Our research looked at data from the government’s annual baking competition. Upon close analysis, we find a dangerous lack of diversity and biases towards cute, cuddly mammals.
California red-legged frogs are threatened with extinction.
KQED QUEST/Flickr
Andrea Adams, University of California, Santa Barbara
Amphibians have been devastated by a chytrid fungus pandemic. Researchers immunized California red-legged frogs in Yosemite to give them a fighting chance at survival, with surprising results.
Papua New Guinea frog Xenorhina macrodisca.
Stephen Richards
In this week’s episode of The Conversation Weekly, we speak with three scientists who study the ways plants and animals evolve in a world dominated by humans.
Populations of Fleay’s barred frog in Australia’s ancient rainforests were decimated by the chytrid fungus. Now, the frogs have developed a natural resistance.
Extremes of the colour gradient of the Eastern San Antonio frog (Hyla orientalis). On the left, a specimen captured in Chernobyl inside the high contamination zone; on the right, a specimen captured outside the Exclusion Zone.
Germán Orizaola/Pablo Burraco
Habitat protection and restoration, advanced reproductive technologies and reintroduction procedures could help slow the decline of western chorus frogs and other amphibians.
A dead Peron’s tree frog (Litoria peronii)
Ken Griffiths
The insecticide Bti kills target organisms like mosquitoes and blackflies, but new research shows it may also have negative effects on non-target species like frogs.
Predictions indicate that the Madagascar frog Mantella aurantiaca is likely to experience a dramatic decline by 2070.
Frank Vassen/Wikimedia
Nicolas Dubos, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN)
While species are and will be affected everywhere by climate change, those already living in a warm climate will reach their tolerance threshold faster.
We’ve identified three frog species very likely to already be extinct. Another four species on our list are still surviving, but not likely to make it to 2040 without help.
It’s typically rare to see a dead frog. Yet, we’ve received a flurry of emails from people coming across them in this truly unusual, and tragic, mass death event.
Not all frogs ‘ribbit’ — some sound like a motorbike changing gears or a tennis ball being hit. This summer, keep your eyes and ears out for these Aussie frogs.