Global amphibian decline continues to be a great concern despite our increased understanding of the causes behind the observed patterns of the decline, such as habitat modification and infectious diseases. Although there is a large body of literature on the topic of amphibian infectious diseases, pathogen prevalence and distribution among entire communities of species in many regions remain poorly understood. In addition...

The Sam Noble Museum Herpetology Department was recently funded by Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) and Oklahoma City Zoo Conservation Action Now (CAN) to conduct Oklahoma statewide surveys to test for the presence and prevalence of the amphibian infectious disease Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (also know as Bd or chytrid) over a three year period (2015-2017). Members of the Siler Lab spend August–October of each year extracting DNA from swabs...

With a published multilocus phylogenetic analysis as our guide, we use new data from the external phenotype and genetically defined distributions of evolutionary lineages to resolve species boundaries associated with the southwest Mindanao Stream Frogs, Sanguirana everetti (Boulenger 1882), its junior synonym, Rana mearnsi, Stejneger 1905, and the northeast Mindanao Stream Frogs, Sanguirana albotuberculata (Inger 1954). Consideration of relationships, distributions, type localities,...

The Herpetology Department of the Sam Noble Museum was funded through grants from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) and Oklahoma City Zoo Conservation Action Now (CAN) to determine the presence and prevalence of the amphibian infectious disease Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (also know as Bd or chytrid) in Oklahoma. This project will be ongoing for three years and covers field research in multiple areas of the...

Digital Life Project Uses 3D Technology to Document Endangered Frogs for Future Generations UMass Amherst, Zoo Atlanta, Amphibian Foundation and University of Oklahoma highlight the world’s amphibians in 3D AMHERST, Mass. – The Digital Life team at the University of Massachusetts Amherst led by evolutionary biologist Duncan Irschick today unveiled an online set of 15 three-dimensional (3D) models of live frogs, including several...

Oklahoma is home to 54 species of amphibians (31 species of frogs, 23 species of salamanders), a group of vertebrates shown to be highly susceptible to infectious pathogens, such as the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Bd has been documented in all states bordering Oklahoma, but little is known about Bd within Oklahoma. Previous studies sampled for Bd in four isolated sites spread...

In North America, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has been present for at least the last half-century; however, infectious amphibian diseases have remained poorly studied through most of the Great Plains of the United States. In Oklahoma, Bd has been documented in wild populations only three times, with four counties surveyed. It is imperative that a greater portion of the state be surveyed to...

We summarize all available amphibian and reptile species distribution data from the northeast Mindanao faunal region, including small islands associated with this subcenter of endemic vertebrate biodiversity. Together with all publicly available historical information from biodiversity repositories, we present new data from several major herpetological surveys, including recently conducted inventories on four major mountains of northeast Mindanao, and adjacent islands of Camiguin...

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Recent higher-level frog phylogenetic analyses have included a few members of the endemic Philippine frog genus Sanguirana. Although the monophyly of the group has never been disputed, the recent phylogenetically-supported inclusion of the Palawan Wood Frog (Sanguirana sanguinea) in this clade was highly unexpected. In addition, species boundaries and relationships remain unclear and new species continue to be discovered. We estimate the...

Last weekend, Siler Lab members joined in with 350+ other participants from around the state to sample biodiversity along Lake Texoma at the OU Biological Station for Oklahoma BioBlitz! 2016.  There were a total of 19 herpetological species documented, with two notable venomous snakes caught by graduate students Nick Huron and Joey Brown.  Graduate students also led an evening night hike to look for...