Giant Salamanders

An interesting BBC news article on giant salamanders in Japan, here.

Toad News

An Australian man has searched East Timor for rumored cane toads, and only found Asian toads. (News source.)

Cane toad "sausages" are being made in Queensland, and laced with harmless but noxious chemicals, to feed to quolls, in the hope that they don't try to eat live toads. (News source.)

Toad survival traits are making the news after a recent study.

Toads Released

Endangered captive-born Houston toads have been released into the wild by the Houston, TX, Zoo. (News source.)

Spadefoots

The Great Basin spadefoot is profiled here.

Amphibian News

Frog deformations may be the result of dragonfly nymphs, according to some researchers. (News source.)

A pic here of a recently discovered transparent frog in Ecuador.

A fish-surfing frog photographed in the UK, here.

Axolotls are being studied for limb regeneration research. (News source.)

Utah: Frog Conservation

Utah wildlife officials are creating new marsh areas for the rare Columbia spotted frog. (News source.)

Conservation News

Mountain chicken frogs are being flown from the Caribbean to the UK in order to protect them from fungal disease. (News source.)

Malaysian wildlife officers seized 210 poached monitor lizards. (News source.)

Columbia: New Herps

Ten new amphibians have been discovered in Columbia. Nat Geo has pics of several.

Amphibians

A new (strange-looking) toad found in Tanzania, pictured here.

Researchers are looking at a compound in tadpoles as a potential resource to prevent skin cancer. (News source.)

New Herps from Tanzania

17 species of reptiles and amphibians have been discovered in the South Nguru Mountains in Tanzania. (News source.)

Strange Fossil Amphibian

An armored amphibian was able to gape by lifting the top of its head, unlike most vertebrates today. (News source.)

Chemicals Aid Parasites

A new paper supports the idea that chemical pollution helps increase parasitic infections in amphibian populations. (News source.)

Amphibian Malformity Study

Inbreeding appears not to be a factor in the increaste in amphibian deformities/mutations. (News source.)

Herp Conservation

Mexico City axolotyls are in danger of disappearing. (News source.)

The Western Australia government is giving $1.2 million to a toad busting group to fight cane toads. (News source.)

Amphibians are dying off at Yellowstone. (News source.)

Amphibian Diversity Fights Parasites

Parasite load in American toads dropped when they raised in the same tank as gray tree frogs. Gray tree frogs could fight off infestations better than toads. Not sure why the researcher is saying the two amphibians are competitors -- they obviously are in different niches, unless they're referring to the tadpole stage. (News source.)

New Herps from Zootaxa, September 2008

The papers aren't accessible (subscription required), but you can view the pdf abstracts.

1) A new frog, Adelophryne patamona, is described from Guyana.
2) A new skink, Oligosoma pikitanga, is described from New Zealand.
3) A new lizard, Bachia oxyrhina, is described from Brazil.
4) A new gecko, Cnemaspis biocellata, is described from Thailand/Malaysia.
5) A new lizard, Scriptosaura catimbau, is described from Brazil.
6) A new lizard, Leptodactylus cupreus, is described from Brazil.

Also, chromosomal analysis of some frogs (Pristimantis spp.) from Brazil suggests an undescribed species. And, there's a paper on foam-generating tadpoles.

New Toad in Ecuador

From Zootaxa:

A new species of Osornophryne (Anura: Bufonidae) from the Andean highlands of northern Ecuador
Andrew G. Gluesenkamp (USA) & Juan M. Guayasamin (Ecuador)
Zootaxa 1828: 18-28 (23 Jul. 2008) 5 plates; 15 references
Abstract here.

New Frog

The Southern Sandhill Frog is a new species in Australia, distinguished from the Northern species. (News source.)

Amphibian News

Researchers are investigating how toads use their muscles to quickly snatch insects with their tongue. (News source.)

More tests show that probiotic bacteria may help frogs fight skin diseases. (News source.)

Two New Books

Georgia herpetologists have published two new books of interest:

Amphibians and Reptiles of Georgia (University of Georgia Press)
Turtles of the Southeast (University of Georgia Press)

(News source.)