Activity budgets, responses to disturbance and novel behaviours in captive mountain chicken frogs Leptodactylus fallax
Mountain chicken frogs Leptodactylus fallax are assessed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List due to threats including chytridiomycosis and habitat loss. Ex-situ populations underpin species survival, but captive management is hampered by incomplete species knowledge, including its behavioural biology. In sixteen adult frogs, we investigated enclosure usage, nocturnal activity budgets, and behavioural responses […]
URINARY CORTICOSTERONE CONCENTRATIONS IN FREE-RANGING AND MANAGED CANE TOADS (RHINELLA MARINA)
Approximately 40% of amphibian species are threatened with extinction. The welfare of amphibians maintained under managed care as assurance populations is of vital importance to guard against extinction and provide a viable source population for future reintroduction. To manage amphibian species properly ex situ, it is important to understand how stress levels change over time […]
The importance of enrichment for advancing amphibian welfare and conservation goals
Enrichment, broadly the provision of stimuli to improve the welfare of captive animals, is known to be important in husbandry practice and in the success of ex situ conservation and reintroduction programs. Practical evidence of the importance of enrichment exists for a number of taxa, yet amphibians are poorly represented. There is no reason to […]
Declining Amphibian Populations: What Is the Next Step?
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Magnetic orientation and magnetoreception in birds and other animals
Animals use the geomagnetic field in many ways: the magnetic vector provides a compass; magnetic intensity and/or inclination play a role as a component of the navigational ‘map’, and magnetic conditions of certain regions act as ‘sign posts’ or triggers, eliciting specific responses. A magnetic compass is widespread among animals, magnetic navigation is indicated e.g. […]
Anuran gender identification by fecal steroid analysis
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.20077.abs This study tested the hypothesis that steroid hormone metabolites can be measured in anuran feces and their concentrations used to identify the sex of adults. Fecal samples from American toads, Bufo americanus, and boreal toads, B. boreas boreas, were extracted using ethyl acetate, and the concentrations of estradiol, progesterone and testosterone metabolites were […]
Global Emergence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and Amphibian Chytridiomycosis in Space, Time, and Host
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is a chytrid fungus that causes chytridiomycosis in amphibians. Only named in 1999, Bd is a proximate driver of declines in global amphibian biodiversity. The pathogen infects over 350 species of amphibians and is found on all continents except Antarctica. However, the processes that have led to the global distribution of Bd […]
Multimodal Communication in the Panamanian Golden Frog (Atelopus Zeteki)
Animals may combine different types of signals (e.g. acoustic, visual, etc.) for multimodal communication. Anuran amphibians (frogs and toads) are well known for their use of acoustic signals in communication. Some anurans also may use visual signals for this purpose. The genus Atelopus (family Bufonidae) produces conspicuous movements of the forelimb and forefoot (semaphores) and […]
A Manual for Control of Infectious Diseases in Amphibian Survival Assurance Colonies and Reintroduction Programs
Effects of ultraviolet radiation on amphibians field experiments
Numerous reports suggest that populations of amphibians from a wide variety of locations are experiencing population declines and/or range reductions. In some cases, unusually high egg mortality has been reported. Field experiments have been used with increasing frequency to investigate ultraviolet radiation as one of the potential factors contributing to these declines. Results from field […]