Category Archives: Learn about Frogs

03/16/10

LIFE: New Discovery Channel Series (and one amazing toad)

For fans of Planet Earth, a new Discovery Channel series called LIFE premieres  Sunday, March 21st, 8 p.m.  e/p. The 11-part series, filmed in HD and narrated by Oprah Winfrey, covers reptiles and amphibians, mammals, fish, bird, insects, creatures of the deep, and primates.

Click on the picture below to see a video excerpt from (episode #2).

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This waterfall toad is unable to hop away from predators. So how does it escape from a hungry snake? You’ll have to watch the video to find out how nature has compensated this toad for being hop-less. Talk about a leap of faith!

03/1/10

First Monogamous Frogs Discovered

This past week the first monogamous frogs were discovered in the rainforest of South America. Monogamy isn’t usual in the amphibian world. Male frogs usually love ’em and leave ’em.

But Dr. Jason Brown, previously of East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, and his colleagues, discovered a monogamous frog species Ranitomeya imitator, known as the mimic poison frog,

According to the BBC Earth News article, “Peru Poison Frog Reveals Secret of Monogamy,” after mating, a female mimic poison frog lays her eggs on the surface of leaves. After the tadpoles hatch, the male frog carries them one by one on his back to pools of water that collect in bromeliad leaves high up in the branches of trees. Each tadpole is put into its own tiny pool and the father looks after them. When the tadpoles become hungry, the male calls to his female partner who lays a non-fertile egg, which the tadpole eats, in each pool.

Why are these frogs monogamous and others aren’t? Scientists believe the mimic poison frogs have become mongamous as they evolved to live in small pools. The frogs wouldn’t have survived without the care of both mother and father because there is little natural food in these tiny pools. If the pools were bigger, there would have been more available food and the the frogs wouldn’t have to work together to feed and raise the tadpoles.

“These frogs are truly devoted to their offspring, and to each other,” says Dr. Brown, who is now at Duke University.

Father and mother R. imitator frogs guard a leaf pool where the mother just deposited a nutritious egg for the tadpole to eat. Photo by Jason Brown, from Science magazine site

Father and mother R. imitator frogs guard a leaf pool where the mother just deposited a nutritious egg for the tadpole to eat. Photo by Jason Brown, from Science magazine site

Image from ScienceNOW blog (Science magazine)

02/22/10

Wood Frogs Are (Almost) Celebrating Spring

In October, when we wrote our post Winter Turns Frogs into Frogsicles, the wood frogs and spring peepers had settled down for their long (frozen) winter nap. This blog post from The National Parks Traveler, Frogs are a Sure Sign of Spring, But that Doesn’t Mean You Won’t Hear Them Now, reminds us that even though it’s still winter (at least in the Northeast), it’s almost spring for the wood frogs. As the snow melts and the frogs unfreeze in late winter/early spring,  the young frogs have one thing on their minds: the males start calling immediately to potential mates.

I found this lovely video on YouTube by someone called Mysterious Susan (not our Susan though). It does have a mysterious quality as a reminder of the cycle of life.

Also, check out this blog post, “As Winter Wanes,”  in the East Hampton (Long Island, New York) Star about what songbirds, salamanders, and other animals are up to as we approach spring and the daylight hours get longer every day.

01/20/10

A Field of Nightmares? Atrazine, Corn, and Frogs

I’ve always had a sentimental attachment to cornfields—from the magical cornfield in Field of Dreams to the real cornfield across the road from a house I lived in during college years. My mother was born and raised in Iowa and I’m descended from farmers.

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But chemicals, in particular Atrazine, used as herbicides on cornfields might be poisoning frogs (and people), and turning fields of dreams into fields of nightmares.  These herbicides run off cornfields into streams and rivers, and leak through the water-treatment process, contaminating groundwater and drinking-water supplies.

Last summer we blogged about the problems of Atrazine. Research by University of California, Berkeley professor  Dr. Tyrone Hayes, for example, has shown the effects this chemical—an endrocrine disruptor—has on frogs. It can cause birth defects and reproductive problems, including such bizarre deformities as male frogs with eggs in their testes. This past week, as reported in the Washington Post, new research at the University of Ottawa found that when exposed to Atrazine fewer tadpoles reached froglet stage. Atrazine appears to affect estrogen in humans as well and has been connected with ferility problems, cancer, and birth defects.

Warning in a Cornfield

Warning in a Cornfield

The EPA, under the Obama administration, has launched a review of the chemical that will continue until fall 2010. It will look closely at Atrazine and other endrocrine disruptors, which might result in tighter restrictions on their use. While this sounds hopeful, Atrazine’s primary manufacturer, Syngenta, has strong ties and influence within the EPA. (Atrazine is banned in Europe, where perhaps industry and government aren’t as closely intertwined as they are in the U.S.).

For more information, please see this PDF,  a report by the Land Stewardship Project and the Pesticide Action Network North America titled The Syngenta Corporation: The Cost to the Land, People, and Democracy.

12/20/09

A Frog's Dream…Save Our Home

As the year ends, and before we take a short break for the holidays, we’d like to show you the new poster we’ve created to promote our cause. Proceeds from the sale of the poster will go toward amphibian conservation organizations and toward developing free and inexpensive educational materials for kids.

Poster designed by Susan Newman, Illustration © Sherry Neidigh

Poster designed by Susan Newman, Illustration © Sherry Neidigh

The poster is a unique collaboration between my partner Susan (who is a graphic designer when she isn’t saving frogs) and illustrator Sherry Neidigh. Sherry approached us after seeing our blog and offered to donate one of her illustrations for our use. We were thrilled to receive this exquisite illustration to promote our cause.

Susan played around with various ideas, but what struck her about this illustration was its dreamy quality. She came up with the text, “A Frog’s Dream….Save Our Home.” I think these words are perfect. That frog looks so content immersed in his pond, surrounded by dragonflies and lily pads.

A bit about Sherry:

Sherry has been drawing animals since she was 2 years old. She attended the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, and has worked for Hallmark Cards.

Sherry’s clients include the National Wildlife Federation (Your Big Backyard), Highlights for Children, Sylvan Dell Publishing, and NorthWord Publisher. She works in gouache, watercolor, colored pencils, airbrush, and pen and ink. Her latest book is Count Down to Fall by Fran Hawk, published by Sylvan Dell Publishers. Sherry lives in Simpsonville, South Carolina, outside of Greenville, with her two dogs, Harper and Bisbee. You can learn more about her by visiting her charming website.

Susan and I are so grateful for the use of Sherry’s beautiful illustration. We hope you love the poster as much as we do. Susan also designed a t-shirt with the illustration. Both are available in our store.

Happy Holidays!

12/13/09

Happy Holidays and THINK GREEN!

At this time of year, we’d like to stop and say thank you to all the visitors we’ve had, and to those who’ve joined our cause.

While you’re shopping for loved ones in the next week or so, we hope you’ll remember all the great organizations that need your help in this challenging economic climate.

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