Discoveries of three new from species in Panama lead to hope that project researchers can save these animals from a deadly fungus killing frogs worldwide and the fear that many species will go extinct before scientists even know they exist. [...more]
The Smithsonian’s National Zoo recently acquired Japanese giant salamanders given to the Zoo by the City of Hiroshima Asa Zoological Park. This donation will be the foundation of a new long-term breeding program in the United States and may play an important role in saving amphibians around the globe. [...more]
More than 25 years ago, researchers at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center's Fish and Invertebrate Ecology Lab began taking weekley surveys of the species that make their way in and out of Muddy Creek. [...more]
The rescue pods will be part of the project’s Amphibian Rescue Center at Summit Municipal Park, which will also include a lab with a quarantine facility. [...more]
For the first time in its history, the National Zoo has bred strawberry dart frogs (Oophaga pumilio), which are known primarily for their vibrant colors and poisonous skin. These frogs also stand out among others because of their dedication to their young as they undergo metamorphosis from egg to tadpole to frog. [...more]
Recently, researchers from Boston University and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama have been taking a closer look at the vibrations that red-eyed treefrog embryos use as cues to trigger early hatching. They discovered that treefrog embryos can evaluate different features of vibrations. [...more]
There are several hypotheses about how amphibian chytrid has spread around the world, but the trade in amphibians for food, bait, pets and laboratory animals has been identified as the most likely mode of spread [...more]
Each year thousands of vacationers enjoy the scenery along Virginia’s Skyline Drive, little knowing that for a few brief moments they are passing through the territory of an endangered holdout from the Pleistocene that few humans have ever seen—the Shenandoah salamander (Plethodon shenandoah). Steep rocky slopes on the north sides of just three mountains in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park make [...] [...more]
Yellow lady’s slippers, watercolor by Kathleen Garness, from the National Museum of Natural History exhibit “Losing Paradise? Endangered Plants Here and Around the World,” opening Aug. 14. The exhibition, a collaborative effort between the American Society of Botanical Artists and the Natural History Museum, showcases botanical illustrations and features work from several renowned artists, including Alice Tangerini, one of the Smithsonian’s acclaimed scientific illustrators.
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