Southern Gastric Brooding Frog

Southern Gastric Brooding Frog

The Southern Gastric Brooding Frog, also known as the platypus frog, eats insects. This frog employed one of the most original life-history strategies in the animal kingdom – gastric brooding. Females would swallow their fertilised eggs and allow the young frogs to develop into tadpoles, and subsequently froglets, in her stomach. During the brooding period the female’s digestive process would shut down and her stomach would become so bloated that her lungs would collapse under the pressure, forcing her to rely solely on gas exchange through her skin for respiration. This species was restricted to elevations between 400-800 m in the Blackdall and Conondale Ranges in southeastern Queensland, Australia. The geographical distribution of the species was less than 1400 km2. This frog is mostly aquatic and has never been located more than 4m from water. This species is found rocky creek beds, adjacent pools, and rock pools in the rainforest and tall open forest with a closed under storey. It also lives along the rocky streams of the moist eucalyptus forest. It prefers rock pools and backwaters with leaf litter and rocks in which to shelter from predators, like white-faced herons and eels. In spring and summer, individuals were usually found in or at the edge of rock pools, either amongst leaf litter, under and between stones or in crevices around the edge. These frogs were also found under rock in shallow water in backwaters and also the main flow of permanent watercourses. Adult males tend to prefer deeper pools, whereas females and juveniles may move to newly created pools after rain as long as these pools contained stones and/or leaf litter. Searches of popular sites in winter only recovered two frogs and it assumed that the species hibernates in deep crevices in rocks or spaces between rocks underwater during the colder months.                                                                       Read More>>>

Mallorcan Midwife Toad

Mallorcan Midwife Toad

One of the world's strangest animals, the Mallorcan midwife toad, has been rescued from the brink of extinction. The success provides conservationists with a rare boost to their hopes that amphibians - whose numbers are decliningalarmingly across the world - can saved from oblivion.Researchers based at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, in Jersey announced last week that the toad had been removed from biologists' 'critically endangered' category: it is now rated as merely 'vulnerable'. 'This incredible little toad was once thought extinct. Today it's on the road to survival,' said Quentin Bloxam, the trust's programme director.The Mallorcan midwife was originally thought to have gone extinct several thousand years ago. Scientists knew of its existence only from fossils found in Mallorca. Then, in 1980, they found living samples in the island's Sierra de Traumuntana mountains.                                                                               Read More>>>

Houston Toad

Houston Toad

The Houston Toad is 2 to 3.5 inches long and similar in appearance  to Woodhouse’s Toad (Bufo woodhousei), but smaller.  General coloration varies from tan to brownish-black. The pale ventral surfaces often have small, dark spots.  Males have a dark throat, which appears bluish when distended. The Houston Toad is a terrestrial amphibian associated with deep sandy soils within the Post Oak Savannah vegetational area of east central Texas.  Since Houston Toads are poor burrowers, loose friable soils are required for burrowing.  The toads burrow into the sand for protection from cold weather in the winter (hibernation) and hot, dry conditions in the summer (aestivation).  Large areas of predominantly sandy soils greater than 40 inches deep are characteristic of habitat.  The vegetation type of currently known Houston Toad sites can typically be described as pine or oak woodland or savannah, with native bunchgrasses and forbs (flowering plants) present in open areas                                                                                    Read More>>>

Desert Slender Salamander

Desert Slender Salamander

These salamanders are lungless and "breathe" through their skin which must remain moist at all times. They are about 3.1-5 cm long with a tail about the same laength. It has silver- or brass-colored flecks speckle its back, and its lighter-colored belly and throat have a maroon-to-choclate-brown cast. It has a relatively broad head. The pale gray brown tail sharply contrasts with salamander's belly<.p> HABITAT: They live in an area that includes desert fan palm oasis, desert wash, and desert scrub habitats, at an elevation of about 760 m. They favor moist microhabitats found at the base of shaded, water-soaked, clifflike walls facing north or west. Approximately 500 desert salamanders are known to exist ina very limited area. It eats flies and ants and is believed to also eat arthropods. Breeding and courtship habe are unknown. Will wind up like a spring if threatened and may flip its tail high in the air. If the predator seizes the tail it will thrasha round giving the salamander a distraction to try to run away.                                                            Read More>>>

Chinese Giant Salamander

Chinese Giant Salamander

The Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) is the largest salamander in the world, and is fully aquatic, with many adaptations for this lifestyle. It grows up to 1.8 metres in length, though most individuals found today are considerably smaller (2). The skin is dark brown, black or greenish in colour and irregularly blotched. It is also rough, wrinkled and porous which facilitates respiration through the skin as this large amphibian lacks gills(4). The Chinese giant salamander has an elongated body, and two pairs of legs which are roughly similar in size. The snout is less rounded than that of the related Japanese giant salamander and the tail is a little longer and broader. Both species have tubercleson the head and throat, though their arrangement is different. The Chinese species has small, paired tuberclesarranged in rows parallel with the lower jaw, while the Japanese species’ tubercles are mostly single and irregularly scattered (4). The eyes are tiny, with no eyelids, and positioned on top of the broad, flat head, providing the salamander with poor vision.                                                                                                                                Read More>>>

Cape Platanna

Cape Platanna

Commonly know as the Cape Platanna, Xenopus gillli has a small head, larger body measuring some 5cm from snout to vent, dark stripes on the back and mottled patterns on the stomach. The Cape Platanna has an interesting story of its own. This rare species is quite unique, as it prefers the seasonal and high acidic levels of the black water lakelets of the Cape Floral Kingdom. This differs from its cousin the Common Platanna where it prefers permanent standing water bodies and lower acidic levels. It (the Cape Platanna) is therefore only found in the southwestern region of South Africa, and here it is becoming one of the most endangered amphibians in the world. Its story gives a view on the history of land management and conservation practices in the area that is now the Cape Peninsula National Park. The Cape Platanna has smooth skin, strong webbed hind feet and a pointed head. One unusual thing about the Cape Platanna is that it does not have a tongue. This frog measures around 2.3 inches (5.8cm). It is usually dark colored..    Read More>>>