https://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. Relocating amphibians and reptiles to protect them from development rarely leads to long-term conservation success, a new UBC-led global review has found. The findings highlight the importance of habitat protection rather than relying on moving animals out of harm's way. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-relocating-amphibians-reptiles-human-rarely.html Plants & Animals Wed, 28 Oct 2026 16:20:05 EDT news712421821 Amphibians are the most threatened vertebrates on Earth, with 41% of species facing extinction. In the highlands of Central and South America, a killer fungus has wiped out much of the once-abundant amphibian diversity. Yet in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, amphibians still thrive. The mountain range is home to a remarkable amphibian community of at least 48 species, including 25 found nowhere else on the planet. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-frogs-current-amphibian-mass-extinction.html Ecology Tue, 27 Oct 2026 21:20:01 EDT news712322542 As winter approaches, many of us start clearing leaves and tidying up our gardens. But these jobs can remove vital winter habitats for wildlife, particularly with increasingly volatile weather conditions. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-embrace-lazy-fall-gardening-wildlife.html Ecology Tue, 27 Oct 2026 15:00:12 EDT news712311500 Global efforts to preserve habitat and the planet's most endangered species urgently need to be stepped up, according to a new report from Map of Life, the flagship initiative of the Yale Center for Biodiversity and Global Change. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-life-safeguard-global-biodiversity.html Plants & Animals Tue, 27 Oct 2026 12:20:14 EDT news712307127 Dr. Martin Wessendorf is a neuroscientist and an associate professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota. His work focuses on how the brainstem controls the function of neurons in the spinal cord. Daniel Wang also researches the brain, focusing on cognitive neuroscience and neurodegenerative diseases. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-qa-side-brain-left-body.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 27 Oct 2026 01:00:02 EDT news712211383 Scientists report fossil evidence of the first fully marine amphibian in a study from the University of California, Davis; Peking University; and the Geological Museum of Guizhou. The amphibian is an armored, giant salamander–sized, bottom-dwelling ocean creature that the researchers named Gerrothorax maritimus. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-armored-amphibian-sea-million-years.html Evolution Mon, 26 Oct 2026 12:00:06 EDT news711978961 Identifying individual animals in the wild has long meant tagging, branding or clipping. For amphibians, the standard approach has often been toe-clipping, a procedure that can affect survival, physiology and behavior. A new study suggests that, for at least one species of treefrog, nature has already provided a more humane solution: the eyes. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-iris-patterns-noninvasive-individual-amazonian.html Plants & Animals Fri, 23 Oct 2026 04:00:01 EDT news711945732 A University of Portsmouth scientist has helped lead a major global study, which finds that 44% of the world's reef-building coral species are now threatened with extinction—and warns the true figure is likely to be even higher. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-reef-coral-species-higher-extinction.html Ecology Thu, 15 Oct 2026 18:40:01 EDT news711291466 A major international study of the role cortisol plays in reproduction has found it may not be the villain it has been depicted as, and it may actually promote healthy reproduction. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-cortisol-reproduction-friend-enemy.html Plants & Animals Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:20:04 EDT news711267679 Many of the Australian animals most at risk of extinction are extremely tough to track down. That's because they live in small pockets of disappearing nature, such as rare grasslands or ancient forests, in worryingly low numbers. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-dogs-australia-imperiled-lizards.html Ecology Wed, 14 Oct 2026 17:20:13 EDT news711193632 In the 1970s, researchers began to observe drastic amphibian declines in Brazil's Atlantic Forest, a global hotspot of frog biodiversity. For decades, these disappearances remained a mystery. Now, new research from scientists at the Center for Conservation Genomics at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) and Pennsylvania State University (PSU), published today in the journal Molecular Ecology, points to amphibian chytridiomycosis, a devastating infectious disease, as the likely culprit. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-museum-specimens-reveal-pathogen-decades.html Ecology Wed, 14 Oct 2026 15:00:01 EDT news711196682 With spring underway and the weather warming, reptiles are on the move in suburbs, parks and scrubland across Australia. Snake catchers and wildlife caregivers are responding to calls for help, and reptile enthusiasts—known as "herpers"—are heading outdoors in search of their next sighting. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-simple-curb-deadly-fungal-disease.html Plants & Animals Tue, 13 Oct 2026 20:20:01 EDT news711114053 Turning people into frogs—and back into princes—is the stuff of fairy tales. But back in January 2026, this fate befell a Heber City, Utah, police officer when AI accidentally cast the spell. Transcription software picked up the dialogue from "The Princess and the Frog" playing at the scene where the police encounter was unfolding. When AI software used the recording to draft the report, it mistook the movie dialogue for part of the encounter and claimed the officer had turned into a frog while on duty. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ai-bodycam-footage-text-speakers.html Political science Fri, 09 Oct 2026 09:00:01 EDT news710753583 The short-legged horned toad (Boulenophrys brachykolos), listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, is the only known small frog species in Hong Kong belonging to the genus Boulenophrys of the family Megophryidae. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-endangered-lantau-toads-genetic-differences.html Evolution Tue, 06 Oct 2026 13:20:05 EDT news710501641 The Surinam toad is one of the strangest frogs on Earth. Flat-bodied, tiny-eyed and adapted to the murky waters of the Amazon basin, it hunts well despite having very poor vision. When a fish swims close, the frog suddenly opens its mouth and sucks the prey inside in a fraction of a second. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-unusual-secret-superpowers-amphibians-reptiles.html Plants & Animals Mon, 05 Oct 2026 19:00:02 EDT news710426461 UCLA biologists have found the hiding place of a silent killer stalking threatened Yosemite toads: their own burrows. The Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) fungus decimating amphibian populations around the world has long been thought to live in and infect the toads through their skin when they are in the water. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-yosemite-toad-killer-homes.html Plants & Animals Thu, 01 Oct 2026 17:40:01 EDT news710077720 For nearly 30 years, a small fossil from Scotland has been celebrated as one of the earliest known reptiles. A new study out today in Nature and led by researchers at the American Museum of Natural History and the University of Oxford, in collaboration with the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, is rewriting that story. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-fossil-world-oldest-reptile-dethroned.html Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 30 Sep 2026 17:00:02 EDT news709988333 As a deadly fungal disease ravages wild frog populations around the globe, scientists have identified potential locations in Panama where amphibians might persist despite the disease, according to new research from the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) published in the Journal for Nature Conservation. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-climate-refuges-key-imperiled-amphibians.html Plants & Animals Wed, 30 Sep 2026 10:00:15 EDT news709899902 The transition from tadpole to juvenile frog is never easy—legs sprout, tails shrink and lungs develop for a life on land, all while being hunted by fish and other predators. Talk about growing pains. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-endangered-frog-nursery-la-hundreds.html Ecology Tue, 29 Sep 2026 10:40:31 EDT news709897172 For decades, scientists believed most animals relied on a steady supply of glucose, the body's primary fuel source, to power their brains. When glucose runs out, neural activity begins to fail, potentially leading to lasting brain damage. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-bullfrog-brains-backup-fuel.html Plants & Animals Mon, 28 Sep 2026 11:00:44 EDT news709810083 Tiny, striped zebrafish are helping scientists trace how a gene linked to albinism influences eye development, work that may ultimately help explain some of the vision problems experienced by people with the condition and guide the search for new treatments. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-zebrafish-reveal-wider-role-gene.html Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:00:21 EDT news709804563 Great Britain has long been thought to be home to a single venomous snake species, the adder. Although its bites are rarely life-threatening, they require a trip to the emergency department and will more than likely ruin your week. The other two native British snakes, the grass snake and the smooth snake, have largely been considered nonvenomous. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-venomous-british-snake-panic.html Plants & Animals Thu, 24 Sep 2026 13:50:01 EDT news709473961 Around 309 million years ago, long before the dinosaurs, the area around Chicago was a swampy river delta swarming with early land-dwelling animals, giant insects and strange swimming animals. What was once a hotbed for new forms of life to flourish and evolve has become one of today's richest Carboniferous period fossil deposits. Two student scientists from the Field Museum have just described the latest animal discovered at this location—and they named it after their mothers, who both happen to be named Jean. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-species-proto-amphibian-students-honor.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 24 Sep 2026 10:00:01 EDT news709374961 The bacteria living on frogs' skin could play a vital role in protecting the animals from a deadly fungal disease. A team of researchers led by Penn State scientists found that frogs' natural skin bacteria can help them fight disease and improve their chances of survival. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-frog-coat-bacterial-armor-fungal.html Ecology Thu, 24 Sep 2026 09:20:04 EDT news709459621 Common, wide-ranging vertebrate species, such as foxes, may be finding more suitable habitat in towns and cities than in the wider landscape, while rarer species—which live in smaller areas—appear to favor different habitats, according to new research into species across Europe. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-intensity-affect-suitability-habitats-wildlife.html Ecology Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:40:04 EDT news708768483 In taxonomy, the location where specimens used to formally describe a new species are collected is called a type locality. These sites can be thought of as the species' formal birthplace, much as the scientific article containing the original description constitutes its scientific birth certificate, because this is how the species officially acquires its identity and name within the scientific community. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-amphibian-localities-ecuador-areas.html Plants & Animals Mon, 14 Sep 2026 15:40:01 EDT news708617944 Amphibian larvae—often known as tadpoles—exhibit a behavior known as "social aggregation," in which they gather together to avoid predators. These interactions are evidence of their "association preferences," or their tendency to recognize members of their own species. Some varieties of tadpoles have even shown a preference for their siblings. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-kinship-social-isolation-greater-effect.html Plants & Animals Fri, 11 Sep 2026 10:20:07 EDT news708336114 Surinam toads (Pipa pipa) are strange, flat frogs with minuscule eyes that live in the murky waters of the Amazon basin and carry their eggs on their backs. The way they catch prey is even weirder. They lie in wait with outstretched forelimbs until a small fish approaches, then snap open their jaws to create enough suction to draw the fish into their tongueless mouths and swallow it whole, all in a few hundredths of a second. But how do these frogs hunt in low visibility with poor vision? https://phys.org/news/2026-09-star-fingered-toads-fingertip-lobules.html Plants & Animals Tue, 08 Sep 2026 15:00:09 EDT news708091981 Why do humans rely on XY chromosomes to determine sex, while birds use ZW—and many reptiles use neither, letting temperature decide instead? Sex determination is remarkably diverse across the animal kingdom. In genotypic sex determination (GSD), sex is encoded in the genome: XX individuals are female and XY males in humans and most mammals, while in the ZW system, found in birds and some reptiles, males are ZZ and females ZW. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-xy-zw-gecko-chromosomes-reveal.html Evolution Thu, 27 Aug 2026 14:00:08 EDT news707044201 We share our planet with millions of plants and animals. This variety of life is known as biodiversity, a term encompassing everything from microscopic genes to entire ecosystems, such as deserts and vibrant coral reefs. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-species-discoveries-reveal-emerging-biodiversity.html Ecology Thu, 27 Aug 2026 08:20:04 EDT news707032202