The Lifestyle Of The Amphibian

Adaptive radiation of different organisms have occurred throughout geological time through the filling of ecological niches. Organisms different from one another are capable of radiating greatly, as they evolve traits that allow them to thrive better in their environment. The Anolis lizards of the Caribbean islands are a great example of a single genus to have radiated not once, but multiple times through very similar mechanisms. Different populations of the Anolis phenotypically vary in their morphological traits to facilitate adaptation to particular niches. These phenotypic variations have evolved in convergence in more than one occasion, as recently discovered fossil specimens show similar patterns in morphology to modern Anolis.

There are four main groups of reptiles, known as Crocodilians, Squamates, Tuataras, and Turtles. Crocodilians consists of large reptiles which includes alligators, crocodiles, gharials, and caimans. Squamates are lizards, snakes, and worm-lizards. A worm-lizard is a subterranean burrowing reptile that resembles an earthworm, a legless lizard. Tuataras are a group of reptiles that are lizard-like in appearance but are different from squamates because their skull isn’t jointed. Turtles are the most ancient reptiles alive today. They have changed very little since they first showed up 220 million years ago. The first turtle appeared 220 million years ago.(Laura Klappenbach)

The importance of El Valle De Anton spurred the movement to create systems to preserve frogs worldwide. In Panama a town name El Valle De Anton once deeply respected their golden tree frogs, and ironically they were not disturb when the frogs started disappearing. When the corpses started to pile up, the scientific community began to become concerned and began an effort to preserve the golden frog species and what they found was that frogs from around the world had been plagued by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis-batrachos (or “Bd” for short). This plague is very hard to stop, as we cannot purge the entire planet of the disease, and the plague spreads incredibly quickly.

Ecosystems have a way of maintaining themselves under ordinary conditions but when a new factor is added that will most likely threaten the environment action needs to be put forth. Our environment is affected by many pollutants on a daily bases forming a threat to natural stability. For example some of the most polluted parts of the environment are bodies of water like that explained in our lab. Once pollution occurs animals can be affected in many ways even to the brink of death. In the lab the stream is getting pumped with salty potassium filled water that can kill daphnia, habitants of the stream, if the concentration gets too high. To prevent this a

The Ontario Benthos Biomonitoring Network was created to assess the quality of aquatic environments and ecosystems using benthos organisms as biomarkers (Ontario Ministry of the Environment, 2007). Exclusively used in Ontario, this biomonitoring program assesses ecological function and condition of streams, rivers, lakes, and wetlands across the province (The Dorset Environmental Science Centre, 2017). The OBBN protocol is ideal for assessing water quality because of the use of aquatic macroinvertebrates (Borisko, et al. 2007). Since macroinvertebrates are easy and inexpensive to collect, determining water quality can be conducted continuously over the course of the year, across many locations (Borisko, et al. 2007; Ontario Ministry of the

Researchers are currently trying to gain knowledge on the extent of the problem; how the parasite works, what species can be infected, and once infected, what species experience the least amount of symptoms. They believe that by infecting native tree frogs with this parasite, they may be able to increase the amount of parasites while decreasing the amount of toads. L.Pizzatto and R. Shine (2011) had three assumptions. “(1) The parasite has no detrimental effect on the frogs; (2) the frogs are capable of maintaining a lungworm infection long term; and (3) infective larvae passed in the frog’s faeces are capable of infecting toads and reducing their viability.” (p.546)

Overall for this change project, we have learned that the population of frogs has been decreasing all over the world. There are many factors that decrease their population like agriculture, invasive species, and the population of humans. Specifically, in California, only 40% of the historical sites in the Northwest area have Foothill Yellow-Legged Frogs, and this has the highest percentage out of all of California. These frogs are indicators for the environment, meaning they can determine if the area around them has changed dramatically due to their permeable skin. For our service project, we removed invasive plants like the Himalayan Blackberries and dug creek beds for the frogs. From this, we were able to improve the levelness of the area

Many sources say that the initial spread of this invasive species began at the end of the 1800's when bullfrogs were shipped to California to fill hungry loggers appetite for frog legs. The frogs competed with the other native species with the supply of natural resources while also consuming and exploiting the native amphibian species as well. Worldwide Rana catesbeiana has driven over one-hundred native species of frogs to extinction (Save The Frogs! et al. 2013). This is a huge impact on amphibian wildlife worldwide because there are about 4,800 species of frogs. Over the past hundred years the bullfrog has wiped out over 2% of the world's species of frogs. Studies have shown one of the reasons bullfrogs will cripple Arizonian ecosystems and the native amphibian species directly is because a female bullfrog’s physiology

Present in all bodies of water are self cleaning mechanisms that are suppose to be able to break down the chemicals into simpler compounds that don’t harm the environment such as carbon dioxide (Rana, 2006, p. 42). Since there so many pollutants that the world is putting into our sewage systems on top of the runoffs from crops, and waste from manufacturers, the mechanisms can’t keep up with the toxic build up and eventually the water is concentrated with chemicals. Therefore the amphibian population

Another interaction is the amphibian response to the tropical climate. The rainfall and humidity is much higher in the tropics allowing many frogs to live more land-based lifestyles. This is only made possible because of the excessive amount of

Nowhere near a plethora of evolution has adorned the history of the poison dart frog, yet the evolutionary history will fascinate one. The toxic amphibians are beautifully constructed creatures, their magnificent colors, the highly poisonous oil on their skin, and their hasty, yet graceful, movements. But where did it all begin? It began with the ancestor of the poison dart frog, the primitive frogamander.

          As water pollution increases and water quality declines so do the hellbender populations. The large amphibians breath entire through their skin, and like any amphibian, can absorb nearly anything through it. Chemical runoff from pesticides and herbicides, and siltation from nearby

Class Amphibia, more commonly known as amphibians, have several features that set them apart as a unique Class. Organisms found within the Class Amphibia are cold-blooded and have very smooth skin (Prakash 2014). Amphibians can be found on both land and water, which is necessary in order to keep

Frogs, toads, caecilians, and salamanders are the members of the class Amphibian (amphi- meaning “on both sides” and bios- meaning “life”). These members always require water for reproduction. Most Amphibians undergo metamorphosis, which is a usually degenerative pathological change in the structure of a particular body tissue. And, in the case of Amphibians, it is the changing of a tadpole into

Benthic macroinvertebrates have been used to assess the health of aquatic environments. Quality analysis involves looking at benthic species composition and organization within the stream (Resh and Unzicke 1975). Different macroinvertebrates have differing sensitivities to pollutant, with some being more susceptible to environmental toxins than others (Metcalfe 1989). Such methods group macroinvertebrates in regards to their tolerance to pollution.