The Amphibian Foundation's Frog Blog

With the support of our partners at the Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy , we were able to make another trip this season to Fort Stewart, GA to search for the endangered Frosted Flatwoods Salamander ( Ambystoma cingulatum ). Other partners on the project are the US Army, GA DNR and USFWS. If you didn't see our post a few weeks ago, Fort Stewart has the last known population of Atlantic clade Frosted Flatwoods Salamanders on the planet. ( click here to see 'Part 1' of the story ). We have been working with Fort Stewart Biologists Larry Carlile, Tim Beaty and Roy King on identifying where on the base these salamanders are still present, as well as collecting a portion of the larvae for the establishment of the world's only captive propagation colony for the species. This time, we were also assisted by students from my Biology of Amphibians class at Agnes Scott , as well as dedicated Ft Stewart staff and USFWS. The first detection of the year award goes to Miran...

Alexis Noel, First Author of our recent publication in the Royal Society of Biology — wired for sound! Tracy Duncan and David Gladstone get the #SalamanderLab ready for action — A peak inside the #SalamanderLab during filming Alexis' interview Faith Salie of CBS Sunday Morning and Alexis Producer, Anthony Laudato and Princess (Giant Toad, Rhinella marina ) I couldn't decide which Anthony/Princess picture was better A curious Princess approaches David Gladstone (CBS News Cameraman) Princess just goes ahead and jumps on his camera During the frog feeding portion of the show (in the Burrow of Blue Heron Nature Preserve) Alexis and Faith admiring the beauty of a Red-eyed Leaf Frog, Agalychnis callidryas Full Crew - Tracy Duncan (sound), David Gladstone (Camera), Faith Salie (Correspondent) and Anthony Laudata (Producer) ... and of course, Princess 'Ready for your close-up?' There wasn't much free time, but...

Here is the Gopher Frog pond at the protected site in SW Georgia John and Erin (from UGA) and Michelle (Garden Amphibian Conservation Intern) installing the fencing so the Gopher Froglets can be monitored after release It was a particularly hot day with a heat index of 111 degrees! The ends are left open until the time of release to allow Gopher Tortoises to move freely. A view of one of the two pens installed last week.

Leslie Phillips showing the 2nd Grade at Winnona Park Elementary their new Cobalt Poison Frogs being used in a city-wide feeding experiment. https://decatureducationfoundation.org/impact/frogs-bugs-and-kids-oh-my/

http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2014/10/study-proves-biodiversity-buffers-disease

This semester, the Garden's Department of Research and Conservation collaborated with GA Tech's School of Biology to offer a research course in aspects of  functional morphology . As one of my favorite subjects of all time, functional morphology — or biomechanics  — investigates animal movements (often with the help of x-ray and/or high-speed videography) to gain a better understanding of how animals successfully project their tongues, locomote, capture prey, swim, burrow or practically anything one can measure and sequence. The Biomechanics of Amphibian Feeding class of 2014 . From the top left: Alison Burger, Allison Miles, Emily Stephens, Rachel Whitmire, Courtney Pettiford, Erin Gish. Middle left: Paul Sanders, Leslie Phillips (Garden Teaching Assistant), Alexis Noel (GA Tech Teaching Assistant) Courtnae Ramser, Anna Morocco, Blake Christianson. Front Row: Instructors Dr David Hu and Mark Mandica The class was offered to 10 graduating seniors at GA Tech and the pu...