A Tribute to Toughie, the last known Rabbs' Fringe-limbed Tree Frog. Made from footage shot for #RacingExtinction
Image by Joel Sartore | Meme by Leilani Münter
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Knowing this day would come didn’t make it any easier.
via Instagram http://ift.tt/2d5EpUb https://www.instagram.com/p/BK6zdXuDn5e/ The last known Rabbs’ Fringe-limbed Tree Frog has passed away in the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s frogPOD, where he has lived since 2008. He was collected as part of the Panamanian frog rescue mission in 2005, set forth by ABG and Zoo Atlanta to save frogs being decimated by chytrid fungus. I had the honor of working with him for almost 7 years, and in that time his sad story of being the very last of his kind had, in a powerfully sad way, made him an ‘ambassador' for amphibian conservation and awareness. Almost 40% of the world’s amphibian populations are documented as in decline, or already extinct. That means that this frog - who my son nicknamed ‘Toughie’ when he was 2 years old - is unfortunately not entirely unique in his situation. There are other species out there, blinking out before we even have a chance to recognize what was happening, let alone reverse it. Amphibians are disappea...
Adorable young Lemur Leaf Frog
Lemur Leaf Frogs , Agalychnis lemur , like this young froglet pictured here, are completely adorable. We have worked with both Panamanian and Costa Rican lineages of these incredible animals. Lemur Leaf Frogs, like most phyllomedusines lay their eggs on leaves over water. Once the eggs hatch, the tadpoles plop right into the water below. It has been long known that these developing embryos have the ability to hatch early if they detect that they are in danger (from predatory wasps for example) but recent research on Red-Eyed Leaf Frogs (a relative of A. lemur ) has been investigating the mechanism by which these developing animals are able to make life decisions at such an early age. Truly fascinating work by Karen Warkentin at Boston University . Lemur Leaf Frogs are also #CriticallyEndangered, meaning that their already dangerously low numbers are still declining in the wild. Organizations like #CRARC and #TheVivarium at the #ManchesterMuseum are working hard to save...
Atlanta Amphibian Conservation Update
In the next week, we are moving to a new level in amphibian conservation. It’s an exciting time for change and growth. We have the most incredible, passionate and talented partners and are looking forward to getting out there and conserving frogs and salamanders. Change also inspires me to reflect on the past bunch of years and some of the awesome species we have worked with - the opportunities and as well as accomplishments. This is a repost, but it is one of my favorite pictures from ABG. This is a Granular Glass Frog, Cochranella granulosa . This picture was taken with my phone, through the glass of one of the frogs on exhibit. It was directly after the exhibit misting and the frog just looked so perfect. I was lucky that it stayed still and allowed me to get this shot. Glass frogs are transparent on their ventral surface, but their dorsal coloration can be quite beautiful. C. granulosa often has shades of blue mixed with green on their dorsum via Instagram http://ift.tt/...
The Crowned, or Coronated Tree Frog is a spectacular species from Central America
via Instagram http://ift.tt/2bFz9X2 . Their common name comes from the bony points behind the eyes. Developing Crowned Tree Frog larvae are #ObligateEggFeeders and pictured here is the female depositing unfertilized eggs into the ‘tree hole’ for the tadpoles to eat. My preliminary observations indicate the larvae need both her eggs and her feces to consume in order to develop properly. This behavior demonstrates the lack of other natural sources for nutrition inside of the tree holes that Anotheca use to reproduce. #oophagy #coprophagy #Anotheca #Anothecaspinosa #CrownedTreeFrog #Hylidae #AmphibianConservation #AmphibianConservationProgram #FrogsNeedOurHelp #EndangeredSpecies #RacingExtinction #EndExtinction #FrogsOfInstagram #frogs #frog #ribbit #CaptiveBreeding #CaptiveBred #ExSitu #InSitu #CaptiveAssuranceColony #CaptiveBreedingColony #Mandica #NeotenicZoo #TetrapodZoo #YoungScientistsLeague #ysci #y-sci #CritterCamp #Critter-Camp #AmphibianFoundation #TheAmphi...