By John Platt in 60-Second Extinction Countdown Urban growth is quickly driving one of the world’s most bizarre creatures into extinction. According to a new study, the axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), a Mexican amphibian that never metamorphoses past its larval stage, has seen a 90 percent population drop in the last four years. Only an estimated […]
Pesticides used by farmers in California’s Central Valley could be killing frogs in the Sierra mountains, report researchers. Don Sparling of Southern Illinois University Carbondale found that minute quantities of endosulfan — the active ingredient in many pesticides — was enough kill frogs. “At 0.8 parts per billion, we lose all of them,” Sparling said. […]
A fifth of reptiles and almost a quarter of amphibians in Europe are threatened with extinction on the continent, according to the European Commission. By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent The first European Red Lists of threatened species for the two groups of species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) shows 23 per […]
By Catherine Brahic Millions of frogs are shifted around the world each year for sale as pets and food. Now research shows, for the first time, that this global trade is spreading two severe diseases – one of which is blamed for driving amphibians towards extinction. Last year the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) […]
One of the world’s rarest species of amphibians has been airlifted to safety from Montserrat in a last-ditch attempt to save it from extinction See also: A billion frogs on world’s plates, accelerating amphibian extinctions and Fungus devastates ‘chicken’ frog. By Jessica Aldred and agencies Conservationists have rescued a number of critically endangered "mountain chicken" […]
Montserrat’s "mountain chicken" frog is the latest victim of the lethal chytrid fungus sweeping the world. UK researchers say that only two small pockets of the animals on the tiny Caribbean island remain disease-free. The mountain chicken (Leptodactylus fallax) is one of the world’s largest frogs, and appears on the coat of arms of neighbouring […]
