http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. In a new study, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers provide the first evidence that African clawed frogs in California harbor a deadly fungal infection that is decimating amphibian populations across the globe. http://phys.org/news287826129.html Biology Wed, 15 May 2013 17:00:01 EST news287826129 Researchers at Lincoln Park Zoo and Northern Illinois University have discovered a new culprit contributing to amphibian decline and altered mammal distribution throughout the Midwest region – the invasive plant European buckthorn. This non-native shrub, which has invaded two-thirds of the United States, has long been known to negatively impact plant community composition and forest structure, but these two innovative studies slated to publish in upcoming editions of the Journal of Herpetology and Natural Areas Journal demonstrate how this shrub negatively impacts native amphibians and affects habitat use by mammals including increased prevalence of coyotes and other carnivores. http://phys.org/news286640902.html Biology Wed, 01 May 2013 15:29:40 EST news286640902 A curtain of sound envelops the two researchers as they make their way along the side of a mountain in darkness, occasionally hacking their way with a machete to reach the mouth of a small cave. http://phys.org/news284824217.html Biology Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:00:02 EST news284824217 (Phys.org) —A team of scientists led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the National University of Singapore (NUS), revealed in a new study, for the first time, the presence of the pathogenic chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) in amphibians sampled in Singapore. And the American bullfrog may be a central player in the spread of the disease. http://phys.org/news281800143.html Biology Wed, 06 Mar 2013 13:49:15 EST news281800143 In a new study, biologists will investigate the connection between amphibians' social habits and a disease that has killed a record number of frogs, toads and salamanders worldwide. http://phys.org/news281207907.html Biology Wed, 27 Feb 2013 17:18:36 EST news281207907 The richer the assortment of amphibian species living in a pond, the more protection that community of frogs, toads and salamanders has against a parasitic infection that can cause severe deformities, including the growth of extra legs, according to a new study by the University of Colorado Boulder. http://phys.org/news279987277.html Biology Wed, 13 Feb 2013 14:14:55 EST news279987277 (Phys.org)—A team of young researchers from Colombia have recently published an article in the journal Zootaxa describing two new species of salamander discovered during a project supported by the Conservation Leadership Programme and Save Our Species. http://phys.org/news279787135.html Biology Mon, 11 Feb 2013 07:00:01 EST news279787135 A recent study of the amphibians and reptiles of Sierra Madre Mountain Range, northeastern Luzon, reveals a preliminary enumeration of more than 100 species that contribute to the unique biodiversity of the region. At present, the Luzon region's herpetological range stands at more than 150 species. Out of these, a total of 49 amphibian species have been documented, 44 of which are native and a remarkable 32 endemic. In the world of reptiles, Luzon can boast with 106 native species, 76 of which are unique to this region. http://phys.org/news279471410.html Biology Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:56:58 EST news279471410 What if Noah got it wrong? What if he paired a male and a female animal thinking they were the same species, and then discovered they were not the same and could not produce offspring? As researchers from the Smithsonian's Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project race to save frogs from a devastating disease by breeding them in captivity, a genetic test averts mating mix-ups. http://phys.org/news276866579.html Biology Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:24:21 EST news276866579 (Phys.org)—A team of US biologists has found that the chytrid fungus, believed to be responsible for amphibian deaths worldwide, also infects and kills crayfish. In their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers write that their findings show that non-amphibian species can be infected by the fungus also, which helps explain how the fungus is able to persist in some lakes and ponds even after all of the amphibians in them have been killed. http://phys.org/news275032535.html Biology Tue, 18 Dec 2012 06:10:01 EST news275032535 On a trek across this Atlantic rainforest reserve in southern Brazil, biologist Michel Garey recalled how on his birthday in 2007 he chanced upon what turned out to be a new species of tiny, three-fingered frogs. http://phys.org/news271087944.html Biology Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:12:31 EST news271087944 Factfile on biodiversity ahead of talks opening Monday under the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Hyderabad, India. http://phys.org/news268633308.html Biology Fri, 05 Oct 2012 05:21:57 EST news268633308 The world's largest conservation forum opened in South Korea Thursday with warnings that reckless development was ruining the planet's natural health, pushing thousands of species towards extinction. http://phys.org/news266163821.html Biology Thu, 06 Sep 2012 15:23:46 EST news266163821 A Malaysian researcher known for finding new amphibian species said Friday his team had discovered at least one new species of frog in studies he said highlight Borneo's rich biodiversity. http://phys.org/news256668069.html Biology Sat, 19 May 2012 17:41:14 EST news256668069 Two new species of frog have been discovered in fast-disappearing forests in the Philippines, boosting hopes for the survival of the country's rich but threatened wildlife, scientists said Tuesday. http://phys.org/news253881102.html Biology Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:31:48 EST news253881102 A microscopic chytrid fungus is causing massive declines in frog populations all over the world and even the extinction of certain species. Together with colleagues from Europe and the USA, researchers from the University of Zurich present methods as to how the chytrid fungus can be combated in the journal Frontiers in Zoology: namely with bacteria and fungicides. However, the possibility of vaccinating the frogs is also being considered. http://phys.org/news227878892.html Biology Tue, 21 Jun 2011 12:41:47 EST news227878892 Smithsonian scientists have confirmed that chytridiomycosis, a rapidly spreading amphibian disease, has reached a site near Panama's Darien region. This was the last area in the entire mountainous neotropics to be free of the disease. This is troubling news for the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project, a consortium of nine U.S. and Panamanian institutions that aims to rescue 20 species of frogs in imminent danger of extinction. http://phys.org/news227203248.html Biology Mon, 13 Jun 2011 17:01:37 EST news227203248 (PhysOrg.com) -- According to a new report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, human development and habitat loss are not the main contributor to the population decline of many amphibian species. In actuality, that human encroachment on natural habitat many actually be saying some of them. http://phys.org/news226123621.html Biology Wed, 01 Jun 2011 07:30:01 EST news226123621 Traditional agricultural practices can make a major contribution to preserving biodiversity in the EU's new member states in Central and Eastern Europe. By contrast, the construction of roads and the intensification of agriculture currently encouraged by EU farming subsidies pose a threat to amphibians. The rich natural environment still extant in many accession countries is under threat, according to scientists writing in the journal Biological Conservation. http://phys.org/news225622622.html Biology Thu, 26 May 2011 09:57:16 EST news225622622 New findings of researchers from Tel-Aviv University show that predator-prey interactions between ground beetles of the genus Epomis and amphibians are much more complex than expected. The study was published in the open access journal Zoo Keys. http://phys.org/news225109599.html Biology Fri, 20 May 2011 11:27:11 EST news225109599 Conservationists say they have found six rare frog species that are unique to the Caribbean nation of Haiti and have not been seen in about two decades. http://phys.org/news214031339.html Biology Wed, 12 Jan 2011 05:10:57 EST news214031339 A study by a USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station scientist shows the numbers of nonnative Chinese tallowtree in Louisiana, Mississippi and east Texas grew by about 370 percent over a 16-year period. The spread of the invasive plant may create problems for plants and wildlife along the Gulf coast. http://phys.org/news195220837.html Biology Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:10:02 EST news195220837 (PhysOrg.com) -- New calculations reveal that the number of species on Earth is likely to be in the order of several million rather than 10's of millions. The findings, from a University of Melbourne-led study, are based on a new method of estimating tropical insect species -- the largest and one of the most difficult groups on the planet to study -- having significant implications for conservation efforts. http://phys.org/news194850303.html Biology Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:05:28 EST news194850303 (PhysOrg.com) -- New research recently conducted by two ecologists, Wendy Palen at Simon Fraser University and Daniel Schindler at the University of Washington, finds that Pacific Northwest amphibian species are far less vulnerable to UV radiation than first thought. http://phys.org/news193801128.html Biology Sun, 23 May 2010 02:39:47 EST news193801128 A major survey of lizard populations worldwide has found an alarming pattern of population extinctions attributable to rising temperatures. If current trends continue, 20 percent of all lizard species could go extinct by 2080, according to Barry Sinervo, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. http://phys.org/news192977666.html Biology Thu, 13 May 2010 14:00:26 EST news192977666 Amphibians like frogs and toads have existed for 360 million years and survived when the dinosaurs didn't, but a new aquatic fungus is threatening to make many of them extinct, according to an article in the November issue of Microbiology Today. http://phys.org/news178198770.html Biology Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:40:13 EST news178198770 Most countries throughout the world participate in the $40-million-per-year culinary trade of frog legs in some way, with 75 percent of frog legs consumed in France, Belgium and the United States. Scientists at the Smithsonian Institution and colleagues have found that this trade is a potential carrier of pathogens deadly to amphibians. The team's findings are published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Ecology, Thursday, Nov. 19. http://phys.org/news177858095.html Biology Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:20:02 EST news177858095 (AP) -- Researchers are heading to Central America to develop ways to fight a fungus blamed for the extinction of dozens of frog and amphibian species. http://phys.org/news161272070.html Biology Mon, 11 May 2009 14:48:20 EST news161272070 (PhysOrg.com) -- UCLA scientists report for the first time on the only known frog species that can communicate using purely ultrasonic calls, whose frequencies are too high to be heard by humans. Known as Huia cavitympanum, the frog lives only on the Southeast Asian island of Borneo. http://phys.org/news161256967.html Biology Mon, 11 May 2009 10:36:36 EST news161256967