The Amphibian Foundation's Frog Blog

It took Nancy and Roger 18 years to raise Lola from a hatchling to this magnificent tortoise. At about 90 pounds, Lola still has a lot of growing to do, and Nancy & Roger felt it was time to donate him to an institution. We were happy to welcome Lola to the Amphibian Foundation, and just know that he will be loved by both our staff, and by the hundreds of kids that will be amazed by how beautiful and friendly this tortoise is! Lola was clearly raised with a lot of love, and having met quite a few adult sulcata tortoises, I can say that Lola is the friendliest I have ever met. Well I’m not the world’s most masculine man. But I know what I am and I’m glad I’m a man and so is Lola.  Lo lo lo lo  Lola - Ray Davies Nancy, Roger and Lola (Africa Spur-thigh Tortoise, Geochelone sulcata )

This time last year, the Amphibian Foundation was breaking into the field of amphibian conservation as a new non-profit organization. Throughout 2017, we grew tremendously and, with your help, achieved several key accomplishments . This fall, we’re excited to announce our first fundraiser to help us continue growing and accomplishing our goals. Beginning Friday, October 13th, donate $20 or more to pre-order a unique 8.5” x 11” calendar created by the Amphibian Foundation. Calendars feature an up close and personal portrait of an extraordinary frog, salamander, or newt, and your support will directly help protect endangered amphibians and their habitats. Pre-order your calendar on our website and find answers to frequently asked questions. Pre-order before October 31st to receive the calendar for a special donation rate of $18. Amphibians are important for the health of humans and ecosystems. The foundation works everyday to protect amphibians (and rep...

Moments after we finished painting our new research lab last Sunday, Alan came with an extremely generous donation of three heavily planted and beautiful terraria. On the left is Morispunga Epipedobates tricolor , next are two varieties of Oophaga pumilio , and on the right is Ranitomeya benedicta — three different genera of tiny Poison Frogs! Thanks Alan!!!

via Instagram http://ift.tt/2jncKjs Since I met my first Pipa pipa ( Suriname Toad ) I have been completely enamored with this species. Their huge flat bodies, their bizarre courting, breeding and reproductive behavior, the fact that tiny Pipas pop out of mom’s back — the list goes on and on — Right down to the wackadoodle star-shaped fingertip lobes on each of the creepy fingers. Using SEM, one can see that each lobe of the star-shaped lobes branches out into 4 more star-shaped lobes — and so on, and so on — maximizing the surface area for still yet unknown reasons. They definitely use their fingers to detect prey — you can observe them rooting around in the substrate locating food — but are there receptors at the ends of these lobes? Are they chemoreceptive? Gustatory? Electroreceptive? … fascinating. Pipids lack tongues and teeth! They capture and transport prey through a mechanism called suction feeding. As the name implies, suction feeders engulf prey with the surrounding...

Today, I was asked how one can support the Amphibian Conservation Program through donations.  On the Garden's main website, there is a link for just that! If you are interested in donating, the money goes directly towards caring for our amphibian collections or supporting conservation research efforts. You can also let us know if there is a specific project you are interested in supporting. Thank you for your consideration! Here is the link: http://atlantabotanicalgarden.org/node/99