Tag Archives: salamanders

Colombian amphibian discoveries, good and bad

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This video is called Animal Week – Salamanders.

From Wildlife Extra:

Two new species of Salamander discovered in Colombia as deadly fungus detected for first time

Chytridiomycosis detected for the first time in north-east Colombia

February 2013. A team of young researchers from Colombia have recently found two new species of salamander that were discovered during a project supported by the Conservation Leadership Programme and Save Our Species.

The two new salamanders belong to the genus Bolitoglossa, otherwise known as tropical climbing or web-footed salamanders. One of the salamanders (B. leandrae) has been named after an 11-year old girl who became friends with the team whilst they conducted their fieldwork. “Leandra grew fascinated by the world of amphibians,” explains team leader Aldemar Acevedo. “She was eager to learn about our work and became an excellent spokesperson for nature conservation among the community.”

Small salamander

Bolitoglossa leandrae is a relatively small salamander (its body measures roughly 2.5 cm in length, about the size of a 50 pence, 20 cent or US quarter coin) with a narrow head and long, slender tail. Males are dark brown with thin yellow stripes along the length of the body and females are reddish brown.

Bolitoglossa tamaense is slightly longer than B. leandrae (the body of the longest specimen measured approximately 5 cm, or the same as the height of a credit card) and has a broad head and relatively long body and legs. A number of different colourations and patterns were recorded, but the body is generally brown or dark red, and the tail and limbs can be dark brown, red, orange or yellow.

Colombia-Venezuela border

The new findings were made during the first amphibian census to be carried out in Tamá Bi-National Park which straddles the Colombia-Venezuela border. In addition to the two new species, the team recorded three frog species (from the genus Pristimantis) that had not previously been found in Colombia, and eight other species that are new records for north-east Colombia. In total, the team recorded 34 amphibian species, up from just five species previously recorded in the area.

In their journal article, the authors highlight the need for more field and lab-based research to improve our understanding of amphibian diversity, and for more practical conservation projects to take place in the region.

Tamá Bi-National Park

“For decades, the natural landscape of Tamá Bi-National Park was subject to deforestation, agricultural pressures and illegal crop-growing so during our project we began working with local communities and environmental organisations to encourage good land stewardship and the development of adequate conservation plans” said Aldemar. “Local communities have responded to our call and we are starting to see a decrease in deforestation, especially in forest patches inhabited by Bolitoglossa leandrae.”

Chytridiomycosis

It’s not all good news, however, as the team detected chytridiomycosis (a virulent fungus which kills off amphibians) for the first time in north-east Colombia and it was found on 23 of the park’s 34 species. If left unchecked, this could result in population declines and perhaps even local extinctions.

To try and control the rapid spread of the fungus, the team ran several biosafety workshops for rangers and community members. In the future, the team plans to conduct further research to measure the success of their biosafety workshops and they are currently looking for funding to kick-start reforestation programmes in areas of habitat that would be suitable for amphibians.

The finding was published an article in the journal Zootaxa.

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Colourful Canadian salamanders, video

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This video is about colourful Canadian salamanders. See here.

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Year of the beech marten and fire salamander

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As this blog had already noted, 2013 is the year of the grey partridge in the Netherlands.

Dutch conservationists have decided that this new year is also the year of two other animals: the beech marten and the fire salamander.

This video says about itself:

Beech Marten / Faina / Kuna belica – Karst – Trieste, 2011

Fishing out a wild plum that has fallen into the entrance of a badger sett and eating it in front of the trail camera.

This video is called Fire Salamander and Alpine Newt, Amphibians (1 of 2) Herping Germany.

And here is Part 2.

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100 year old salamander

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This video is called Olm (Proteus anguinis). Postoyna Caves, Slovenia.

From Discovery News:

‘Human Fish’ Breaks Lifespan Record

This small, blind salamander can live to be over 100 years old, easily outlasting other amphibians.

By Jennifer Viegas

Tue Jul 20, 2010 07:00 PM ET

THE GIST

* A small cave salamander, “the human fish,” has broken the world’s record for longest-lived amphibian.
* The salamander, which can live to over 100, is endangered, but reaches such advanced ages in zoos and protected environments.
* Future studies on this amphibian might shed light on what promotes longevity in the animal kingdom.

A small cave salamander, nicknamed “the human fish” because of its human-like skin tone, has just broken the world’s record for longest-lived amphibian, according to a new study.

The salamander, also called olm and Proteus, has a maximum lifespan of over 100 years, concludes the new study, published in the latest Royal Society Biology Letters. That’s nearly double the age of other often-elderly amphibians: the Japanese giant salamander (55 years), the African bullfrog (45 years), the common European toad (40 years) and the mudpuppy (34 years).

“Among amphibians the human fish is clearly the most long-lived species,” lead author Yann Voituron told Discovery News.

Voituron, a professor at Claude Bernard Lyon University, and his team calculated growth rates, generation times and the lifespan of olms living in a cave at Moulis, Saint-Girons, France. Since the 1950s, conservationists have established a breeding program there for the threatened salamanders.

In addition to determining the lifespan of the cave salamanders, the researchers found that this species becomes sexually mature at around age 16 and lays, on average, 35 eggs every 12.5 years.

“What promotes its longevity is probably very low activity, low reproduction, no environmental stress and its peculiar physiology,” Voituron said.

He described “the human fish” as having a snakelike body, up to 16 inches long. It is blind, with eyes regressed and covered by a layer of skin. The human-like skin tone derives from oxygen-rich blood that shows through the salamander’s non-pigmented skin.

It also looks unisex.

“The sexes are very similar in appearance, with males having a somewhat thicker cloaca (posterior opening) than females,” he said.

Scientists have been interested in the lifespan of this salamander for some time, since zookeepers started to notice that olms in exhibits would live to amazingly advanced ages, usually over 70 years.

Analysis of this, and other elderly animals, might shed light on what promotes longevity in general. The olm seems to fit a pattern, where long lives are dependent upon low-stress, stable environments without predators. Beyond that, however, the latest findings have researchers puzzled.

That’s because longevity used to be tied to relatively large animals. The previous age record-holder for amphibians, for example, was the Japanese giant salamander, which is the world’s second largest salamander, growing to nearly 5 feet and weighing over 55 pounds.

See also here. And here.

“Mudpuppy” salamander fails to make Vermont endangered list: here.

Photos: Ten Most Wanted “Extinct” Amphibians: here.

At more than five feet long, the Japanese Giant Salamander is one of the largest amphibians in the world. At the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, biologists hope to breed the animals for the first time outside of Japan; video here.

The Japanese Giant Salamander, Andrias japonicus, is listed as ‘Near Threatened’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM. Growing to a total length of 150cm, this is the second largest amphibian in the world, surpassed only by its close relative the Chinese Giant Salamander, Andrias davidianus. Endemic to Japan, it is found in small to large rivers in clear, cool, oxygenated water: here.

African bullfrog: here.

Amphibian mass migration in the Netherlands

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After a slow start, amphibian spring migration in the Netherlands has started seriously. According to Dutch daily De Stentor, in the Kuinderbos nature reserve on the border of Overijssel and Flevoland provinces, on 18 March 1570 amphibians have been helped by people to cross dangerous roads.

The helpers included government forest service people, conservation education people, and schoolchildren.

The amphibians helped across the roads to their mating waters included 1335 toads, 161 frogs (probably common frogs) and 64 newts.

Last year, less than ten thousand amphibians were counted during the whole spring migration. Two years ago they were 17,550.

Kuinderbos update: on 26 March, amphibian #10,000 was helped to cross safely.

See also here about amphibian migration in Amsterdam.

Moor frogs: here. And here (scroll down).

Amphibian migration in the USA: here.

This video from the USA says about itself:

On warm early spring nights amphibians across Vermont are on the move. Unfortunately, in many areas these migrations take them across heavily traveled roads resulting in high mortality rates. However, a dedicated group of volunteers has been keeping an eye on the spring weather. When conditions are right these salamander saviors descend on known crossing sites both to ensure a safe migration and to learn more about some of Vermont’s most delicate and rarest residents.

Spotted Turtle and Wood Frog Celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day: here.

This is a video about spring in the Netherlands in 1953.

USA: Amphibians — frogs, toads, salamanders, and newts — are disappearing worldwide, but the stream salamanders of the Appalachian Mountains appear to be stable. This region is home to the largest diversity of salamanders in the world (more than 70 species reside here), and scientists want to understand what contributes to the stability of these salamander populations: here.

Spotted Salamander Eggs Mature in Abandoned SouthCoast Cranberry Bog: here.

“Spotted salamander near state symbolism – News-Herald.com”: here.

‘Toad tunnels’ for amphibians looking for love in Powys: here.

NEW SPECIES of frogs discovered in Madagascar and India: here.

A new species of newt of Paramesotriton (Salamandridae) from SW Guangdong, China: here.

USA: salamander larvae try to get too big for predators

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About this video:

We discovered this female spotted salamander ovipositing on a stick while conducting a vernal pool survey.

From New Scientist:

Greedy larvae too much of a mouthful for predators

* 11:29 28 August 2007

* Roxanne Khamsi

Gluttony may protect certain species of prey from predators, suggests a new study. Some salamander larvae seem to have evolved such that they actively overeat to avoid becoming a meal themselves, say researchers.

Once the larvae reach a certain size, they no longer fit in the mouths of their predators. And the new study found that the larvae were mostly likely to engage in this overeating behaviour in ponds where they faced the greatest number of predators.

Mark Urban of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis in Santa Barbara, California, US, spent three years collecting data from 10 ponds in the northeast of the country.

All of the ponds contained the spotted salamander Ambystoma maculatum, but only some of them were also home to its primary predator, the bigger marbled salamander Ambystoma opacum.

Marbled salamander larvae can comfortably gulp down prey smaller than 3.3 millimetres. And, notably, at three weeks the body of a typical spotted salamander larva measures about this size in diameter at its thickest point, making it relatively easy to swallow.

Scientists have shown, however, that spotted salamander larvae in ponds with many marbled salamanders measure about 3.8 mm in diameter – they believe that these prey bulk up to avoid becoming dinner.

Salamandra salamandra: here.

Hybrid salamanders in the USA: here.

In 1888, a biologist called Henry Orr was collecting spotted salamander eggs from a small, swampy pool when he noticed that some of them were green. He wrote, “The internal membrane of each egg was coloured a uniform light green by the presence in the membrane of a large number of minute globular green Algae.” Orr decided that the eggs “present a remarkable case of symbiosis.” The salamanders and the algae co-existed in a mutually beneficial relationship: here. And here.

Spotted Salamander Egg Masses: here.

New survey work suggests that fewer than 1,200 Mexican axolotls remain in its last stronghold, the Xochimilco area of central Mexico: here.

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Baby axolotls and Linnaeus

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This video shows an axolotl being fed.

Apart from the moth research, many other things were happening during the 21 June night in the botanical garden.

Like pondskaters in the brook.

Like a choir singing in Swedish to honour that Linnaeus was born 300 years ago; Linnaeus, who in 1737 advised on expanding this botanical garden.

While they sang, ring-necked parakeets flew overhead, calling.

Later, swifts would call.

In one of the three aquariums in the hothouses, thirty baby axolotls had hatched from the eggs.

Axolotls in Mexico: here. And here. And here.

USA: video on hellbender salamanders

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Eastern hellbender

Here is a video, in English, and text, in German, about hellbenders, Cryptobranchus alleganiensis.

Ozark Hellbender Salamander Listed as Endangered. Cryptobranchus alleganiensis suffers from disease and habitat degradation: here.

See also here.

New homes for great crested newts in Britain

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From Wildlife Extra:

Forestry Commission Builds New Homes for Great Crested Newts in Herefordshire

The Forestry Commission is creating several ponds in Herefordshire this week to provide new habitats for Great Crested Newts, a species that has experienced a severe decline over the last 50 years.

The ponds are being built at Shobdon Hill Wood near Leominster.

They are being created close to a number of other sites where there are already Great Crested Newts so that the newts can migrate to the new ponds, increasing the amount of habitat available for the species and allowing the population to increase.

Great Crested Newts are Britain’s largest and most threatened newt.

They are a protected species and are identified in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan as needing help.

Great crested newts in Shropshire: here.

Great crested newt survey in Wiltshire: here.

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