Fuqua Conservatory Lobby Amphibian Exhibits

-
A conservatory at a botanical garden might be an odd place to look for amphibians, but that is exactly what you will find in the Fuqua Conservatory here at the Garden. Especially in the lobby where 6 exhibits highlighting our amphibian conservation program are located.

What you will see upon entering the Conservatory from the Great Lawn.  The Frogs of Costa Rica, and beyond is the hallway to our Salamanders of Georgia exhibit, where the walls display images and information about off-exhibit amphibian species we are working with that are endangered or otherwise too sensitive to be on public display.

The design and development of the triple exhibit (Panama, Amazon and Costa Rica) was my first project as Amphibian Conservation Coordinator and highlights the relationships between the endemic amphibians and plants of the regions. They have been growing in nicely since January!
Opposite the Panama, Amazon and Costa Rica exhibits are Poison frogs from Suriname (left) and Colombia. Unlike typical frogs, Poison frogs are not particularly shy and active throughout the day.

Our newest exhibit species Ranitomeya imitator, the Mimic poison frog has coloration that 'imitates' a more toxic dendrobatid species ... tricky! They are sometimes hard to find, even though there are 5 of these diminutive frogs in our Amazon exhibit

Upon entering, visitors are greeted by the sweet sounds of tropical frogs calling throughout the day. Phantasmal poison frogs enjoy the plant displays in the lobby as much as the visitors and male frogs can easily be located by their call. Don't worry! All Poison frogs at the Garden are harmless.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ask the frog staff: How many tadpoles actually survive into adulthood?

-
Image
Hi Mark. A frog friend and I were at the lily pond today and it was rife with tadpoles of various sizes and stages. Two questions: 1) It looked like the two ducks might be feeding on them ... do they? 2) How many tadpoles actually survive to frog adulthood? — Christine C. This particular topic has come up a lot recently, and one of our visitors beautifully photographed a heron eating a rather large bullfrog out of the lily pond in the Children's Garden . It was a graphic interaction, but demonstrates how vital amphibians are in food webs and one of the reasons we use to illustrate how important it is to keep amphibians around. Almost everything eats them, or their tadpoles, or their eggs ... or all three.  Many animals eat frogs exclusively (including some frog species!), and the herons at the Garden obviously love them. I have seen ducks eating tadpoles quite rapidly. In fact, my amphibian class last summer quantified how quickly different aquatic birds could consume ta
Read more

Amphibians and Solar Eclipses — What to Expect

-
Image
Green Tree Frogs are typically vocal during August and we may hear an increase in their breeding activity during the eclipse! Very little is known about amphibians and their response to a solar eclipse. We may even expect such a short lapse in photoperiod to be largely ignored by amphibians. One of the few reports on the subject comes from data gathered during a solar eclipse in New England in 1932. Wheeler, et al (1935) documented a lot of activity, with species such as Spring Peepers, Grey Tree Frogs and American Toads temporarily behaving as if it were night. We are encouraging our Metro Atlanta Amphibian Monitoring Program (maamp.us) participants to get out, if possible to their survey sites and record their observations during the eclipse. We would also encourage the entire Atlanta community to submit their observations of amphibians while they are out witnessing the event. Did you hear an increase in frog calling? Was there an increase in activity? Did the frogs, toads and sa
Read more

Species Highlight: Captive Breeding of Fringed Leaf Frogs

-
Image
Adult female on exhibit  Baby Fringed Leaf Frogs are so cute. These guys are growing fast! Two pairs of Cruziohyla craspedopus in amplexus The colors show up nice on the purple leaf ... Three pairs of Fringed Leaf Frogs in amplexus, and a clutch on new eggs on the leaf below the group on the right. This setup follows, as closely as possible, the suggestions of Erik Anderson.
Read more