Amphibians represent one of the most threatened vertebrate groups, and although monitoring amphibian population dynamics is critical for conservation, most traditional survey efforts depend on time-consuming, often invasive monitoring activities and visual surveys. Screening environmental DNA (eDNA), a non-invasive monitoring technique, has the potential to identify species presence at a site, even in the absence of visual confirmation. In this study, we...

Background Mosquitoes are the deadliest organisms in the world, killing an estimated 750,000 people per year due to the pathogens they can transmit. Mosquitoes also pose a major threat to other vertebrate animals. Culex territans is a mosquito species found in temperate zones worldwide that feeds almost exclusively on amphibians and can transmit parasites; however, little is known about its ability to...

Anurans (frogs and toads) are an ecologically diverse group of vertebrate organisms that display a myriad of reproductive modes and life history traits. To persist in such an expansive array of habitats, these organisms have evolved specialized skin that is used for respiration while also protecting against moisture loss, pathogens, and environmental contaminants. Anuran skin is also colonized by communities of symbiotic...

We revisit the question of species diversity among Mindanao Fanged Frogs of the Limnonectes magnus complex consisting of L. magnus, L. diuatus, L. ferneri, and a previously hypothesized putative new species, inferred in the first molecular phylogenetic studies of the genus almost 2 decades ago. Using a multilocus molecular deoxyribonucleic acid sequence data set and comprehensive sampling of 161 individuals from throughout...

We describe a new species of fanged frog (genus Limnonectes) from Mindoro and Semirara Islands, of the Mindoro Pleistocene Aggregate Island Complex, of the central Philippines. Although morphologically indistinguishable from its closest relative, Limnonectes acanthi, of the Palawan faunal region, the two species can be readily diagnosed on the basis of spectral (dominant frequency) and temporal (pulse number and structure) properties of...

We describe a new species of frog of the genus Platymantis Günther (subgenus Tirahanulap), from the east-central regions of the Philippines. It belongs to the the previously-defined P. hazelae Group) based on morphological and bioacoustic datasets. The new species is phenotypically and ecologically most similar to members of Tirahanulap, an assemblage of small-bodied arboreal frogs inhabiting montane forests of the central and...

The taxonomic validity of the controversial taxon, Amolops nepalicus Yang, 1991, is evaluated based on the examination of its holotype, along with topotypic A. marmoratus (Blyth, 1855) and A. afghanus (Günther, 1858), and other related congeners. Morphological comparison shows the holotype of A. nepalicus differs from its senior synonym A. marmoratus and all recognized species, supporting its valid species status. We provide...

Asian leaf-litter toads of the genus Leptobrachella represent a great anuran diversification in Asia. Previous studies have suggested that the diversity of this genus is still underestimated. During herpetological surveys from 2013 to 2018, a series of Leptobrachella specimens were collected from the international border areas in the southern and western parts of Yunnan Province, China. Subsequent analyses based on morphological and...

Falcaustra samarensis n. sp. (Ascaridida, Kathlaniidae) from the intestines of Megophrys stejnegeri Taylor 1920 (Anura, Megophryidae) is described and illustrated. Falcaustra samarensis n. sp. represents the one hundred fourth species assigned to the genus and the thirty-seventh Oriental species. It is distinguished from other Oriental species by the pattern of caudal papillae (8 precloacal, 2 adcloacal, 10 postcloacal, and 1 median), length...

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...

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...