEmerging infectious disease threatens Darwin's frog with extinction
Iconic species likely to be wiped-out by amphibian fungus, despite lack of obvious short-term evidence.
View ArticleAn engineer's guide to the embryo
In roughly 48 hours, the single cell of the fertilized frog egg will undergo dramatic change to develop vital body parts like muscles, a skeleton, eyes, a heart, and a tadpole tail. Scientists have...
View ArticleAtrazine alters the sex ratio in Blanchard's cricket frogs
A study published recently in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry found that Blanchard's cricket frogs are highly sensitive to atrazine. When exposed, there were up to 55% fewer males than females...
View ArticleTurkey frees 7,500 illegally hunted frogs into river
Turkish gendarmerie have released 7,500 illegally hunted frogs—which had been destined for dining tables in China and France—into safe waters, after uncovering a poaching ring.
View ArticleStudy finds 'black box' methods used by biologists probably overestimate...
Do researchers need to "hit the brakes a little" before declaring a species is new to science?
View ArticleStudy provides insights for combating devastating amphibian disease
Amphibian chytridiomycosis, caused by infection with the Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis fungus, is the most devastating vertebrate disease on record. The fungus infects more than 600 species of...
View ArticleMutated frog gene repels predators
Post-doctoral researcher Andrés Posso-Terranova and his former supervisor José Andrés have found evidence that a single gene called MC1R controls the deep black color on the skin of these poisonous...
View ArticleWidespread chemical contaminants stunt growth of amphibians
A series of synthetic chemicals widely used in household products, food packaging and clothing have a significant effect on the development of frogs, even at low doses, according to a Purdue University...
View ArticleFrogs reveal mechanism that determines viability of hybrids
Why are some hybrids viable and others not? It is known that this depends on the father species and the mother species. New research in two related frog species shows the influence of mother and father...
View ArticleEcologist unearths the foothill yellow-legged frog's past in order to inform...
Once abundant in Southern California, the foothill yellow-legged frog inexplicably vanished from the region sometime between the late 1960s and early 1970s. The reasons behind its rapid extinction have...
View ArticleHow new evidence of sex reversals helps show how sex chromosomes are...
When it comes to sex, frogs, just like in people, exhibit a similar XX (female) and XY (male) sex chromosome pattern of inheritance.
View ArticleDevoted frog fathers guard their eggs from predators
A study led by Ph.D. candidate Mr K. S. Seshadri from the Department of Biological Sciences at the National University of Singapore's Faculty of Science has revealed that male white-spotted bush frogs...
View ArticleBid to find a Valentine for Romeo, world's 'loneliest frog'
With Valentine's Day approaching, please spare a thought for Romeo the lonesome Bolivian frog.
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