Year of the Frog

Sign up to be a friend of frogs! Yes, I want to help save amphibians. Please send me information about how I can help raise awareness, take conservation action and support the global 2008 Year of the Frog campaign.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums will highlight 2008 as the Year of the Frog to mark a major conservation effort to address the amphibian extinction crisis.



Why Year of the Frog?

Frogs are going extinct. So are toads, salamanders, newts, and the intriguingly unusual caecilians. In fact, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) estimates that at least one-third of known amphibian species are threatened with extinction. While the major culprit has historically been habitat loss and degradation, many of the declines and extinctions previously referred to as "enigmatic" are now being attributed to the rapidly dispersing infectious disease chytridiomycosis ("chytrid"). This fungus is causing population and species extinctions at an alarming rate. Can you imagine if we were about to lose one-third of the world's mammals?

The combined effect of habitat destruction, climate change, pollution, and chytrid cannot be addressed solely in the wild. Captive assurance populations have become the only hope for many species faced with imminent extinction and are an important component of an integrated conservation effort. AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums, with their demonstrated expertise in endangered species breeding programs, have been called upon to meet this conservation challenge.

The IUCN has classified four amphibians in the U.S. to be critically endangered, the Mississippi gopher frog, the Chiricahua leopard frog, the mountain yellow-legged frog, and the Wyoming toad. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has listed thirty-seven amphibian species under the Endangered Species Act. AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums may be their only hope for survival.

Scientists find Nemo's Cousin

Finding Nemo's Cousin: Scientists Spot New Marine Species
Oct. 16, 2007 — A swimming sea cucumber, a Nemo-like orange fish and a worm with tentacles sprouting from its head are among dozens of possible new species found during a survey of the Celebes Sea, researchers said Tuesday.

A team of U.S. and Filipino scientists plunged up to three miles underwater in early October in an area that has been isolated by rising sea levels and may have spawned sea life not found elsewhere.

They collected between 50 and 100 potentially undiscovered species of marine invertebrates and fishes.

"These waters are the richest biological regions of the world but have been largely unexplored," said expedition leader, Larry Madin, of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

The survey was conducted by Woods Hole, National Geographic and Filipino scientists at the Coral Triangle — bodies of water bounded by the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia that are known to contain the world's richest biodiversity in shallow water marine species.

It will take a few more weeks of study of the deepwater sea life samples before they can be declared new species, Madin said during a video presentation of the findings in Manila.

Among the more unusual finds were an orange-tinged sea cucumber that uproots itself from the seabed and swims using flaps on its transparent body, and a worm with tentacles coming out of its head and transparent paddle fins growing all over its tan body.

"We don't know what this is," Madin said of the worm. "It might be something big."

Of the fish collected, a tiny, angular orange one with a puckered yellow mouth looked like the main character in the animated Hollywood film "Finding Nemo," Madin said.

The team also collected various types of deepwater jellyfish, predatory eels and single-celled organisms — as well as piles of household garbage.

The area holds promise for more discoveries, Madin said.

cute kid!

NASCARGOT!

This Fragile Earth

To commemorate TIME's Heroes of the Environment, a whirlwind tour of some of the wildlife and ecosystems most endangered by global warming.

I am pet friendly!

Make sure everybody knows it by ordering custom license plates that donate proceeds directly back to spay and neuter programs in your state. To find out if your state has these Pet Friendly plates, or other ways you could help out spay and neuter programs, check out this website!

Mutts- Shelter Stories

yep, it's definately a monday

D'OH! I hate when I lose track of where my intestines are.

Climate change causes habitat shift in Kruger National Park

Disappearing savannas in South Africa's Kruger National Park are forcing scientists to reconsider what conservation means

This is a really long one so I hope you're not linkaphobic!

Basically, they're noticing that ground grazers are moving out, and the tree grazers are moving in because the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is giving shrubs and trees an advantage over grasses. If this trend continues to increase they fear that savannahs will no longer be the dominant ecosystem and will mean the end for them.

"Nature is reorganizing itself around the world"

Anyway, it's not much of a surpise but the shift itself and its process is pretty interesting.

The History of LOLcat

Pinups for Pit Bulls

Pinups for Pit Bulls is a unique project that stives to promote the true "nanny dog" Pit Bull image that is often overshadowed in combination with classic pinup style photographs.

All of their proceeds go towards various Pit Bull rescues, and you can help in several ways including-
*Becoming one of their pinups and being featured in their calander (if you meet their criteria)
*Buying one of their calanders which makes a great gift for both fans of pinups and Pit Bulls
*Simply donating

Pre-orders are now being accepted for their 2008 calander!

Triturus cristatus

The warty or great crested newt lives only in Europe. Females, which are larger than males, can reach 7 inches (18 centimeters) in length, making these stout-bodied amphibians the continent’s largest newts.

True to its name, the warty newt has skin that is covered in small bumps. The skin contains glands that secrete a milky, acrid-smelling substance to dissuade predators. Its other common name derives from the dramatic, jagged crest that males develop along their backs during the spring breeding season.

These newts are generally dark colored on top and orange or yellow with black spots underneath. They also have white speckles on their flanks and a large, vertically flattened tail that bears a white streak down the side.

Warty newts are nocturnal and are voracious eaters, feeding on worms, slugs, and insects on land, and tadpoles and mollusks in water. They are more terrestrial than most newts, but must remain near bodies of fresh water to keep their skin moist.

These newts spend a significant portion of their lives in hibernation, usually from around October to March of each year. On a rainy night in March, they awaken and trek back to the pond where they hatched to mate.

Females lay from 200 to 300 eggs, but only about half develop into tadpoles. Tadpoles emerge from their eggs in about 21 days and feed on small insects like water fleas and tiny worms. Warty newts are extremely long-lived, with some exceeding 16 years of age. Like all newts, they can regrow body parts if necessary, but that ability diminishes as they age.

Warty newt populations are in decline throughout their range, and they are considered an endangered species. They and their habitats are protected under European law.