The straberryfrog is found in the tropical rainforests along the Atlantic coast of Central America from northern Guatermala to Panama. The greatest concentration has been found in Costa Rica. Red spells danger where the strawberry poison dart frog is concerned. This deadly amphibian produces one of nature’s most toxic poisons, while its flamboyant colour warns other animals that they eat it at their peril. Its name reflects the fact that certain tribes rub their dart tips in the poisonous mucus of the frog’s skin, creating supremely effective weapons. Scientists are investigating this poison for possible medicinal uses. The poison dart frog is also remarkable for its highly evolved parental care.

Fierce defenders

The strawberry frog is active during the day, when its bright red skin glows, as a clearly visible warning to predators. Only the snakes, Leimadophis epinephelus, is immune to its poison. Often described as the jewel of the rainforest, this tiny frog lives near water in leaf litter and moss and on low, overhanging branches. The moist atmosphera of the rainforest stops its skin drying out. Strawberry frogs are agressive and highly territorial. Males and occasionally females, will fight intruders, wrestling rivals with their hind legs, often to the death. These frogs seldom stray far from their home area.

Part of bodies

• Large black eyes – with lids
• Bright red colouration – advertise its poison
• Vocal sac – is only present in the male
• poison glands – in skin
• Strong legs – are usually purple-blue in colour

Statistic

• Status – locally comman
• lenght – 2-2.5 cm
• habit – terrestrial
• sexual maturity – 1 year
• breeding season – October-march
• incubation period – 10-12 days
• number of eggs – 4-6 per cluth
• breeding interval – every other month
• diet – ants, termites, small spiders and beetles
• lifespan – more than 10 years

Myth or fact

The strawberry poison dart frog cannot kill by touch alone; it causes convulsions and ultimately death only if the toxins from its skin enter the bloodstream through a cut or by being ingested by putting the finger that touched the frog in the mouth. Even the golden poison dart frog, the most poisonous frog of all, is not lethal if simply touched, although surgical gloves are recommended.

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Although the great crested newt is widely distributed across Europe, the species has declined over much of its range. Changes in land use and agricultural practices over the last 50 years have destroyed much of its pond and woodland habitat. The great crested newt of northwestern Europe-along with other European newts of the genus Triturus-gets its name from the large, deeply notched crest that runs along the back of the breeding male. The European newts are unique among tailed amphibians: During the breeding season the males develop elaborate decorations that serve to attract and stimulate females during courtship. Although great crested newts spend much of their lives on land, breeding takes place in water. Adults migrate to ponds in early spring. Females start the breeding season already full of large, yolk-filled eggs. It takes the males several weeks to fully develop their deep tail and crest, features that play an important part in the mating process. Males that emerge from their winter hibernation with larger fat reserves develop larger crests, and it is likely that they are more attractive to females. Mating usually occurs at dusk. The male takes up a position in front of the female and displays to her with rhythmic beats of his tail. If the female responds by moving toward him, the male deposits a package of sperm, called a spermatophore, on the floor of the pond. The female then moves over it and picks it up with her open cloaca (cavity into which the genital ducts open). Two or three days after mating the female begins to lay her eggs, a process that takes many weeks. Great crested newts usually produce between 150 and 200 eggs, each of which is laid individually and carefully wrapped in the leaf of a water plant. After two to three weeks the eggs hatch into tiny larvae, which, once they have used up their reserves of yolk, start to feed on tiny aquatic animals, such as water fleas. Larval development takes two to three months, and the young emerge from their pond as miniature adults in late summer and fall. Females mate several times during the breeding season, interrupting egg¬laying to replenish their supplies of sperm.

Risk Factors

Together with its close relative, the marbled newt, the great crested newt has a remarkable abnormality of its chromosomes. As a result, 50 percent of its young die as early embryos. This is one reason, perhaps, why crested newts have declined more rapidly than other European newt species. Predation is not a significant problem for great crested newts. When handled, glands in their skin produce a bitter, milky secretion that humans and potential predators, such as water birds and hedgehogs, find lip distasteful. In addition, the bright orange and black pattern on the belly appears to warn off predators. However, crested newts are at risk from habitat alteration and destruction. The main problem has been changes in land use since World War II. Woodlands have been cleared, hedges destroyed, and land drained to make way for crops and livestock. Ponds, which were a common feature of the European landscape, have been filled in. In some parts of Britain, for example, 90 percent of farm ponds have disappeared in the last 50 years. Another threat to crested and other newt species comes from fish that eat newt larvae. The eggs and larvae of crested newts are also sensitive to a variety of pollutants, such as herbicides and pesticides. In the southern parts of its range the crested newt is found in a number of forms that differ from the northern form in having longer bodies, shorter legs, and a different shape of crest on the male. Such forms are now recognized as three distinct species: the Italian crested newt, the Danube newt, and the southern crested newt. All are threatened by habitat loss and protected, to varying degrees, by national and European laws. At the southwestern edge of its distribution, however, the crested newt is expanding its range. In some parts of France it appears to be adapting to new patterns of land use and is even spreading into ponds previously used only by marbled newts.

Great crested newt (warty newt)
Triturus cristatus

• Family: Salamandridae
• World population: Unknown
• Distribution: Northwestern Europe
• Habitat: Woodland, scrub, and hedgerows close to ponds, lakes, or ditches
• Size: Length, male 3.9-5.5 in (10- 14 cm); female 3.9-6.3 in ( 10-16 cm)
• Form: Dark gray or brown newt with large black spots on upperside; bright orange underside with black spots. In breeding season male (only) has large, dorsal crest and deep tail with white stripe
• Diet: Small invertebrates
• Breeding: Mates in spring and early summer. Between 70 and 600 (usually 150-200) eggs laid; larvae hatch after 2 week gestation; young develop over 2-3 months. Life span up to 16 years
• Related endangered species: Danube newt (Tristurus dobrogicus)

In the breeding season the male great crested newt develops a distinctive crest and tail, which he displays during courtship. A, tail has a conipicuous white stripe that shows up clearly in the dim light of dusk-when mating occurs.

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A bizarre, permanently aquatic salamander that lives almost entirely underground, the olm is vulnerable to a variety of factors that threaten its restricted and specialized habitat. The olm is a strange and obscure amphibian. It is highly adapted to a habitat of underground streams, pools, and lakes, and shows a classic example of pedomorphism. This is an evolutionary change that results in the retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult form. The species does not exist as a terrestrial, lung-breathing salamander. During the course of its normal pattern of development the olm has become “frozen” in the larval stage, retaining the large, feathery external gills and laterally compressed tail, which it beats to propel itself through the water.

Adapted for Life in the Dark

The olm’s underground streams and pools occur in the “karst” landscape that is associated with limestone. Living in permanent darkness, it has only tiny rudimentary eyes that are covered by skin. Its larvae, on the other hand, have quite well-developed eyes, but they degenerate during life. The adults lack dark pigment in their skin, but vary in color, being white, pink, gray, or yellowy; younger individuals often have darker blotches on the skin. Unable to see, the olm must rely on other senses to find its food and for social communication. It has an excellent sense of smell, and its skin contains large numbers of tiny lateral line organs that are sensitive to water-borne vibrations. It uses its sense of smell and sensitivity to vibrations to detect the moving invertebrates on which it feeds. These senses are also important during aggressive interactions between males and during courtship and mating. As recently as 1994 a distinct form of the olm has been discovered. Given the status of a subspecies, Proteus anguinus parkelj is black, has well-developed eyes, and is found only in the Bela Krajuna region of southeastern Slovenia. Individuals have been observed emerging from caves at night and swimming around in open pools and streams.

Statistics:

• Olm (blind cave salamander) Proteus anguinus
• Family: Proteidae
• World population: Unknown
• Distribution: Southeastern Europe: the Adriatic coast from northern Italy to Montenegro (former Yugoslavia)
• Habitat: Caves and underground lakes and streams in limestone mountains
• Diet: Small aquatic invertebrates, mainly crustaceans
• Size: Length: 8-11 in (20-28 cm)
• Form: Large, flat head with rounded snout; white, pale-gray, pink, or creamy-yellow elongated body; darker blotches in younger animals; large pink, feathery external gills. Small rudimentary limbs
• Breeding: Any time of year. Eggs fertilized internally. Twelve to 70 eggs laid under a stone and guarded by female until hatched; alternatively, just 1-2 eggs develop inside body of female, who gives birth to well-developed larvae. Young mature at 7 years. Life span up to 58 years
• Related endangered species: None

Breeding

Living underground, the olm is not exposed to the seasonal variations in temperature and rainfall that are experienced by amphibians living on the surface. Water temperature in its cave habitat is more or less constant all year round. As a result, the olm has no obvious breeding season but may breed at any time of year. When breeding, the slightly smaller males become aggressive toward one another, defending their territory. If a female enters a male’s territory, he performs a tail-fanning display-similar to that of European newts-in which he beats the tip of his tail rapidly against his flank. This creates a water current that he directs toward the female, who receives both vibratory stimuli and odor cues. If she is sexually responsive, she will approach the male. He then turns away, stopping to deposit a packet of sperm (called a spermatophore) on the ground. The female follows him and passes over the spermatophore. As she does so, her cloaca (cavity in the pelvic region into which the genital ducts open) passes over the spermatophore, and the sperm is drawn up into her body. The female then creates a simple nest in the debris on the cave floor and lays a clutch of eggs. She guards them against predators until they hatch. Alternatively, between one and two eggs develop inside the body of the female, who gives birth to well-developed larvae.

Habitat at Risk

The olm’s specialized habitat requirements-places where there are underground caves containing water-mean that even under ideal conditions it will always be a rare species. Although it is reasonably safe from many of the changes that have adversely affected surface-living amphibians, such as habitat destruction, it is not wholly unaffected by events on the surface. Much of the water that fills the underground caves flows in from the surface, where it can become contaminated by a range of pollutants, such as agricultural runoff or industrial waste. It is believed that pollution is a major factor in the reduction of the olm population. The olm is a fascinating animal, both to scientists and to amateur enthusiasts. In the past olms were collected as pig food. Today it is collection by enthusiasts that is having a more serious effect on natural populations.

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The Mallorcan midwife toad has an unusual reproductive strategy. Confined to a restricted habitat, it is now being sustained by a captive-breeding and release program. The tiny Mallorcan midwife toad was known as a fossil long before it was discovered alive; it was found alive and named as recently as 1977. Now confined to about 10 isolated localities in the Sierra de Tramuntana, a mountainous region in western Mallorca, it once lived throughout the island. Its natural habitat is now fully protected, and a captive-breeding program is producing a steady supply of young animals that are released annually into suitable new sites. Smaller than the three species of midwife toads that live on the European mainland, the Mallorcan midwife toad became isolated about 7 million years ago, when a rise in sea level separated Mallorca from Spain. Living in streams, pools, and wells throughout the island, its survival came under threat in Roman times, when nonnative animals were introduced to the island. The viperine snake is a predator of midwife toads, while the Spanish green frog is a competitor, its tadpoles feeding on the same kind of food. Both species thrive at low altitudes, but have not been able to colonize Mallorca’s impressive mountainous regions. As a result, the Mallorcan midwife toad is confined to a few remote limestone ravines.

Call of the Wild

Following winter rains, which briefly turn their habitat into a raging torrent, Mallorcan midwife toads begin to call. The call is a soft, simple “peep” and, unusually, is produced by both sexes. It enables individuals to find each other in deep, rocky fissures. Mating, which takes place on land, is complex and protracted, and involves an elaborate series of leg movements by which a string of ten to 20 large, yolk¬filled eggs becomes tightly wrapped around the male’s hindlegs. The male then carries them around for several weeks until they are ready to hatch. The brooding period lasts for three to 10 weeks and averages four weeks; it is longer in cold weather and can be costly for males. While carrying eggs, males are not able to pursue prey actively and so tend to lose weight. In addition, the egg string sometimes becomes so tightly wrapped around a leg that its blood supply is cut off and the leg is lost. When the eggs are fully developed, the male briefly enters a pool and deposits them; soon afterward they hatch into tadpoles. Tadpole development and growth can take more than a year, and the tadpoles grow to a considerable size. Indeed, growth in the tadpole stage represents a greater proportion of total lifetime growth than in any other frog. Having passed a string of eggs to a male, the female, liberated from parental duties, develops a new batch of eggs; by the time they are mature, after about three weeks, there are males available who have gotten rid of their first batch of eggs. The breeding season lasts several months, and during it a female can lay up to three or four batches of eggs. Because females can generally produce eggs faster than males can brood them (an effect that is especially marked in cool weather), females commonly have to fight one another to mate with a willing male.

On the Brink of Extinction

When zoologists discovered the Mallorcan midwife toad alive, they realized that it was not only extremely rare, but also in danger of extinction. Its restricted habitat was a major cause for concern. It was immediately protected, and in 1985 a captive-breeding program was established involving a number of zoos and universities across Europe. The Mallorcan midwife toad thrives and breeds readily in captivity, and by 1989 large numbers of tadpoles and young adults were being shipped back to Mallorca to be released into the wild. Releases were made at localities with a suitable habitat where there were no wild toads. The species is now established at 12 new sites, in addition to the 13 natural ones. The range over which the species occurs has been doubled, and it is estimated that about 25 percent of the total population was bred in captivity. In 2004 its status was reduced from Critically Endangered to Vulnerable. The Mallorcan midwife toad illustrates the potential of captive-breeding programs in the conservation of endangered animals. It is a particularly suitable technique for amphibians because they have a high reproductive potential that is only rarely realized under natural conditions. Amphibians typically produce a large number of eggs. However, most die, either as eggs or tadpoles, through a variety of natural causes in the wild. In captivity eggs and tadpoles can be protected from such hazards so that the reproductive potential of a species can be exploited.

Mallorcan midwife toad (ferreret)
Alytes muletensis

• Family: Discoglossidae
• World population: Unknown
• Distribution: Mallorca
• Habitat: Around pools in deep ravines at high altitude
• Diet: Small invertebrates
• Breeding: Spring and summer (March-July). Male carries eggs wrapped around hindlegs for several weeks; tadpole development lasts about 1 year
• Size: Length: 1.2-1.8 in (3-4 cm)
• Form: Pale yellow or ocher with numerous dark-brown, black, or dark¬green spots
• Related endangered species: Betic midwife toad (Alytes dickhilleni)

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The golden toad has become a symbol of declining amphibian populations. Although living in a protected habitat, the species disappeared along with several other frog and toad species, and in 2004 was listed as extinct. The cause of this dramatic decline is unknown. Most toads belonging to the genus Bufo are dull in color. Males and females are generally similar in appearance, with the females slightly larger than the males. The golden toad is highly unusual in that the coloration of the male is strikingly different from that of the female. While the female is greenish-yellow and black, decorated with yellow-edged red spots, the male is bright orange or red. The biological significance of the color difference is unknown. Golden toads live in “elfin” cloud forest, so called because the trees’ growth is stunted by powerful winds. When the forest is shrouded in dense cloud, it creates a damp climate that favors the growth of epiphytic plants and creepers (plants that grow on other plants, but are not parasitic). The toads have been seen only in the breeding season from March to June following the rain and lasting only a few days or weeks. The rain fills small pools-many form around the roots of trees-that are essential for the breeding biology of the species. Large numbers of golden toads gather at the shallow pools, with males typically outnumbering females.

Tadpole Survival

Most toads lay very large numbers of small eggs (several thousand in many species) that hatch into tiny tadpoles. The eggs of the golden toad, however, are large, with a sizeable part consisting of yolk, and the average clutch size is only about 300. It is thought that this pattern evolved because the breeding pools used by the golden toad could become very crowded and did not support a sufficient growth of algae to provide food for large numbers of tadpoles. Golden toad tadpoles need the nutrients provided by the yolk if they are to grow quickly and metamorphose (transform into an adult) before their breeding ponds dry out. Most toads lay their eggs in large, permanent ponds that are rich in algae and other nutrients.

Mysterious Decline

The golden toad was first described in 1964, having been observed during the breeding season. In 1987 1,500 animals were counted, but in both 1988 and 1989 only one individual was recorded at Monteverde in Costa Rica. Since then not a single golden toad has been seen. Over the same period about 20 percent of the frog and toad species found at Monteverde declined dramatically in numbers. During this time 25 species disappeared; only five have reappeared since. The species that were affected were those most dependent on standing water for breeding. The cause of the dramatic population declin; is not understood. Monteverde is a nature reserve and is not subject to habitat destruction of any kind, nor are any herbicides, pesticides, or other chemicals used in the locality. A detailed analysis of the climate at Monteverde suggests that climate change may be responsible for the demise of the golden toad and other frog and toad species. Since the 1970s the number of days each year when the forest is shrouded in cloud has diminished, affecting the local fauna. Bird and reptile species that once occurred at lower, drier altitudes have moved into higher altitudes. It seems that the golden toads died out when their habitat became too dry for successful breeding.

Statistics Golden Toad

• Family: Bufonidae
• World population: Probably 0
• Habitat: Montane (mountainous) cloud forest
• Distribution: Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, Cordillera de Tilaran, Costa Rica
• Size: Length: male 1.5-2 in (4.1-4.8 cm); female 1.8-2.3 in (4.7-5.4 cm)
• Form: Male bright red or orange; female mottled black, red, and yellow
• Diet: Insects and other invertebrates
• Breeding: Clutch size of about 300 eggs laid March-June; hatch into tadpoles
• Related endangered species: Amatola toad (Bufo amatolicus); boreal toad (B. boreas); Yosemite toad (B. canorus) ; black toad (B. exsul); Houston toad (B. houstonensis); Amargosa toad (B. nelsoni)

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Once common throughout the western United States and Canada, the western toad has vanished from many parts of its range over the last 30 years. Although its decline is well documented, the causes of its depleted numbers are not known. The huge geographical range of the western toad, stretching from the Baja California region of Mexico in the south to Alaska in the north; from sea level to altitudes of over 11,800 feet (3,600 m), suggests that it is a very adaptable species. It is found in a wide variety of habitats, including desert streams, grassland, woodland, and mountain meadows-its main requirement is only some kind of temporary or permanent water body nearby where it can breed. The western toad’s remarkable ability to live in such a diversity of habitats has not, however, prevented it from declining and, in some areas, probably becoming extinct. Gray or green in color with dark blotches, the western toad has a distinctive white or cream stripe running down the middle of its back. Its skin is warty, the warts mostly positioned within the dark blotches, some of which may be a rusty red color. Compared to many toads, it has rather small hind legs, and it typically runs over the ground, rather than hops. The male is, on average, slightly smaller than the female and somewhat less warty. Two subspecies are recognized. The boreal toad occupies the northern part of the range, whereas the California toad is found farther south in California, western Nevada, and Baja California in Mexico.

Explosive Breeding

The western toad spends much of its life underground, either digging into soft soil or using the burrows of other animals, such as ground squirrels. It is described as an “explosive breeder,” meaning that it has a very short and frenetic breeding season. Early in the spring-which can be any time from late January to July, depending on latitude, altitude, and local climatic conditions-large numbers of toads suddenly emerge from their winter hiding places and move toward ponds, lakes, and streams. Males do not call to attract females, but simply move around a breeding pond looking for females. At lower altitudes western toads are generally active only during the night, but at higher altitudes where it is cold at night, they are active by day. In the water the more numerous males grapple over females. Once a pair is firmly clasped together, the male on the female’s back, they make their way to a spawn site, where the female lays two long strings of eggs. Spawning is usually communal, with all the females in a population laying their eggs in one spot. The most likely benefit of such behavior is that the temperature inside a mass of spawn is slightly higher than that of the surrounding water, encouraging more rapid development of the eggs.

Population Decline

A survey carried out in Colorado in 1982 revealed that 11 populations of western toads known to exist in 1971 had vanished. In 1988 surveys in the central Rocky Mountains found western toads in only 10 of the 59 historically recorded sites. In Yosemite National Park in 1992 they were present in only one of many sites where they had been recorded in 1924. The species is now virtually extinct in Utah, and in Wyoming it has declined in the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Over much of its range the western toad has probably been adversely affected by deforestation, which has destroyed and fragmented its habitat. The period over which it has declined has also been a time when several serious droughts have occurred, preventing breeding in some years. Such factors do not explain the decline of the species in protected areas where its habitat has not been destroyed. At some sites up to 95 percent of eggs have failed to hatch, a rate of mortality that is associated with an infection by the freshwater fungus, Saprolegnia ferax. The tendency of the species to breed communally exacerbates the effect of fungal infection. Experimental studies have shown that mortality among the eggs of western toads, as for other species, is increased by exposure to the elevated levels of ultraviolet radiation that now frequently occur in areas such as Oregon as a result of thinning of the ozone layer. Disease has also been suggested as a cause of the toad declines. Another possibility is that one or more environmental factors, such as increased UV-B or pollution, has weakened their immune systems so that they have lost their resistance to once-harmless diseases.

Western toad (boreal toad)
Bufo boreas

• Family: Bufonidae
• World population: Unknown
• Distribution: Western U.S. and Canada
• Habitat: Varied: includes desert streams and springs, grassland, woodland, and mountain meadows; in or near ponds, lakes, reservoirs, rivers, and streams
• Size: Length: 2.5-5 in (6.2-12.5 cm)
• Form: Brown, gray, or greenish with large, dark blotches; often also some rusty-red blotches; white or cream stripe down the middle of the back; warty skin
• Diet: Small invertebrates
• Breeding: Spring and summer (January-July, depending on latitude, altitude, and local conditions); explosive breeder; female produces thousands of eggs in long strings
• Related endangered species: Amargosa toad (Bufo nelsoni); Amatola toad (B. amatolicus) ; black toad (B. exsul); Houston toad (B. houstonensis); Yosemite toad (B. canorus)

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The golden mantella frog is only found in one small forest on the island of Madagascar. It is threatened by the destruction of its habitat and by the international pet trade in frogs. The golden mantella is one of a small group of frog species found only in Madagascar. It is brightly colored, poisonous, and active by day. It shares such characteristics with the poison-dart (dendrobatid) frogs of Central and South America. In evolutionary terms, however, the golden mantellas and poison-dart frogs are not related. The golden mantella thus represents an example of “convergent evolution” by which organisms come to closely resemble one another not as a result of common evolutionary ancestry, but through the action of natural selection (the survival of individuals best adjusted to their environment). The exact relationships of the mantellas are not clear. Some authorities put them in the large family Ranidae; others in a small family of their own: the Mantellidae. Like the poison-dart frogs, the mantellas acquire poisonous compounds, called alkaloids, from their insect prey. They incorporate the toxic substances into secretions made in numerous poison glands in their skin. Predators that attack toxic, brightly colored prey quickly learn to associate the striking color pattern with an unpleasant experience and thereafter avoid that particular kind of prey.

Terrestrial Mating

Unlike many frogs, mantellas do not mate in standing water. However, they need damp conditions to breed and consequently mate in the rainy season. Males call to females, producing a sound like a cricket’s chirp that consists of a series of notes, with three “clicks” in each. When a receptive female approaches, the male clasps her in a brief amplexus (mating embrace), during which the eggs are laid in hollows in the damp soil. There are suggestions that fertilization is internal, but mating has not been properly observed. The eggs are whitish in color, and there are between 20 and 75 in a clutch. They hatch after about 14 days; the tadpoles push their way up to the soil surface and then wriggle over the damp ground to a nearby pool. There they complete their development, emerging as tiny frogs about two months later. In contrast to the vivid adult coloration, newly metamorphosed golden mantellas are green and black.

A Race against Time

The golden mantella lives only in one small forest area between Beforona and Maramanga in western Madagascar. The forests of Madagascar have been largely destroyed. Trees have been felled over large areas to be exported as timber and to create land for agriculture. All kinds of animals that are unique to the island are threatened by such activity, and biologists are currently exploring the remaining forest fragments to catalog the endemic (native) fauna before it disappears. As a result of the intense exploration, a growing number of newly described Madagascan species, including mantellas, are emerging. A few years ago only three mantellas had been described, but the most recent analysis lists 12 species, all of which are listed by IUCN at some level of threat.

Golden mantella
Mantella aurantiaca

• Family: Ranidae/Mantellidae
• World population: Unknown
• Distribution: Eastern Madagascar
• Habitat: Deep leaf litter in wet tropical forests
• Size: Length: 0.8-1.3 in (2-3 cm)
• Form: Adults bright yellow, orange, or red; newly metamorphosed frogs green and black; black eyes
• Diet: Small invertebrates
• Breeding: Clutch of 20-75 whitish eggs laid in dark cavities on land; eggs hatch after about 14 days; tadpoles wriggle to small pools and emerge as tiny frogs about 2 months later

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The red or orange-colored tomato frog of Madagascar has been threatened by habitat destruction, pollution, and overcollection for the pet trade. It is now protected and responding well to captive-breeding programs. The tomato frog gets its name from the rounded shape of the female and her red coloration, which makes her resemble a ripe tomato. Not all tomato frogs are red; some are orange, others dark brown, and males are generally less vividly colored than females. The frog has a flat head, a rounded body, and white underside; females are considerably larger than males. Their striking coloration, combined with the fact that they thrive in captivity, have made them popular animals in the international pet trade. Found only in Madagascar, the tomato frog has a small range. It occurs in two main areas on the coastal plain in the northeast of the island. Its preferred habitat is soft soil, where standing water for it to breed in accumulates during the rainy season. A secretive, nocturnal animal, it hides during the day, emerging at night to hunt ground-dwelling invertebrates. The frog’s round shape and lack of adhesive disks on its fingers and toes mean that it is unable to climb. Nor is it particularly well adapted for swimming, having only partial webbing between its toes and none between its fingers. During the dry season it burrows deep into sandy soil, using horny protuberances on its hind feet.

Sticky Defense

In many amphibians bright coloration is associated with skin toxins that make them unpalatable or poisonous to potential predators. The tomato frog’s bright color serves to warn predators that it is not good to eat. When attacked or handled, it secretes copious amounts of sticky mucus from its skin; any animal trying to eat it is likely to find its jaws glued together. A number of amphibians have this kind of defense, but the tomato frog produces mucus with stronger sticking power than that of any other frog. It is also mildly toxic, often causing an allergic reaction in humans.

Breeding after Rain

With the first indication of rain male tomato frogs emerge from underground and head for ditches, ponds, and pools as they fill with water. It is thought that the sound of rain falling on the ground is a sufficient stimulus to bring males out of hiding. Males call to attract females from the edge of the water, inflating a single vocal patch under the chin. Females lay between 1,000 and 1,500 eggs that float on the surface of the water. Filter-feeding tadpoles hatch from the eggs within two days and take a further six weeks to metamorphose into juvenile froglets. The young frogs are about 0.4 inches (1 cm) long by this stage and black or brown with a tan stripe down the back. They develop the characteristic adult colors at about three months and are fully mature by one year.

Threats and Conservation

The tomato frog has a restricted range in Madagascar, and much of its natural habitat has been destroyed to make way for building and agricultural land. This has not been as disastrous for the tomato frog as for other species, since they thrive alongside human activities and habitations. Large breeding populations form in man-made drainage ditches, rice fields, and flooded meadows, but these habitats are susceptible to pollution from pesticides, herbicides, and detergents. The main threat to the tomato frog comes from the worldwide trade in amphibians. Large numbers used to be exported from Madagascar to Europe and the United States. Although it is nocturnal, the frog’s distinctive nighttime call made it possible for poachers to identify and capture it in the dark. The trade in tomato frogs for pets has now been stopped. The species is fully protected under CITES and breeding successfully in captivity, although lack of genetic diversity is a problem. To help increase diversity, attempts will be made to crossbreed frogs from European and American collections. The aim is also to build up captive populations in Madagascar for export to foreign breeding programs. The pet-trade market could then be met by captive-bred, rather than wild-caught frogs, and captive-bred animals could be used to reestablish populations in the wild.

Tomato frog
Dyscophus antongilii

• Family: Microhylidae
• World population: Unknown
• Distribution: Eastern coastal plains of Madagascar
• Habitat: Lowland habitats with soft soil; some agricultural areas
• Size: Length: male 2.5 in (6.5 cm); female 3.3-4.8 in (8-12 cm)
• Form: Flat head, plump body, partial webbing between toes. Female bright red, occasionally orange or dark brown on the back; belly white. Male has duller, yellow-orange coloration
• Diet: Small invertebrates
• Breeding: 1,000-1,500 black and white eggs laid on water surface; tadpoles hatch within 36 hours; metamorphosis complete at 6.5 weeks; fully mature at 12 months. Life span 10 years

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Restricted to just two mountainous areas, the Japanese giant salamander’s mountain stream habitat is under threat from damming and deforestation. Collection has also depleted numbers. Fortunately, the salamander is now fully protected by international trade restrictions. The Japanese giant salamander and its close relative the Chinese giant salamander from China and Taiwan are the largest salamanders in the world. An inhabitant of mountain streams with clear, cool water, the Japanese giant salamander is similar in anatomy and habits to the hell bender of North America, and the two Asian species are sometimes known as Oriental hell benders. The Japanese giant salamander has a heavily built, slightly compressed body and a flat head, with small eyes and nostrils at the tip of its snout. Its skin is rough and warty, with many wrinkles and folds, giving the impression that its body is too small for its skin. Two prominent folds run along the whole length of its body. The tail, which makes up about a quarter of its total length, is flattened from side to side and has a fin along the upper side. The limbs are small and also slightly flattened. In color the salamander is reddish or grayish brown with a darker mottled pattern, and it is paler on the underside. Males and females are similar in size and appearance, except that the male develops a swollen cloaca (cavity into which the alimentary canal, genital, and urinary ducts open) during the breeding season. The Japanese giant salamander is a retiring animal by day, hiding under rocks or in a burrow. It emerges at night in search of food, which includes fish, worms, and crustaceans such as crayfish. It has an unusual arrangement of jawbones and muscles, which enables it to suck its prey into its mouth. It requires the clean, well-oxygenated water that is found only in fast­flowing streams and so is confined to altitudes between 980 and 3,300 feet (300 and 1,000 m). The Chinese giant salamander is found in a similar habitat, but also occurs in mountain lakes.

Breathing through the Skin

The giant salamanders show a form of pedomorphosis, retaining many aspects of the larval form into adult life. Unlike some pedomorphic salamanders, however, giant salamanders lose their external gills when they are about 18 months old and about 4.5 inches (12 cm) in length. Thereafter they rely on their skin to absorb oxygen from the water. The skin of giant salamanders contains a higher density of blood capillaries than most salamanders, and the many wrinkles and folds in the skin increase the surface area over which oxygen is absorbed. When resting, the salamanders sway slowly from side to side; this serves to gently stir up the water, ensuring that well-oxygenated water is always close to their skin.

Paternal Care

plays a more active role than is true for most salamanders. He digs a pit in the gravel on a stream bed, defending his territory aggressively against rival males. At the same time, he displays to attract a female into the pit. The female lays 400 to 600 eggs in strings that are between 7 and 60 feet (2 and 18 m) in length, and the male sheds sperm onto them. Mating attracts the attention of other, usually smaller males, who enter the nest and also shed sperm on the eggs. After mating, the female leaves the male, who guards the eggs until they hatch, after about two months. The newly hatched larvae disperse from the nest and reach maturity at about three years of age. Breeding begins in the fall (August to September). The male Japanese giant salamanderGiant salamanders are very long-lived; one animal, in Amsterdam Zoo, lived to be 52 years old.

Protected Species

The large size of the Japanese giant salamander, together with its specific habitat requirements, means that it was never an abundant creature. As a result, it has been particularly badly affected by deforestation and the damming of rivers, activities that destroy the clear, well- oxygenated streams it prefers. Japanese giant salamanders have also been collected in the past and sent to many museums, aquaria, and zoos throughout the world. However, this kind of trade is now tightly controlled, the species having been given full protection under the CITES treaty.

Statistics:

• Family: Cryptobranchidae
• World population: Unknown
• Distribution: Southern Japan; islands of Honshu and Kyushu
• Habitat: Rocky mountain streams with clear, fast-flowing, and well oxygenated water
• Size: Length: 8-56 in (20-140 cm)
• Form: Large salamander; long, flattened body; rough, warty skin with many wrinkles and folds. Laterally compressed tail with dorsal (back) fin. Broad, flat head; small eyes. Reddish or grayish brown on upper body; paler below
• Diet: Fish, worms, and crustaceans
• Breeding: Fall (August-September)
• Related endangered species: Chinese giant salamander

Salamander

Any member of a group of about 400 species of amphibians that have tails and that constitute the order Caudata. The order comprises 10 families, among which are newts and salamanders proper (family Salamandridae) as well as hellbenders, mud puppies, and lungless salamanders. They most commonly occur in freshwater and damp woodlands, principally in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Salamanders are generally short bodied, four legged, moist-skinned animals, about 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 inches) long. They are often boldly patterned or brightly coloured. The largest of the order is the Chinese giant salamander, Andrias davidianus, which grows to 1.5 m (5 feet) in length. Typical salamanders undergo a larval stage that lasts for a period of a few days to several years. Larval forms have external gills and teeth in both jaws and lack eyelids. These and other larval features may persist into sexual maturity a condition known as neoteny. A mud puppy (Necturus maculosus) of eastern North America and the axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) of central Mexico are common species that exhibit this phenomenon. Salamanders feed on insects, worms, snails, and other small animals, including members of their own species. Like other amphibians, they absorb water through their skins, and they require a moist habitat. In regions where the temperature goes below freezing, they often hibernate. Most adult salamanders hide by day and feed by night. Some remain hidden underground until the breeding season, or they may emerge only when levels of moisture and temperature are appropriate. Many species, especially in the family Plethodontidae, are strictly terrestrial and avoid ponds and streams. Fertilization in primitive forms (suborder Cryptobranchoidea) is external. In higher forms, fertilization is usually internal; males of such forms often produce a spermatophore, or sperm case, which the female takes into her body through the cloacal opening. Breeding often occurs in the water, but certain members of the Salamandridae and most species of the Plethodontidae families breed on land.

Family Dicamptodontidae (giant salamanders)
Large salamanders, to 35 cm; stout-bodied and large-headed with large, long limbs; larvae live for several years, and 1 species is permanently larval; Paleocene (66.4–57.8 million years ago) to present; northwestern United States and extreme southwestern Canada; 1 genus, Dicamptodon, and 4 species.

Family Plethodontidae (lungless salamanders)
Very small to moderate size, 3.5 to about 30 cm; includes the most specialized and most terrestrial salamanders and the only truly tropical species; lungless; nasolabial grooves present; no ypsiloid cartilage; Early Miocene (23.7–16.6 million years ago) to present; North America, Central America, and most of South America; 6 species in Europe (Sardinia, southern France, and north-central Italy); 25 genera, placed in 2 subfamilies: Desmognathinae, with 3 genera (including Desmognathus) and about 14 species in eastern North America, and Plethodontinae, with 22 genera (including Plethodon in North America and the bolitoglossines Bolitoglossa in Central and South America, Batrachoseps in western North America, and Hydromantes in western North America and the central Mediterranean region) and about 232 species.

Family Proteidae (olms and mud puppies)
The olm is blind, has little pigment, has an elongated body, and is cave-dwelling; mud puppies live in lakes and streams, have eyes, and are normally pigmented; elongate bodies, length to 45 cm; limbs with 3 (olm) or 4 fingers, 2 (olm) or 4 toes; external gills present; Late Paleocene to present; 2 genera (Proteus, native to the northern Balkan Peninsula, and Necturus, of eastern North America) and 6 species.

Family Rhyacotritonidae (torrent salamanders)
Small dwellers of streams, springs, and seeps; length to 9 cm; 4 fingers and 5 toes; no gills in adults; no fossil record; northwestern United States; 1 genus, Rhyacotriton, and 4 species.

Family Salamandridae (salamanders and newts)
Generalized form and habit; moderate size, to 30 cm; limbs with 4 fingers, 4 to 5 toes; usually no external gills or spiracle; Paleocene to present; Europe; North Africa; Middle East; Afghanistan to Japan, China, and northern Vietnam; eastern and western North America; 14 genera (including Triturus and Salamandra in Europe, Notophthalamus and Taricha in North America, and Cynops in Japan) and about 56 species.

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Members of the three extant orders of amphibians, Anura (frogs and toads), Caudata (salamanders and newts), and Apoda (or Gymnophiona of some authors; caecilians), differ markedly in their structural appearance. Frogs and toads (anurans) are tailless, somewhat squat amphibians with long, powerful hindlimbs modified for leaping. Salamanders and newts have tails and two pairs of limbs of roughly the same size and have less-specialized structures than the other two orders. Caecilians are limbless, wormlike, and highly adapted for a burrowing existence.

Traditionally, these orders have been united in one class by the feature unique to them among all tetrapods, the anamniotic egg. Other general defining characteristics include glandular skin that lacks epidermal structures such as hair or feathers, two lungs, a three-chambered heart, and a biphasic lifestyle common to most groups in which aquatic larvae metamorphose into adult forms.

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