alifewithroom asked:
Resubmitting my ask for pictures of the magnificent pobblebonk! Thank you so much!
Hope spawns at Melbourne Zoo for endangered Gippsland frogs
Zoos Victoria’s amphibian specialists have successfully bred two critically endangered Victorian frog species for the first time.
The Watson’s tree frog and southern giant burrowing frog populations have been severely impacted by habitat destruction and extreme weather events.
Scientists are hopeful the breeding program will lead to the species’ recovery…
POBBLEBONKS!!!
Giant Banjo Frog or Giant Pobblebonk (Limnodynastes interioris), family Limnodynastidae, NSW, Australia
- The call of the male is similar to that of a banjo string being plucked, a loud “PLONK” noise.
photograph by Mick Fullerton
Scarlet-sided Pobblebonk or Eastern Banjo Frog (Limnodynastes dumerilii grayi), family Limnodynastidae, Barakula State Forest, QLD. Australia
Photograph by Indra Bone
Western Banjo Frog aka Western Pobblebonk (Limnodynastes dorsalis), family Limnodynastidae, Stirling Range National Park, Western Australia
photograph by Aussie Oc
terribleteej asked:
I had -apparently- a very rare visitor to our region on Saturday. Due to the crowd, I wasn't able to get pictures. However I am 99% certain we had found a Pacific Tiger Salamander and now I need to know a whole lot more about them!
Salamander ID - EA. WA, USA:
So after talking to you a bit in DM, and looking at the range map, it must have been Blotched Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma mavortium nebulosum), family Ambystomatidae. This is a subspecies of the Western Tiger Salamander.
Green marks the range of this subspecies.
This subspecies is often farmed for bait or the pet industry, and has even been released in other places, like parts of California.
More info:
Canadian Herpetological Society
Tiger salamander | Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife
Here are some photos of my beloved Sherman:
Gene-edited ‘Peter Pan’ cane toad that never grows up created to eat its siblings, control invasive species
The removed gene controls the production of the hormone thyroxine, which fuels the metamorphosis that occurs when a tadpole transforms into a toad.
Rick Shine, an evolutionary biologist and ecologist at Macquarie University, is one of the scientists behind the “Peter Pan toads”.
He said cane toad tadpoles were known to be voracious cannibals with a preference for snacking on their kin, both in egg and hatchling form.
This is especially true in Australia where rates of cannibalism of hatchlings by tadpoles have been recorded as 2.4 times that of South America — where the cane toad originated…
Chinhai Spiny Newt (Echinotriton chinhaiensis), T - male, B - mother with eggs, family Salamandridae, Zhejiang, China
CRITICALLY ENDANGERED.
photographs by Spark Chou
Vietnamese Mossy Frog (Theloderma corticale), family Rhacophoridae, northern Vietnam
photograph by Nova Inventa
Wallace’s Flying Frogs (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus), family Rhacophoridae, found in SE Asia
- The species can use their extensive toe webbing to glide or parachute from trees, in their dense forest habitat.
photographs by Virescence and Rushenb
leebeearts asked:
Ya got any cool info on Olms and olm-related creatures?
Olms are definitely one of my favorite animals!
Here are some olms, and other cave dwelling salamanders.
Olm (Proteus anguinus), family Proteidae, far NW Italy
- This aquatic salamander is neotenic/paedomorphic (retaining juvenile traits - ie. gills and other aquatic adaptations)
- Found only in karst rock cave systems with ample water in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia Hercegovina, and far NW Italy.
- Also called the “human fish”, proteus, and white cave salamander.
- Olms are blind, but have excellent sense of smell and hearing (for a salamander).
photograph by Matteo Di Nicola
Croatia - photograph by Arne Hodalič
Other troglodytic salamanders…
Texas Blind Salamander (Eurycea rathbuni), family Plethodontidae, found in cave systems in Central TX, USA
ENDANGERED.
photographs: Joe N. Fries/USFWS & Ryan Hagerty/USFWS
Georgia Blind Salamander (Eurycea wallacei), family Plethodontidae, Jackson County, FL, USA
ENDANGERED.
- Neotenic (paedomorphic), retaining larval traits for an aquatic lifestyle.
- Found in caves and other subterranean habitats.
photograph by Pierson Hill
Emei Mustache Toad aka Taosze Spiny Toad, (Leptobrachium boringii), family Megophryidae, Sichuan, China
ENDANGERED.
- The larger males grow keratinized spines on the upper lip, which they use to defend territories, during the breeding season. The spines fall off after the breeding season.
photographs by Spark Chou
