The Amphibian Foundation's Frog Blog

Fresh from the Garden's design team, we have 8 new informative signs hanging in the Fuqua Conservatory lobby near our new ' Salamanders of Georgia ' exhibit. Our new 'Salamanders of Georgia' exhibit (also with brand new signs) The signs highlight specific conservation efforts of the Department of Research and Conservation here at the Garden, as well as provide natural history information and home ranges for many of the amphibian species we are working with.   The view from the lobby into the salamander annex The Panama exhibit

Rhinoderma darwinii, Darwins frog "The big news is that we have our first captive born and bred Darwin's Frogs .  An image of a baby at the tip of a gloved human fingertip is attached.  Males store the developing larvae in their vocal sac and "spit out" fully developed baby frogs.  There are only two species on Earth that do this...both Darwin's Frogs. The program has been given permission to collect frogs from some private parks and will soon have breeding groups in their facility from several additional localities.  We are also targeting populations that have shown signs of decline or are in imminent threat from deforestation. The large sculpture of a Darwin's Frog was commissioned by a Chilean artist.  The sculpture is placed next to the breeding facility at the zoo to draw in visitors and get them to read the graphics about the conservation initiative, which were designed by one of our amphibian speci...

Aneides , the Green salamander The amphibian conservation program welcomes a new order of amphibians— Salamanders ! Come and check out our display of 4 species of native Georgian salamanders. These animals were all collected (with permits) by our amphibian conservation team to promote amphibian and conservation awareness—especially since salamanders face many of the same environmental threats as their frog relatives. Dante, Robert and Mark spent the day @ Pigeon Mountain (NW Georgia) looking for these elusive creatures. Talk about elusive! There are 12 salamanders in the exhibit, and although typically you can see all 12 at any given moment... it's not easy! Salamanders are usually shy animals and they have lots of places to hide. Here are some of Dante's amazing pictures so you know what you are looking for next time you are in the Fuqua Conservatory lobby!

Cochranella euknemos , San Jose Cochran Frog, in amplexus Hi Everybody...The Garden's Frog Blog has just moved to Blogger! We are happy to have a place to update with information regarding our conservation research and initiatives, as well as captive breeding programs and exhibits. Leave us a comment! We would love to hear from you...

"I wanted to send out a few images from our Endangered Species Day event. I can’t thank everyone enough for the time and support we had to make it such a success. Even with the rain, we had a ton of kids and lots of very happy visitors. While I’d like to thank our DNR and USFWS partners for all that they did, I want to give a special thanks to Amelia Fusaro, our amphibian program volunteer, for her time supporting our festivities that day." from Dr Dante Fenolio, Amphibian Research Scientist

The spring rains are here and anyone willing to brave the storm on a day like today is in for a treat here at the garden. While outside, it may be less than ideal... inside the conservatory... the frogs and I are excited. The frogs in the exhibits, as well as in the lab and frog pod, are all responding to the pressure changes associated with storm fronts. Many frogs that I wouldn't normally be able to see (easily) are out and about right now.  So, I thought I would share some photos here. Next time its raining out, and you are in the mood to see some frogs... come on by!

Thanks Anita!