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Folks, here's your Christmas present from the Frogroom:

Frogs: A Chorus of Colors

Biology of Amphibians

Frogs, Toads, and Treefrogs

Terrarium and Cage Construction and Care


Some handy stuff on Google book search if you know where to look ;-)

Winter Dormancy

In order to breed, newts and salamanders require seasonal changes to trigger development of sexual characteristics. I've just given two groups of newts (Neurergus kaiseri and Tylototriton kweichowensis) a terrestrial winter dormancy period and now brought them back into a warmer, more brightly lit semi-aquatic setup. Both groups entered the water and were active within an hour of entering the new environment. Now they will be well fed and I'll wait with fingers crossed to see what happens:

Sorry the quality of this video is poor, it was shot using a mobile phone but I hope it gives you an idea of the setups.

Chytrid in the Southeastern USA

From 1999 to 2006, we sampled >1200 amphibians for the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) at 30 sites in the southeastern USA. Using histological techniques or PCR assays, we detected chytrid infection in 10 species of aquatic-breeding amphibians in 6 states. The prevalence of chytrid infection was 17.8% for samples of postmetamorphic amphibians examined using skin swab-PCR assays (n = 202 samples from 12 species at 4 sites). In this subset of samples, anurans had a much higher prevalence of infection than caudates (39.2% vs. 5.5%, respectively). Mean prevalence in ranid frogs was 40.7%. The only infected salamanders were Notophthalmus viridescens at 3 sites. We found infected amphibians from late winter through late spring and in 1 autumn sample. Although we encountered moribund or dead amphibians at 9 sites, most mortality events were not attributed to Bd. Chytridiomycosis was established as the probable cause of illness or death in fewer than 10 individuals. Our observations suggest a pattern of widespread and subclinical infections. However, because most of the sites in our study were visited only once, we cannot dismiss the possibility that chytridiomycosis is adversely affecting some populations. Furthermore, although there is no evidence of chytrid-associated declines in our region, the presence of this pathogen is cause for concern given global climate change and other stressors. Although presence-absence surveys may still be needed for some taxa, such as bufonids, we recommend that future researchers focus on potential population-level effects at sites where Bd is now known to occur.

Widespread occurrence of the amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in the southeastern USA. Dis Aquat Organ. 2008 82 (1): 3-18


Related:

• Tiger salamanders, fishing bait and chytrid
• A Cure for Chytrid
• Think your frogs are safe? Think again
• Trying to do the right thing