A team of scientists from Delhi University and the Wildlife Institute of India, in collaboration with researchers from Indonesia and the US, have discovered a new species of ‘paddy frog’ from Northeast India, primarily Assam. The frog belongs to the microhylid genus Micryletta, a “group of narrow-mouthed frogs that is …
biological sciences Frog, out of the well The frog, Odorrana tormota, is the only animal that can manipulate its hearing system to select particular frequencies. It helps the males to call and woo females. The system in frogs is also being used as a model for hearing aids. The rare …
Forest officials arrested three persons and detained one Tata Mobile vehicle for allegedly involved in catching frogs at Gaonkarwado-Usgao on June 7 at about 12.30 am. According to reports, arrested ones include Thomas Sebestiao and Patrick Pacheco (both from Raia, Salcette) and Anand Chandwadkar from Bethora-Ponda and recovered 70 frogs …
Yangon: Myanmar's ruling junta lashed out at foreign aid donors on Friday, saying cyclone victims did not need supplies of "chocolate bars' and could instead survive by eating frogs and fish. The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a government mouthpiece, also warned foreign relief workers could snoop inside homes, and …
A new generation of drugs made from nature, from antibiotics to treatments for cancer, may be lost unless the world acts to stop biodiversity loss, according to a new book. These developments could come from chemicals made by frogs, bears and pine trees, but the authors of "Sustaining Life" warned …
discovery of a giant frog in Madagascar has challenged certain geological assumptions. The frog's (Beelzebufo ampigna) presence there lends credence to the contested theory that there was a land bridge between South America and Madagascar via Antarctica during the Late Cretaceous Period (65 to 70 million years ago), says paleontologist …
As many amphibians face the very real threat of being completely wiped out by disease, climate change and pollution, Emma Marris looks at a controversial approach to save some of them in glass boxes.
In the scientific equivalent of the board game Clue, teams of biologists have been sifting spotty evidence and pointing to various culprits in the widespread vanishing of harlequin frogs. The amphibians, of the genus Atelopus
A rare and threatened species of tiny frog has been found breeding in a New Zealand animal park, meaning its future may now be more secure, researchers said. The 13 finger nail-sized Maud Island froglets were discovered clinging to the backs of male frogs at the Karori wildlife sanctuary in …
London: Is frog the answer to diabetes? "Yes', if researchers are to be believed. A joint team of experts from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland and United Arab Emirates University has discovered that a substance on the skin of South American "paradoxical frog' boosts the production of insulin
A frog the size of a bowling ball, with heavy armour and teeth, lived among dinosaurs millions of years ago. It was intimidating enough for the scientists who unearthed its fossils, to name the beast Beelzebufo, or Devil Toad. But its size, 4.54 kilograms and 40.64 centimetres long, is not …
Botany students might soon have a revealing amphibian in their labs. Masayuki Sumida, a professor at the Institute for Amphibian Biology at Japan's Hiroshima University, has bred a diaphanous frog. "You can watch its organs without dissection,' Sumida told the news agency Agence France-Presse. Dissecting animals for science has sparked …
there is little chance for a new bird or butterfly being discovered in the Western Ghats now, says a recent study. It has, however, not ruled out the discovery of frogs and grasses. First time in India, a team of researchers including scientists from the University of Agricultural Sciences in …
Amphibians are known for their resilience. They have bounced out of mass extinctions, survived vegetation changes, and outlived the dinosaur by evolving distinctive behaviours and morphologies and adapting their lifecycles. But a study from the us reveals these very attributes have placed the future of nature's sentinels in peril (BioScience, …
for 18 years now, scientists have discussed the reasons for the global decimation of amphibian populations. The cause list has been expanding: from pesticides, to new diseases, to climate change that exacerbates both. But there is little confusion on what's driving nature's hardiest, most adaptive creatures to the brink. Mounting …
A giant cane toad (Bufo marinus), the size of a small dog, has been caught in Australia's Northern Territory. The specimen, weighing 861 grammes, twice the normal weight, has startled environmentalists who are working to contain this poisonous amphibian across the country. It is the biggest ever found, says Frog …
Western Australia has now sought the help of its military force to stop invasion of toxic cane toads (Bufo marinus). In the absence of any natural predator these poisonous amphibians are growing in number and killing indigenous insects and animals. The Queensland government has already written to its federal counterpart …
climate change is forcing plants and animals away from their native habitats to more congenial ones. A recent survey of plants in the uk found that species favouring higher temperature like orchids and ferns that used to be found in southern parts of the country are now flourishing in the …
Armies of venomous cane toads (Bufos marinus) threaten to overrun large parts of Australia, reports a recent study in the science journal, Nature (Volume 439, 707 A, February 2006). Scientists of the University of Sydney, who conducted this study, say that the species
