The Amphibian Foundation's Frog Blog

Recently, the very first adult Gopher frog ( Lithobates capito ) was detected at the release site, where the Garden, in collaboration with UGA, GA DNR's Non-Game Conservation section, Zoo Atlanta, Jones Ecological Research Center and Bear Hollow Zoo have all been working towards increasing the numbers of these endangered frogs with a multi-institutional 'head-starting' program. Over 4,000 Gopher froglets and tadpoles have been released since 2007, and the detection of this adult female, right where it should be in a Gopher tortoise burrow is very encouraging! The adult female Gopher frog, detected Nov 1st at the release site (photo by Vanessa Kinney Terrell) Below is the statement from Georgia Department of Natural Resources: Discovery raises hopes for rare frogs project in Early County    Unlike some sights on Halloween, spotting a big gopher frog after dark in a tortoise burrow was a welcome surprise for Vanessa Kinney Terrell and other University of Georg...

Melissa Carlberg and her students from Beecher Hill Elementary School came, as part of their after school studies program here at The Garden, to help me weigh ' Big Carmine ' (our resident Alligator Snapping Turtle, Macrochelys temminckii ) Big Carmine lives in the largest of the seven ponds inside the rotunda, under the bridge (photos by Julia Rittenhouse). One of the Beecher Hills students helping me fasten the waders. You can see the scale in the background. The students of Beecher Hills Elementary cheering me on as I am about to enter the pond with an  Alligator  Snapping turtle Here we are -  I am demonstrating one way to safely lift and hold a large snapper We all made guesses, but Big Carmine is actually not so 'big' weighing only 26 pounds. Adults of this species can break 200 pounds!

The Granular Glass frog | Cochranella granulosa is almost always sitting out, rather cooperatively in plain view The Costa Rica exhibit - can you spot the newly emerged Lemur froglet ? A close up of the last Lemur frog metamorph from the first batch of 12 larvae put on exhibit last January!  6 new tadpoles are now inhabiting the water feature at the front of the exhibit. Here is the Lemur froglet | Agalychnis lemur , moments out of the water. Black-legged poison frog | Phyllobates bicolor , surveying the feast of wingless fruit flies before it. One of the Green and Black Poison frogs | Dendrobates auratus posing for the camera. Although there are 5 of these on display in the Costa Rica exhibit, they are not always in view The Mimic Poison frog | Ranitomeya imitator from the Amazon Exhibit One of the salamanders in the Salamanders of Georgia exhibit. This Green salamander is probably the least reclusive of the ELEVEN salamanders residin...

Lauren and Kirill, interns in the Amphibian Conservation Program helped prepare the Gopher froglets for their trip to South Georgia, where they were released this week. Another 26 Gopher frogs were released this week as part of the Head-Start program the Garden is participating in ...