Category Archives: Uncategorized

10/18/12

Axoloti: Treasured by Ancient Aztecs and Modern Scientists

We recently read an alarming statistic: it’s possible that only one hundred axolotl salamanders (Ambystoma mexicanum) exist in the wild.  Why should anyone care that a strange Mexican salamander may soon be extinct in its native habitat?

It turns out that this salamander is a remarkable creature. It intrigued the ancient Aztecs because of its strange looks and regenerative powers and was believed to be a manifestation of the god Xolotl, who like Charon in Greek mythology, was the ferryman of the dead to the underworld. To the Aztecs, the salamander’s regenerative  power was like that of the lake system that sustained them.

Most salamanders are able to regenerate body structures to some extent. But the axolotl is unique in that it can regenerate not only limbs, but also its jaws, spinal cord, and more. After these body parts regenerate, there is no evidence of scarring. Axolotls can even receive transplanted organs from other individuals and accept them without rejection.  They are one thousand times more resistant to cancer than mammals. This, of course, has made them of great interest to scientists who study them in captivity.

The axolotl is also one of the few animals that exhibit neoteny, that is, it retains its juvenile characteristics, such as the external gills, which gives the creature its cute looks.

By th1098 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

By th1098 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

But this animal, despite its “smile,”  has a lot to be unhappy about. Its only habitat is the canal system of Xochimilco in Mexico, which is what is left from what was an extensive lake and canals that connected most of the Aztec settlements of the Valley of Mexico. These canals, along with artificial islands called chinampas, attract tourists and other city residents who ride on colorful gondola-like boats around the hundred or so miles of canals. This canal and chinampa system, as a vestige of the area’s pre-Hispanic past, has made Xochimilco a World Heritage Site.

Unfortunately the canals are polluted with both garbage and fecal matter, as well as industrial fertilizers. Other problems include the damage by introduced plant and animal species. Carp and tilapia fish, for example, introduced in the 1960s, eat the eggs of the axototl.

The axolotl faces long odds for survival. It seems that only a complete regeneration and clean up of the historic canals will save this animal that is often considered a metaphor for the soul of Mexico.

Information for this post came primarily from an article and blog post from the LA Times and a Scientific American blog post. Note: the axototl is also know as the ajolote.

 

10/9/12

Calling All Frog Artists! A Reminder about the Frogs Are Green Kids' Art Contest 2012

Now that school is underway and the weather is getting colder (at least in this part of the world), it’s the perfect time to create some frog art. We hope you will consider submitting your frog art masterpieces to Frogs Are Green for our 2012 Kids’ Art Contest.

Here are the details:

Contest theme: IT’S EASY BEING GREEN!

Your artwork can be about frogs, how we can help them, or about ways we can be green at home, at school, or in the community. Your art can really be anything that inspires you about frogs or other amphibians. A winning piece from last year’s contest, for example, submitted by Ula Lekecinskaite, a 12-year-old girl from the Kaunus Art Gymnasium in Lithuania, celebrates frogs and rainy days:

We will award winners based on age in these age groups: 3-6, 7-9, and 10-12. The winners will receive a Frogs Are Green poster of their choice from our store and a winner’s certificate. All kids who enter the contest will receive a certificate of participation that can be downloaded from our site.

We’re looking for drawings, paintings, sculpture, collage, mixed media, or whatever format helps you express yourself.

Deadline for submissions is December 15, 2012; winners will be announced January 15, 2013. The winners will be featured in a post.

This year we have a new contest area using Flickr, where you can enter yourself. You must add a caption/ description with your Name, Age, and Country or your submission will not be included. Please see the contest page for more details.

We can’t wait to see your artwork!

And photographers—don’t forget that we are still accepting photographs of frogs and other amphibians for our 2012 photography contest. See the contest page.

09/18/12

God and an Endangered Toad: Faith Traditions and the Environment

A couple of weeks ago, there was quite a brouhaha in the news about the inclusion of God into the Democratic and Republican party platforms at the convention. Personally, I don’t think God cares too much about party platforms.

But I do think God might wish that we humans were better stewards of this beautiful planet and the animals that inhabit it along with us. Around the time of the conventions, the Zoological Society of London published a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission that listed the one hundred most threatened species of animals. These animals are unique and interesting in their own way, but they may die out simply because they don’t offer obvious benefits to humans. Are we being good stewards by letting this happen?

Although it’s rare, sometimes faith and conservation do join forces for good. Recently, I read a post by Brandon Loomis in the Salt Lake City Tribune:  Utah Group Goes on a Divine Quest for Rare Toads.

Volunteers in Utah from Interfaith Power & Light, a faith-based environmental coalition, went on a search for the rare boreal toad (Bufo boreas), which occupies only 1 percent of its historic breeding places and is under evaluation for possible Endangered Species Act protection.

The most serious threat to the boreal toad is the chytrid fungus, a disease that is devastating amphibian populations worldwide. Biologists believe habitat protections can help reduce stress and can keep outbreaks in check.

Boreal toad. Photo courtesy of the State of Utah Natural Resources Department: Division of Wildlife Resources.

The interfaith group didn’t find any boreal toads, but their excursion wasn’t in vain. One of the volunteers was quoted in the article as giving her reason for the importance of their outing, other than the fact that kids love frogs and toads:  “More and more we become so disconnected from nature. We might go to church on Sunday, but I feel like we’re called to do more than that.”

The search was organized by Jason Brown, a Mormon with theology and forestry degrees who teaches ethics at Utah Valley University. As quoted in the article, Brown said: “Depending on the faith tradition, biodiversity can be sacramental of God, or [indicate] God’s presence.”

We say Amen to that.

For more information:
The Interfaith Power and Light website has links to articles about different religious faith traditions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and others) and the environment.  Please click here.
See Vernal.com for more information about the boreal toad.

09/9/12

Presidential Campaign 2012: Where Do Romney and Obama Stand on Environmental Issues

Like Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter saga, climate change has been the issue “that shall not be named”– mostly a political no-show in the presidential campaign.—Christian Science Monitor, September 7, 2012

At Frogs Are Green, we’ve been following the presidential campaign and trying to get a handle on where  candidates Governor Romney and President Obama stand on climate change and other environmental issues. Unfortunately, these issues have become a political “third rail,” as Andrew Winston of the Harvard Business Review wrote in a recent Bloomberg.com post.

Over the years protecting the environment seems to have acquired the reputation as being “lefty” and anti-business, which is odd to those of us who there at the very beginning of the environmental movement in the 1960s and 1970s. It used to be a bi-partisan issue.

When Susan and I were growing up near New York City in the 1960s, a layer of smelly yellowish-brown smog hung over the city. The Hudson River was  full of raw sewage and toxic contamination. But because of public outrage from both sides of the political fence, the smog is gone and people catch fish in the river. And, yes, it involved regulations on businesses that were firmly enforced by William Ruckelshaus, the first head of the EPA—a Republican.

courtesy of timeoutkids.com

These days there seems to be a widespread feeling that because the economy is doing so poorly, we can’t talk about the environment—we have more important things to worry about. That is a shortsighted approach. As Winston argues in the Bloomberg.com post:

[T}ackling climate change is the smartest thing we can do for both our public health and our private sector. Reducing carbon emissions from our power plants, cars, and factories cleans the air and saves a lot of money. At the macro level, the burning of coal alone costs the U.S. about $350 billion per year in health (asthma, heart attacks, and so on) and pollution costs. At the micro level, from companies down to households, the opportunities to get lean and save money are vast.

While the U.S. remains wishy-washy about dealing with climate change, according to Winston, Germany is quickly moving its electric grid to renewables and China is committing hundreds of billions of dollars to energy efficiency and much more to the clean economy in general.

I watched Mitt Romney make a joke about climate change in his speech at the Republican convention. He got a standing ovation. Personally, I found that extremely depressing. I also watched President Obama’s speech at the Democratic convention, and while he at least mentioned climate change, tackling the environmental issues certainly wasn’t a major part of his agenda.

At Frogs Are Green, we don’t think the problems associated with climate change are a partisan issue: they affect all of us and future generations on earth.

It’s not a joke.

08/15/12

Live Bullfrog Trade Helping to Spread Deadly Fungus

A Frogs Are Green reader alerted us to a recent Dot Earth (New York Times) blog post by Andrew C. Revkin, “Genetic Study Finds Bullfrog Trade is Prime Pathway For Devastating Amphibian Fungus.”

University of Michigan mycologist Tim James and colleagues conducted a genetic analysis and have found that the global trade of live bullfrogs is helping to spread the deadly chytrid fungus, which has devastated worldwide amphibian populations. The results were published in the journal Molecular Ecology.

As Revkin notes, it isn’t clear why the fungus is devastating to amphibians in some areas, but seems to be harmless to those in other areas. For example, although there are deadly strains in the Northeast, there are no chytrid-related declines reported. Environmental conditions or other issues might account for this.

The researchers examined the role of bullfrog farming in spreading the chytrid fungus between the forests and frog farms of Brazil and then to the United States and Japan. They collected and analyzed bullfrogs sold at Asian food shops in seven U.S. cities and found that 41 percent of the frogs were infected with chytrid fungus, which is harmless to humans. Frogs in these shops are imported live primarily from farms in Taiwan, Brazil and Ecuador and sold as food for their legs.

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“A lot of the movement of this fungus is related to the live food trade, which is something we should probably stop doing,” James said. “We don’t need to have millions of live frogs being shipped from foreign countries into the United States.”

For more information: Press release from the University of Michigan

08/7/12

A Green Frog (at Frogs Are Green)

At Frogs Are Green, we’ve posted about tomato red frogs, blue frogs, and yellow-and-black spotted frogs, but I don’t think we’ve ever written about the Green Frog (Rana clamitans).

Green frog camouflaged in grass. Photo by Mary Jo Rhodes

Recently I visited my sister, who lives in the woods in Connecticut. On our first night, there was heavy downpour. When I woke the next morning, I heard what sounded like someone plucking a loose banjo string. Coming from the city, I was thrilled: it was my welcome call from a Green Frog outside! My sister has built a couple of frog/koi ponds on her property. Although fish and frogs aren’t supposed to co-exist (fish eat the frogs’ eggs), somehow it has worked out.

Frog pond in CT

The Green Frog is mainly aquatic, but they often rest by the side of the pond, leaping in when danger approaches. Males have a tympanum (external hearing structure) twice the diameter of the eye and a bright yellow throat.

Green Frog. Notice the large eardrum behind his eye. Photo by Mary Jo Rhodes.

Green frog in reeds. Photo by Mary Jo Rhodes

You might see Green Frogs in ponds, lakes, and swamps—they are one of the most common frogs in the eastern U.S.

Just in case you’re out in the country this summer, here is what it sounds like: