Our world's amphibians are taking a hit in the wild, but a first time breeding of the La Loma Tree Frog gives hope for at least one species' survival.
From Science Daily:

"We are some of the first researchers to attempt to breed these animals into captivity and we have very little information about how to care for them," said Brian Gratwicke, international coordinator for the project and a research biologist at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, one of nine project partners. "We were warned that we might not be able to keep these frogs alive, but through a little bit of guesswork, attention to detail and collaboration with other husbandry experts -- we've managed to breed them. The lessons we're learning have put us on target to save this incredible species and our other priority species in Panama."
The rescue project currently has 28 adult La Loma tree frogs and four tadpoles at the Summit Municipal Park outside of Panama City, Panama. In addition to the La Loma tree frog, the project also has successfully bred the endangered Limosa harlequin frog, Atelopus limosus. Keepers will continue to carefully monitor the tadpoles of both species.

An award was given to the Spinyback Tuatara Trust recently for their education efforts. From The Nelson Mail:

The trust's executive officer, Sarah Holman, said the programme allowed people to get up close with two 10-year-old tuataras, and promoted a conservation message mixing science with stories from Ngati Koata, the Kaitiaki, or guardian, of the tuatara.
"We hope to leave children with an interest in nature and what can be done for endangered species and the environment.
"Most people involved are doing it in a voluntary capacity, so it's nice to be recognised. It's great that more people are finding out about what we do."

Congrats and thanks to all those who volunteer for conservation. There are more of you out there than most of us realize!

The future of the Mountain Yellow-legged Frogs in California is getting brighter with a second tadpole release.

From the Zoo and Aquarium Visitor:

The initial reintroduction effort of this species occurred in April 2010 when about 500 eggs were released into the stream in hopes of successful hatching. The tadpoles from that release of eggs are so small that it has been difficult for scientists to determine how many survived.

The first-ever tadpole reintroduction for the species occurred in August. By “head starting” the tadpoles, partners hoped to increase survival in the wild. The release was conducted using both caged and free-swimming tadpoles. Eighteen tadpoles were released immediately into the stream while another 18 were put into a cage in the stream; the cage protected the tadpoles from predators and also allowed researchers to feed them. Each grouping was tagged with a different color marker. All 18 tadpoles in the cage survived the three-month period of reintroduction into the stream and were about 50 to 60 millimeters long (1 to 2½ inches) when they were released from the cage today. In the spring, scientists will go back to the stream and count the tadpoles to determine which of the release methods was most successful.

Kingsnake.com paid a visit to the Beckman Center for Conservation Research in September, and Jeff Lemm proudly discussed their work with the Mountain Yellow-legged Frogs, going into great detail about the project as well as concerns relating to the release.

Initial reports of survival rates of the initial egg release were amazing, and we at kingsnake.com wish them the same luck on this release.

The extinction of amphibians is occurring at such a staggering rate that it's rare and wonderful to see a country set goals to work towards conserving them before it's too late.

As reported in a recentpress release, The University of Delhi formed a partnership with Global Wildlife Conservation, the Natural History Museum (London), the IUCN/SSC Amphibian Specialist Group, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and Conservation International to launch a program called "LOST! Amphibians of India."

"Now is the time to act and show our support for these species of India before they shift from lost to extinct," said Conservation International's President, Dr. Russell Mittermeier.

[....]

India has more lost amphibian species, 48 in total, than any other country in the world. Most of these species have not been seen by scientists for decades, with some missing for over 150 years. The majority of these species are known only by a single preserved specimen in a jar at either the Natural History Museum in London or the Zoological Survey of India. Worse yet, at least 17 lost species exist in name only, having been lost over the past century.

Often referred to as nature's barometers, amphibians are declining at an amazingly fast pace. To visit the website for the program, click here

I always get asked about hibernating animals, even though it's not information I need myself. I don't breed, so the snakes are safe and the turtles and tortoises that come and go through my rescue are temporary visitors; they stay up year round here.

Today, the Tortoise Trust released their revised hibernation guidelines, and the break down by species rocks. The Tortoise Trust, much like our friends over at the Turtle and Tortoise Preservation Group, aims to help establish captive colonies of tortoises in private homes as well as educating the pet owners on proper care.

All of the information presented has been carefully prepared by some of the most experienced tortoise keepers in the world in close consultation with leading veterinary surgeons. The techniques described are in daily use at our own tortoise sanctuaries in Britain, the USA, and South Africa, and have been tried and tested over many years. The effectiveness of these techniques is such that despite hibernating possibly more tortoises each year than anyone else, we have never suffered a single hibernation fatality. In each case, the methods used were those described in this booklet. With proper care and attention to detail, you too can achieve similar results.

Tortoises are now under threat worldwide, mainly from habitat loss and in some cases from collecting for the pet animal trade. Fortunately, some active steps to conserve these animals are at last being taken. Much more needs to be done. The endless destruction of natural habitats must be controlled, and conservation reserves created where these animals can continue to breed and survive without human predation. Land tortoises fresh water, and marine turtles all need our help and consideration if they are to survive as species. They must not be lost forever.

The breakdown is very detailed and also shows some of the issues that may present themselves post waking. To search out your species, click here.

Komodos may be the biggest, baddest lizard out there, but a recent study linking the Komodo Dragon, native to Indonesia, to ancient African lizards just brought them to another level of coolness.

Canadian biologists Alison Murray and Rob Holmes found the vertebrae of these two animals is the key connecting them together. From Physorg.org:

Holmes says the telltale African vertebrae fossils belonged to a lizard that was about a metre- and-a-half long whose ability to swim may be key to figuring out how more than 30 million years later its ancestors turned up on the other side of the world.

Holmes says the ancient African Varanus specimen was found on land that was once the bottom of a river or small lake. "Whether the animals lived in the water or surrounding land, we don't know, but we do know that some modern day species of Varanus are comfortable swimming in fresh water."

The researchers agree that fresh-water swimming wouldn't get the African lizard all the way to Indonesia. Murray says the mystery of how the animals spread deepens when you consider ancient world geography. "From about 100 million years ago until 12 million years ago, Africa was completely isolated, surrounded by ocean, but somehow they got out of Africa during that period," said Murray. "That's why this paper is important because there was no known land connection."

Murray says one unproven theory of how Varanus moved out of Africa is that over millions of years, small land masses or micro-plates may have moved from one place to another, carrying their fauna with them.

After the bump you will find the actual abstract for the paper, published in Palaeontology:

It's an older story, but worth reading: An amazing CT scan tracks the progress of a python's digestion and leaves me saying "COOL!" I know the beginning and the ending of the process first hand, but the really fun part is the middle, complete with pictures!

From the DailyMail:

Scientists were able to carry out a computer tomography or CT scan and used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study the 5kg snake.

The images revealed the gradual disappearance of the rat's body. At the same time, the snake's intestine expanded, its gall bladder shrank and its heart increased in volume by 25 per cent.

The researchers, Henrik Lauridsen and Kasper Hansen, both from Aarhus University in Denmark, explained that the increase in the size of the snake's heart was probably associated with the energy it needed to digest its meal.

'It's a sit and wait predator,' explained Mr Lauridsen. 'It fasts for months and then eats a really large meal.

The folks over at Science Giest had the same reaction I did. Geeks of a feather?

After the bump, the BBC video of the CT scan. Further geeking abounds!

The smuggling of an animal as precious as a Marine Iguana is about the stupidest thing possible, but hey, some people will try anything for a buck -- even taking animals that live solely on the food in their habitat.

From Wildlife Extra News:

An attempt to illegally export marine iguanas, an emblematic species of the Galapagos, has been stopped by the Ecuadorian Environmental Police's dog unit.
The police were conducting routine inspections of cargo and luggage when Willy, one of the police dogs, found a cardboard box containing two iguanas. Despite being kept in poor conditions, fortunately both are still alive. However, the body of a baby sea turtle was also found in the box.
After the police inspection, the marine iguanas were delivered to the authorities of the Galapagos National Park.

The box was abandoned and the iguanas at least will hopefully return to the wild. The dogs are trained to sniff out wildlife and recently found a house with shark fins, also protected, on Santa Cruz Island.

In late October a group in Utah sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife for failure to protect their native Gila Monsters. From Desert News.com:

The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Colorado says stresses on the Utah population, which occur only in Washington County, include declines in habitat because of increasing urbanization, illicit trade and poaching, as well persecution by humans.
WildEarth Guardians filed a petition with the agency, seeking protections for Utah Gila monsters in January, with a 90-day finding that was due in April.
With no such finding, the group argued that the agency acted contrary to law and "unreasonably" delayed compliance with sections of the Endangered Species Act.

It is felt that this northernmost range of the Gila and the survival of the group are critical for the species overall population.

SEWERFest, one of the major shows in Wisconsin, could use a name change, but it does hold true to the promise of "captive-bred only."

"SEWER" actually stands for "South East Wisconsin Exotic Reptile," and it is one of the two major reptile shows here in Wisconsin. The organizers are pretty strict about the captive bred rule, and it offers a nice alternative.

I had to share Gavin's table from SoLA for best in show. Gavin really tends to put a bit of effort in presentation and while I tend to give him a really hard time, it's nice to see someone put effort into presentation.

I, on the other hand, was far less inspired. Unlike most vendors here, I am just displaying a variety of reptiles available for adoption, with no placements today. I spent my time chatting about what make good pets, promoting good breeders of species we do not currently have, discussing the pending reptile laws. All in a days work, and thankfully the organizers offer free table space to rescues, herp societies and other non-profit groups. This is also one of the rare shows I actually work from this side of the table. I usually am working for kingsnake, but today I am doing a bit of personal promotion.

Each show, the organizers also donate a portion of the door. Aaron LaForge, one of the promoters, just lost his father-in-law to lung cancer, so today they stepped outside the reptile realm and chose the Lung Cancer Research Fund.

After the bump are a few shots from the show, I didn't place anything but I had several folks interested in my cal king as well as my blue tongue skink. Cross those fingers I have placement by thanksgiving! To see the full gallery, click here.

Taipans rank up there as some of the most deadly snakes and now a third species has been recently discovered.

During a recent biological survey, two more of these rare Taipans have been located bringing the count worldwide to a grand total of 5 animals.

From PerthNow:

The two western desert taipans (Oxyuranus temporalis) were found as part of a survey in October by the WA Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) and the Spinifex People, in partnership with the WA Museum, the Adelaide Zoo, and Museum Victoria.
....
The inland taipan has the most toxic venom worldwide, and the coastal taipan is the third most toxic. The venom toxicity of the western desert taipan is, as yet, unknown but likely to be extremely dangerous.
The adult male and female snakes, measuring more than one metre, are being housed at the Adelaide Zoo to allow the venom of the snakes to be assessed, and determine whether a species-specific antivenom is needed.

With the numerous reports each year of taipans in urban locations, this research may be life saving for many.

To read the full article, click here.

As the supply of Coral Snake anti-venom dwindles down to nothing and the expiration date approaches, Pfizer announces that it has broken ground a facility to start production again.

From Mlive.com:

The initial production of antivenin (the clinical term for anti-venom) for treating coral snake bites is the function of an 11,500-square-foot facility Pfizer is building near the center of the 2,100-acre animal health research farm it has in Richland Township. The facility is being built at a cost of $3.75 million.

During the last week of October, ground was broken on it as well as a $6 million, 24,000-square-foot facility to research new medicines for horses. Both facilities are to be completed by summer of 2011.

“This investment by Pfizer underscores the important role that our Kalamazoo County site plays in both human and animal health,” said Pfizer spokesman Rick Chambers.
With the facility for horses, Chambers said, “This expands our capacity to research new treatments for horses.”

This move will also create a few additional jobs at their new facilities.

photo credit, Eric Marquette

Every year for the past 10 years I have loaded up animals on a very cold day and taken a short trip to my museum. Run by Bob Henderson and hosted by the Milwaukee Public Museum, Snake Day is basically a free for all educational event. We have had some people over the years who were not thrilled with the animals in the show, but this year, folks were not only interested and intrigued but shared a genuine love for reptiles. I did have a few discussions about those lovely "animals will kill you" shows, but people seemed very receptive to the fact that those are rare instances used to make the rest of the community look crazy. One thing repeatedly pointed out to me by attendees was the fact that reptile keepers come from all walks of life. This is something I have been going on and on about for years.

Our group included everything. Zoo professionals Rob Carmichael and his crew from Wildlife Discovery were on hand, as were breeders, keepers, educators, conservationists and rescuers; we were all there. We share all walks of life in the real world. We spanned all ages from Anna (6 years old) with her corn snakes and Harmony (7 years old) with her scorpion, all the way to Nancy and Mike who are both well into their 60s. Some have tattoos and some don't, some listen to classical and some listen to heavy metal. We work in every profession imaginable. But we share one thing, and that is our love for the cold-blooded.

Our displays ranged from the tiniest amphibians to native Wisconsin species of colubrids to cobras and vipers, rare iguanas and the giants of the reptile world. We talked good pets and bad pets. Kids of all ages got their first chance to hold a snake or touch a lizard. And even more amazing is people learn about the reptiles in their own back yard.

I have a few photos after the bump, but most of all, I just wanted to share that it is important to put your money where your mouth is. Public outreach right now is so very important to our community. If you are doing things like this, let us know here on our blog.

Russ Gurley will be joining us tonight at 9 pm EST to discuss the upcoming Turtle and Tortoise Preservation Group's conference, which will be held this week in Mesa, Ariz. The event will be held in the Reptile and Amphibian chat room.

If you have questions for Russ, drop a line here in the comments or email me at phfaust@pethobbyist.com.

The Snow Skink is the first reptile to determine sex of the offspring in two locations with completely different methods. We as humans know there are a variety of way to determine sex of an incubating clutch, but with these guys, they do it on their own.

From ABC Science:

At low altitudes, the lizard's gender is determined by temperature, while at high altitudes where the climate is more extreme, it's all down to their genes, according to a study in Nature.
....
The snow skink is a small six centimetre long lizard which lives in coastal and sub-alpine areas beneath rock slabs, eating insects and wild berries. It gives birth to live young rather than laying eggs, producing between one and six babies.
Previous research shows that the sex of baby skinks is determined during the first half of the pregnancy, depending on how long the mother remains in warm sunshine. Warm temperatures generally produce females, while cooler temperatures produce males.
....
The researchers found that lowland mothers had very different ratios of boys to girls, depending on how much sunshine they had. By contrast, the highland mothers showed no difference in sex ratio of offspring, regardless of how long they spent in the Sun

To read the full article, click here.

A 130-year-old festival aims to educate locals about the snakes that live in their backyards.

In India, there is a reason to have hesitation of some snakes; even reptile folks would need to double check closely before reaching out and just grabbing the snake on the ground. Kraits and Cobras are not things of child's play.

From the Times of India:

"Legend goes that gunins and ojhas used to worship the snake goddess on this day. Snakebites were very common in these parts. The ojhas and gunins were the ones who used to treat the victims. During the fair, the goddess was worshipped and snakes were made to perform. That tradition has stayed on," said Subodh Patra, a descendant of Jhatunath Patra.
A postal department employee, Subodh is now one of leading figures in the fair and a rescuer of snakes. "We rescue the snakes, look after them throughout the year and then release them. Snakes are a very important part of our environment. Through the fair, we try to educate and inform the people about the different kinds of snakes. Not all snakes are poisonous but people have misconceptions," he explained.
During the year, Subodh and other villagers are on the lookout for poisonous snakes and cases of snakebites in the adjoining villages. The snakes are caught and their fangs taken out (in most of the snakes), they are kept for the rest of year and then released in forests or rivers.

The festival pays tribute to Manasa, the snake goddess. To read more, click here.

Six hundred dead sea turtles in the Gulf might seem like a fairly small number given the enormity of this year's catastrophic oil spill, but the fact that each species is struggling for survival makes the impact greater than its numbers alone.

From the Economic Times:

Among the saddest images from BP Plc's three-month-long oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico were those of oil-slicked birds struggling to survive. US officials said preliminary information showed the disaster may have killed up to 6,104 birds and 609 turtles.

But on the positive side, the figures showed that more than 14,000 turtle hatchlings emerged from nests that were relocated to beaches away from the oil spill.
....
The report was based on input from wildlife collection centres, government departments and other sources, but officials warned that the figures reflected "only the initial, field-level, evaluation".

More investigation was needed and not all of the injured and dead wildlife were "necessarily" caused by the BP spill, officials said.

Nest relocation may have helped prevent a true tragedy. There were 278 nests relocated, and as of today 14,676 hatchlings have emerged.

Upset that the turtle traps placed by New Jersey Fish and Wildlife were trapping and drowning not nuisance Snapping Turtles but other species, primarily Painted Turtles, Audra Capps tried to help. That's where she got in trouble.

From NJ.com:

While the traps were apparently put in place to capture snapping turtles, Audra Capps contends they were poorly assembled and instead were trapping and drowning another species of the aquatic reptiles — painted turtles, the report said.

A conservation officer with the New Jersey's Division of Fish and Wildlife caught Capps and a friend pulling out the traps, the report said. Both were issued four summonses each but Capps hopes to convince the judge she was just acting as a Good Samaritan looking out for helpless wildlife.

Capp has quite a bit of public support behind her. To read the full article, click here.

With many sea turtle eggs hatched and released into the Atlantic Ocean as a way to avoid the Gulf Oil Spill, things may be hard for the Loggerheads. From Eureka:

During embryonic development turtle eggs spend long periods covered by sand under conditions of high humidity and warm temperatures, which are known to favor the growth of soil-born fungi.
Dr Diéguez-Uribeondo's team focused their study on the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) population on Boavista Island, Cape Verde, off the West African coast. While Boavista Island represents one of the most important nesting regions for this species a high hatching failure rate is driving population numbers down.
The team sampled egg shells with early and severe symptoms of infection, as well as diseased embryos from sea turtle nests located in Ervatao, Joao Barrosa and Curral Velho beaches and discovered 25 isolates of F. solani associated with egg mass mortalities.
Although this fungal species has been previously described in association with different infections in animals, its relationship to hatching failure had not been investigated before this study.
The finding that strains of F. solani may act as a primary pathogen in loggerhead sea turtles represents an extremely high risk to the conservation of loggerhead sea turtles across the area.

The good news for this year's releases is that they were hatched in secure locations. Furthermore, the identification leads conservations and scientists to a starting path of recovery. To read the full press release, click here.

Two news reports are reporting an adder was found in a box of grapes imported to the UK from Spain, but some information just doesn't add up.

From the BBC (the Yahoo article just takes excerpts from the BBC article):

The 10" long adder was found during a quality check by a worker at Orchard County Foods in Craigavon.

The grapes were imported from Spain.

The staff member did not panic and raised the alarm with management.

The USPCA was called to the scene and took the snake away to a specialist reptile shop in Belfast.
....
Wayne said the reptile is poisonous and dangerous to anyone who is allergic the bee stings.
He added: "You can tell that it is some sort of adder because of the shape of its head. It turns into a diamond shape when it gets annoyed. This is because it has venomous glands on either side."

Dr. Bryan Greig Fry posted this to his Facebook page, and a lively discussion ensued. One of his friends ID'd it probably more correctly as a Natrix Maura or perhaps, as Fry says, a Natrix tessellata. But it is most definately a Natrix. You decide; the grainy lead photo is from the news article, but after the bump, photos of the other two more probable species.

The Rally to Restore Sanity hosted by John Stewart in D.C. is the least likely place you would the Turtle Contingent to be.

This just in from Pethobbyist Staffer, Christie Keith, who is in attendance.

I prefer by far to purchase animals in person in Tinley Park simply because I can drive them home, but this time I broke the rules.

Shipping can be stressful, although I would almost say it was harder on me than the snake! I spent all of Tuesday stalking the Fed Ex tracking page. Not like the purple tracking bar was going to move, but if for some reason the package landed in say Africa, I would know. I woke up extra early, pottied the dogs so they would not be out and got some clothes on. I even had my shoes on and was ready well before 8:00 am.

Last evening I was going to clean up the kitchen, but since that window overlooks my front side walk (exactly where the Fed Ex man would be this morning) I put it off and crashed. As of now, my dishes are half done, but Madness is in my house.

At NARBC Anaheim, I was in heaven, finally getting to see some of the Psychotic Exotic snakes in person. Going through their boxes the night of set up was like Christmas, one purty snake after another. For some reason when I got home, I had a TON of pics of the same snake. On my cell phone, on both my cameras, even on my husband's camera. Yeah they had other snakes, but the head markings on this one caught my eye.

So I made a deal with myself. If when I next saw Kerry, if he had NOT sold the snake, I was going to buy it. Amazingly, what I thought was the coolest looking Jag at Anaheim did not sell. Ahhhh, for once the fates were with me!

Elephants are nature's greatest ecological engineers. As they tramp through their habitat, the create microsystems in which reptiles and amphibians are able to flourish.

A recent study pointed these damages out and I know NONE of this will come as a surprise to herpers. Notice what they call the heavy damage, sounds a bit like laying tin to me.

HABITAT DAMAGE CATEGORIES
High - main trunk pushed over and/or uprooted
Medium - damage to the main trunk (not pushed over) and more than 50% of branches and foliage damaged
* Low - no damage to the main trunk and minimal damage to branches and foliage
....
"They will do everything from digging with their front legs, pulling up grass to knocking down big trees. So they actually change the shape of the landscape."

Not to mention their great ability to fertilize the landscape.

He added that elephants' digestive system was not very good at processing many of the seeds that they eat.
"As the faeces are also a great fertiliser, the elephants are also able to rejuvenate the landscape by transporting seeds elsewhere," Dr Schulte told BBC News.

They had 4 areas that they looked at and the species count was variable.

"Eighteen herpetofaunal (amphibians and reptiles) species... were sampled in areas of high elephant damage. Medium damage areas were comprised of 12 species, while areas of low damage had 11 species.
"The control site (fenced area) had the lowest species richness with only eight species."

For the full article, click here.

Lucy, an African Spur Thigh Tortoise, or Sulcatta, decided a few weeks ago that she wasn't fond of the confines of her fenced in yard and proceeded on a walk-a-bout.

For those not really familiar with these guys, there is a reason so many are named Tank. From The Denver Channel.com:

"She can cover some ground," he said. "She walks 2, 3 miles an hour. So, in a single day she can potentially walk 10 miles easily."
Robin said this is typical of Sulcata tortoises, which are native to North African deserts.
"She was seen by several people in Brighton. They put her in a field, believing she was wild," he added.
Even more stunning, Lucy briefly found her way back home.
"She followed her scent all the way from Brighton back to our house," Sheila Rockley said.
Alas, the couple was out of town when Lucy crawled up.
"There was no one there to let her in. So she walked over to the neighbor's house, where a new family was moving in," Sheila said.
"A mover saw her, picked her up and took her to his house," she said. "The mover's wife said that she didn't want her. So he went and dropped Lucy off at a pond in Lafayette."
But Lucy, not being a water-loving turtle, wasn't thrilled with pond life.
She's likes people -- and food.
"She walked over to the Lafayette feed store, because she's very, very smart. She's like, 'I'm not eating this outdoor crap,'" Sheila said.

Returned, slightly lighter but no worse for the wear, Lucy is back home in time for the cold snap. Of course Lucy's story is the biggest reason my rescue microchips Sulcattas. So they can hopefully find their way home.

Smugglers are not getting any brighter -- this story from the Democratic Republic of Congo may earn a nod from the Darwin Awards.

From news.com.au:

The croc had been hidden in a passenger's sports bag - allegedly with plans to sell it - but it tore loose and ran amok, sparking panic.

A stampede of terrified passengers caused the small aircraft to lose balance and tip over in mid-air during an internal flight in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The unbalanced load caused the aircraft, on a routine flight from the capital, Kinshasa, to the regional airport at Bandundu, to go into a spin and crash into a house.

A lone survivor from the Let 410 plane told the astonishing tale to investigators.

Ironically the crocodile also survived the crash but was later killed with a machete by rescuers sifting through the wreckage.

I don't even think Samsonite would make a carry-on that tough.

Most news stories focus on the harm being done to the environment by humans, but not this time. Timberline Resort in Tucker Valley, West Virginia, takes steps to help the Cheat Mountain Salamanders have a shot at survival.

From The Charleston Gazette:

But over the years, Timberline has spent time, effort and more than $100,000 to protect Cheat Mountain salamanders living adjacent to the ski trail, as part of a mitigation effort for habitat loss that occurred when the trail was cleared, opening the forest canopy, back in the early1980s.

Timberline is the only ski area in the Mid-Atlantic area to operate on U.S. Forest Service land, although only about 40 acres of Monongahela National Forest property is crossed by the ski trail, according to Tom Blanzy, the resort's mountain manager. The first major turn on Timberline's Salamander run is known as Government Curve by the resort's staff, since it marks the point where the trail enters federal property.
....
This year, the resort completed its most ambitious mitigation project, designed in cooperation with Monongahela National Forest environmental biologist Terri Evans. A 20-head sprinkler system that simulates an inch of natural rainfall over a four-hour period showers a five-acre chunk of known salamander habitat twice a week.

It's great to hear of businesses taking such an active interest in our natural resources, especially after a year of so much damage in the way of environmental accidents.

Peptids found on the skin of African Clawed Frogs show a resistance to bacteria. This research will provide a new way to detect if medical equipment is contaiminated.

From EurekaAlert!:

Princeton engineers have developed a sensor that may revolutionize how drugs and medical devices are tested for contamination, and in the process also help ensure the survival of two species of threatened animals.

To be fair, some of the credit goes to an African frog.

In the wild, the African clawed frog produces antibacterial peptides -- small chains of amino acids -- on its skin to protect it from infection. Princeton researchers have found a way to attach these peptides, which can be synthesized in the laboratory, to a small electronic chip that emits an electrical signal when exposed to harmful bacteria, including pathogenic E. coli and salmonella.

"It's a robust, simple platform," said Michael McAlpine, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the lead researcher on the project. "We think these chips could replace the current method of testing medical devices and drugs."

Hopes are since frogs aren't harmed in the making of the chip, this will reduce the use of the horseshoe crabs (thus affecting the Red Knot bird population as well).