Amphibians, features and articles | Educational Science

Dec 5, 2018

This Salamander Breathes Through 'Christmas Trees' Growing from Its Head

A sinuous swamp salamander with spots like a leopard and Christmas-tree-shaped fronds growing from its head hid from scientists for decades. But researchers have finally described this elusive and two-legged aquatic oddity. Dubbed Siren reticulata — reticulated siren — the animal bears a closer resemblance to an eel than a...

Feb 15, 2019

Yellow, Blob-Like Cell Transforms into Wriggling Salamander in Surreal Time-Lapse Video

A mesmerizing 6-minute time lapse shows a single cell dividing seemingly endlessly until what was once a yellow blob has become a wriggling, darting salamander tadpole. I wanted to film the origin of life, said Jan van IJken, a a photographer and filmmaker based in the Netherlands who created the...

Nov 10, 2020

Skin-eating fungus from Europe could invade US, decimate salamanders

The Southern Appalachian mountains are a global biodiversity hot spot for salamanders. Dr. Deb Miller and Dr. Matt Gray lead the Amphibian Disease Laboratory at the University of Tennessee and are looking at various strategies to prevent a fungus that is deadly to salamanders from entering the U.S. via the...

Aug 17, 2022

Axolotls: The adorable, giant salamanders of Mexico

When the Aztecs settled the Valley of Mexico around what is now Mexico City in the 13th century, they found a large salamander living in the lake surrounding the island where they built their capital, Tenochtitlán. They called the salamander axolotl after Xolotl, their god of fire and lightning. Xolotl...

Apr 21, 2023

Hellbender salamander dads are cannibalizing their young, and deforestation may be to blame

Baby hellbender salamanders don't stand a chance against their fathers who have gone rogue and started cannibalizing their offspring. For the past eight years, scientists from Virginia Tech have been studying the behavior of hellbender salamanders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis), a species of giant amphibians that inhabit the frigid waters of southwestern...

Jan 11, 2012

Teensy Newfound Frog Is Smallest Known Vertebrate

The tropical forest in Papua New Guinea is a noisy place at night, filled with the calls from all sorts of living things: frogs, birds and insects, including especially loud cicadas. One particular call — a high-pitched, cricketlike tink-tink-tink — caught the attention of herpetologist Christopher Austin and his graduate...

Mar 12, 2012

Chorus Frog Blamed for Spreading Devastating Disease

A common West Coast frog, the Pacific chorus frog, may be spreading the deadly fungal infection that is devastating other amphibians, a new study suggests. Not only did the tiny chorus frogs survive an epidemic of the disease, called chytridiomycosis, that devastated their neighbors—once-abundant mountain yellow-legged frogs —in Sixty Lake...

Mar 28, 2012

Mysterious Long-Fingered Frog Comes Out of Hiding

A long-fingered frog last seen in 1949 and feared extinct has come out of hiding in the forests of Burundi, a small country in eastern Africa, scientists reported this week. Called the Bururi long-fingered frog (Cardioglossa cyaneospila), the amphibian is about 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) long, with a black and...

Apr 25, 2012

Frog Fungus Causes Grisly Death by Dehydration

A fungus that has torn through frog populations worldwide kills by dehydrating the hapless amphibians, disrupting electrolyte balance and causing cardiac arrest. The fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, which is responsible for chytridiomycosis disease, has caused massive frog death on a global scale, threatening many species with extinction. When the fungus reached...

May 21, 2012

More Parasites Mean Healthier Frogs

Parasites seem to be each other's worst enemy, and a frog's best friend, new research indicates. Increases in the diversity of parasites that attack amphibians cause a decrease in the infection success rate of those parasites. Collectively, our findings illustrate the importance of considering the hidden role of parasite diversity...

May 22, 2012

New Frog Species Is Bright Yellow

A new bright yellow frog species has been found in the mountains of western Panama. The frog belongs to a species-rich group of frogs, the so-called rainfrogs that lack a tadpole stage, but develop directly as little frogs inside the egg. Andreas Hertz and colleagues from the Senckenberg Research Institute...

Aug 10, 2012

Live Bullfrog Trade Implicated in Amphibian-Killing Disease

Bullfrogs, often shipped live between continents to be eaten, are spreading the deadly chytrid fungus that is threatening amphibians worldwide, new research indicates. A team of researchers collected bullfrogs on sale at Asian food stores in seven cities in the United States and found 41 percent of the frogs were...

Sep 26, 2012

Can Frogs Survive Being Frozen?

Warm weather brings thoughts of spring peepers and leaping bull frogs. But what happens to frogs in the winter? If they can’t dig down far enough into the soil to avoid the ice or aren’t lucky enough to live in warmer climates, some actually freeze. Fortunately for them, they don’t...

Oct 18, 2012

Rare Frog Sports Thumb-Spikes for Sex and Combat

A rare Japanese frog sports spikes protruding from a set of pseudo-thumbs, a scientist has discovered. The built-in weaponry helps the males grab onto females during sex and duel with competitors over mates, the researcher said. Unlike most four-toed frogs, the endangered Otton frog (Babina subaspera) has a fifth finger....

Jan 25, 2013

Why are Frogs Disappearing?

Kermit the Frog is more right now than ever: It’s not easy being green. Or any other color of frog, toad or other amphibian in the world, as rapid changes in the environment are killing off frogs left and right. Though fungi and habitat destruction have been implicated in the...