Introduction: Given the role of microbiomes in promoting host health and homeostasis, understanding the factors shaping skin microbial communities in wild vertebrates has become increasingly important in conservation. This goal is even more pressing for amphibians, for which the skin has multiple critical functions, and pathogens currently decimating populations are linked to significant changes in skin microbiomes. However, because microbiomes are also...

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...

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...

Global amphibian populations are declining rapidly, due largely to infectious diseases such as chytridiomycosis caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). The Herpetolo18gy Department at the Sam Noble Museum has screened for Bd prevalence among amphibian communities across Oklahoma for over five years, providing ongoing data about the disease’s prevalence and distribution. Recently, the museum partnered with other Oklahomans through a...

Have you ever wanted to be a scientist? Or help a scientist make new discoveries? Join the Herpetology Department of the Sam Noble Museum in a brand-new citizen science project, where YOU become the scientist collecting real-world data! What is Citizen Science? Citizen Science is an up and coming method of gathering scientific data collection by members of the general public, rather than traditional...

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and ranavirus (RV) are pathogens contributing to the global decline of amphibian populations. Both pathogens can be spread through direct contact between amphibians, through water carrying the infection, the accidental movement of disease particles between waterbodies by cattle, boats, or aquatic recreational equipment, or the intentional movement of infected amphibians used as fishing bait. Amphibians can also experience indirect...

The University of Oklahoma Biological Station (UOBS) was established in 1950 in Marshall Co., Oklahoma along the newly created reservoir, Lake Texoma. Generations of biology students and independent researchers have documented the flora and fauna on the station grounds and surrounding areas. Herein we compare herpetological records for the area published in the 1950s to herpetology course survey events from 1978–1986 and...

Habitat fragmentation has negative consequences on threatened and endangered species by creating isolated populations. The Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) is experiencing population declines and localized extirpations throughout its range and has been classified as a species of greatest conservation need in Oklahoma, USA. Younger age classes have been poorly studied but may be vital to the stability of remaining populations. To...

After a handful of weather-related delays, the Texas Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma cornutum) that have been raised at the Oklahoma City Zoo “Lizard Lab” for the last 1–2 years have just been released in small “soft release” pens (where they will remain for ~1 month). The juveniles were collected from Tinker Air Force Base as either eggs or brand-new hatchlings and raised in...

...

Chytridiomycosis, an infectious disease caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (chytrid or Bd), has not been well studied in Oklahoma. This is of particular concern regarding the connection between seasonality and chytrid infection. To further investigate this connection, chytrid prevalence and infection load were quantified within amphibians in central Oklahoma from March to October, across two sites in Oklahoma Co. and two...