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Briefly SPOTLIGHT ON REPTILES To protect snake and lizard habitats, Size of amphibians determines AND AMPHIBIANS German court halts factory plan extinction risk Electric car manufacturer Tesla has been The size of animal species such as frogs and ordered again to suspend preparations for toads may determine how likely they are to Discoveries: a new female of the rarest a car factory in Germany. The company become extinct. A study conducted by a turtle... has been clearing forest land near Berlin team of researchers at the Australian Nation- The Ha Noi Department of Agriculture and for its first European car and battery al University has found smaller amphibians Rural Development, in collaboration with the plant. But opponents argued this will en- have a higher risk of dying out compared Asian Turtle Program of Indo-Myanmar Con- danger the habitats of lizards and snakes. to larger ones. This is in contrast to other servation and the Wildlife Conservation Society, A court in Frankfurt an der Oder ordered typesofanimalssuchasmammalsorreptiles, have made dramatic progress to possibly pre- forest clearing to be halted, pending further where larger species are more vulnerable to vent the extinction of Swinhoe’s softshell turtle examinations. A similar court order was extinction. The researchers used computer Rafetus swinhoei,theworld’smostthreatened made earlier in about Tesla’s plans modelling to determine the levels of risk fac- turtle. Until late it was thought that only for what it calls the Gigafactory in Grün- tors involved in extinction for amphibians one individual remained, a male kept at heide, in the eastern state of Brandenburg. around the world. The findings were a wake- Suzhou Zoo in China. The last known female The earlier ruling was in response to con- up call for conservation efforts for some of of the species died in April , when artifi- cerns about wildlife and the water supply. the world’s smallest species. Although the re- cial insemination was attempted. However, in Tesla has not publicly commented on the search did not reveal the reason why smaller October an individual of unconfirmed latest ruling, resulting from an ongoing speciesweremoreatrisk,theteamsayhabi- sex was captured in , ha Dong Mo Lake legal dispute with the Nature and Biodiver- tats may be among the key factors. Species of near Viet Nam’s capital Hanoi. Genetic testing sity Conservation Union and Green League. smaller body size are more likely to inhabit a revealed in December that the kg turtle A final decision on the case was still pend- smaller geographical area. This makes them was a female. Authorities believe there is at least ing in December . The environmentalist more sensitive to human impacts and the one more of these turtles in Dong Mo Lake and groups say Tesla’s deforestation will destroy destruction or alteration of rivers and water- another in nearby Xuan Khanh Lake. Conserva- the habitats of sand lizards and smooth ways, and they have fewer refuges. tionists hope to capture and determine the sex of snakes, both of which are protected species. Source: The Canberra Times () canberra the other turtles in both lakes in .Thenew Source: Insight News () insightnews times.com.au/story//size-no-small- discoveries offer renewed hope that it will be report.com////tesla-german- factor-for-extinction-risk possible to return Swinhoe’ssoftshellturtle court-halts-factory-plan-over-snake- from the brink of extinction. Surveys in other and-lizard-habitats Bacteria on their skin could protect areas of Viet Nam suggest more individuals frogs from deadly fungi may still survive in the wild. Glass frogs wave their hands and feet Sources: The Guardian () theguardian. Researchers in Costa Rica have found that to attract mates com/environment//jan//hopes-for-most- some bacteria on the skin of amphibians pre- endangered-turtle-after-discovery-of-female-in- Frogs that live near roaring waterfalls and vent growth of the fungus causing chytrid- vietnam-lake & The Turtle Survival Alliance streams face a problem: loud rushing iomycosis, which has been dubbed the () turtlesurvival.org/turtle-news-of-the-decade water that can drown out their mating amphibian apocalypse. The disease is caused calls. Some species have overcome this obs- by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobati- tacle by using visible rather than audible dis, and a particularly dangerous strain, called ...and the smallest known reptile signals: they attract mates by waving a BdGPL-,isresponsibleformassamphibian Scientists believe they may have discovered the foot, flapping a hand or bobbing their die-offs around the world. It is believed that al- smallest reptile on Earth: a chameleon subspe- head. Frogs that use visual signals have so most speciesofamphibiansarevulnerable cies that is the size of a seed. Two of the tiny far been documented India, Borneo and to the fungus, and that it has already led to the lizards were discovered by a German–Mada- Brazil. In a new study, researchers have dis- extinction of amphibian species. To inves- gascan expedition team in Madagascar. The covered such behaviour among glass frogs tigate why some amphibian populations in male Brookesia nana, or nano-chameleon, has Sachatamia orejuela in Ecuador. It was CostaRicaweremoreresilienttochytridfun- a body length of just . mm. This makes it already known that this species has an gus than others, a research group sampled the the smallest of c. , known species of reptiles. extremely high-pitched call, which helps circulating strains of the fungus and the skin Its length from top to tail is mm. The female it communicate above the lower-pitched microbiome of amphibians at different sites. is bigger at c. mm. Other specimens have not noise of waterfalls. However, this is the They found that the bacteria on the skin of yet been located, despite considerable search ef- first time that the frogs have been observed some surviving amphibians prevented growth forts. Researchers found that the chameleons to use visual cues for communication. The of the fungus in the lab. These findings suggest hunt for mites on the rainforest floor and hide researchers hope their findings remind us that locally adapted skin bacteria may offer from predators at night in blades of grass. The that we share this planet with incredible protection from the disease. The researchers forests where the individuals of B. nana were lo- biodiversity, the protection of which is im- hope to combine their findings with other cated are still well connected with others across portant not only for ecosystems to function, disease control strategies to protect amphib- the north of the island. In their report, scientists but also for our physical and emotional ian populations from decimation by chytrid recommended that the chameleon be categor- well-being and our sense of wonder. fungus. ized as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Sources: Behaviour () doi.org/. Sources: Microbiology () doi.org/ Red List, to help protect it and its habitat. /X-bja & Earth.com ./mic.. & Science Daily Source: BBC () bbc.co.uk/news/ () earth.com/news/glass-frogs-wave- () sciencedaily.com/releases/// world-africa- their-hands-and-feet-to-attract-mates .htm This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, Downloadeddistribution, from https://www.cambridge.org/core and reproduction in any medium,. IP address: provided 170.106.35.93 the original work, onis 27 properly Sep 2021 cited. at 16:04:12, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/termsOryx, 2021, 55(3), 323–328 ©. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605321000375The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605321000375 324 Briefly INTERNATIONAL Global shark and ray population Marine protected area networks could decreased by . 70% in 50 years... help protect Antarctic penguins A significant increase in fishing since New research led by BirdLife International, Global temperatures in 2020 equalled has ravaged the abundance of sharks and the University of East Anglia and British record highs from 2016 rays in our oceans, with previously wide- Antarctic Survey highlights how a network According to jointly reported assessments spread species such as hammerhead sharks of marine protected areas could help pre- from Copernicus, NASA, the UK Met now at risk of becoming extinct. Half of the serve some of the most important habi- Office and other institutions, saw world’s oceanic shark species are now ca- tats for breeding Antarctic penguins. The global temperatures equal the record high tegorized as either Endangered or Critically Southern Ocean is home to four species: of . Overall, the planet was c. °C Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Using the Adélie, chinstrap, gentoo and emperor warmer than during preindustrial times. previous studies and catch data, researchers penguin. Many of their habitats remain un- In , previously the hottest year on re- compiled the first global census for shark protected, putting them at risk of human- cord, temperatures were boosted by a strong and ray species. They found that there has related threats such as pollution, overfish- El Niño, whereas was a La Niña year, been an overall % decline since ,as ing and climate change. The international which should have resulted in a cooling ef- a result of an -fold increase in relative research team used a new approach based fect. That this effect was not enough to pre- fishing pressure. This could be an under- on colony location, population estimates vent such high global surface temperatures— estimate of real losses, because available and tracking data, to identify key sites calculated as an average of readings from data are insufficient to chart population known as Important Bird and Biodiversity thousands of weather stations and ocean trends back to the s, when industri- Areas.

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