Frogs and Poisons!

New research documents a surprising chemical weapon used by some Amazonian poison frogs. The study identified for the first time a family of poisons never before known to exist in these brightly colored creatures or elsewhere in nature: the N-methyldecahydroquinolines. The authors then speculated on its origin in the frogs' diet, most likely ants.

H. Martin Garraffo and colleagues note there are more than 500 alkaloids, potentially toxic substances, known to exist in the skin of poison frogs of the family Dendrobatidae. Frogs use them as a chemical defense to discourage predators from biting and eating them. Western Colombian natives have used skin extracts from another group of frogs, unrelated to those in the new study, to coat blow-darts for hunting.

Frogs get nearly all of the alkaloids from their diet, removing alkaloids from ants, mites, small beetles, millipedes and possibly other small arthropods, concentrating them with incredible efficiency, and storing them in their skin. However, Garraffo's group was not certain about the origin of the newly discovered N-methyldecahydroquinolines, which could also be produced in the frogs' own bodies. Feeding experiments with alkaloids fed to captive frogs are planned, which might settle this point.

The scientists analyzed alkaloids from the skin of 13 of the more than 25 species of the genus Ameerega of poison frogs. They identified the new toxins in the frogs as being of the N-methyldecahydroquinoline class, which were present among several other alkaloids. *Science Daily

Save the Frogs!

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Save the frogs, build a frog pond in your own backyard! For details go to

http://www.australian-backyard-wildlife.com/ponds.html


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Urban Development Hurts Frog Populations!

An amphibian researcher says there are two major causes for the decline in frog populations on the Gold Coast. Griffith University Associate Professor Jean-Marc Hero says urban development is driving frogs out of the city while a fungal disease is impacting on hinterland populations. He says Queensland has already lost six species of frogs. "They're vulnerable because they are open to all threats," he said. "I guess they're threatened by habitat loss, they're threatened by disease, they're threatened by pollution. "They're threatened in the water, they're threatened on the land. "So they are a particularly sensitive group and therefore more likely to decline or go extinct." Professor Hero will give a lecture on the global decline of amphibians at Gecko House on June 24. *ABC News

Transparent Frogs!

An expedition in southeastern Ecuador has discovered a new species of frog that is notable for one particular trait: they’re transparent. The Glass Frog, or Nymphagus chancas is naturally named after its translucent skin, which as per the Glass Frog, means you’re able to see the frogs internal organs. The scientests on the expedition also found a range of other new species, and are hoping their work will encourage the Ecuador Government protect the area from logging.


The new species were found by Conservation International's Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) in the mountainous forests of the Cordillera del Condor of southeastern Ecuador, an area of high biological, ecological and social importance near to the border with Peru. The survey concentrated on the Upper Nangaritza River Basin, which is geologically isolated from other parts of the Andes, helping to stimulate the evolution of species which are found nowhere else (endemic species). The newly discovered creatures - four amphibians, a stunning new lizard and seven insects - include a remarkably ugly bug-eyed salamander and a tiny but beautiful poison arrow frog. *Sciencentric

Leopard Frogs

It's been a plan long in the making, but recently, the first Chiricahua leopard frogs were released in northern Arizona waters as part of the Arizona Game and Fish Department's new program aimed at enlisting the help of non-federal landowners to conserve this threatened species. More than 30 frogs, including adults and tadpoles, were released into a protected pond on private property near Show Low. The frogs for this inaugural release came from a breeding stock maintained by Game and Fish that originated from the Three Forks area of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. Biologists hope the frogs from this site will breed successfully and become a source population for stocking future waters.

This introduction of Chiricahua leopard frogs is the first to occur as part of a new Safe Harbor Agreement. The Safe Harbor program makes it possible for private and non-federal landowners to participate in the conservation of multiple wildlife species, including endangered Gila topminnow, desert pupfish, Yaqui topminnow, and Quitobaquito pupfish by providing refuge sites. "Chiricahua leopard frogs were once common in Arizona, but populations declined due to habitat loss, competition from non-native species and disease," says Valerie Boyarski, amphibians and reptiles conservation planner for the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

"The Safe Harbor program focuses on identifying ideal sites that will contribute the most to the recovery of the species. Finding suitable natural waters, sources of frogs and the resources required to provide oversight after a release are the biggest challenges for the program, and the recovery of the species." *Spectrum.com

Swallowing Tree Frogs?

A man in southeast China says 40 years of swallowing tree frogs and rats live has helped him avoid intestinal complaints and made him strong. Jiang Musheng, a 66-year-old resident of Jiangxi province, suffered from frequent abdominal pains and coughing from the age of 26, until an old man called Yang Dingcai suggested tree frogs as a remedy, the Beijing News said on Tuesday."At first, Jiang Musheng did not dare to eat a live, wriggling frog, but after seeing Yang Dingcai swallow one, he ate ... two without a thought," the paper said.

"After a month of eating live frogs, his stomach pains and coughing were completely gone." Over the years Jiang had added live mice, baby rats and green frogs to his diet, and had once eaten 20 mice in a single day, the paper said.* Reuters