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Europe, North Africa and West Asia Regional Focus March 2012 Vol. 101 ISSN: 1026-0269 eISSN: 1817-3934 www.amphibians.orgFrogLogConservation news for the herpetological community Regional Focus Europe, North Africa Trying to reverse the decline and West Asia of the Apennine yellow-bellied toad in northern Italy. Page 24 Photo: Emanuele Biggi INSIDE News from the ASG Regional Updates Global Focus Recent Publications General Announcements And More... 40 Years of “Top 10” Lost Frogs Natterjack Toad of 2012 Conservation in FrogLog Vol.Europe 101 | March 2012 | 1 FrogLog CONTENTS 3 Editorial NEWS FROM THE ASG 4 Lost Frogs 2012 “Top 10” Announced Along with First Draft 8 Report from the SSC Chairs’ Meeting of the Complete List of “Lost” Amphibian Species 10 Afromontane Meeting Announcement 5 A Tiny Lost Shrub Frog Species Found After 100 Years! 11 Wildlife Without Borders - Amphibians in Decline 6 First Complete Draft List of “Lost” Amphibian Species REGIONAL UPDATE 12 Amphibian Conservation in Britain 24 Trying to Reverse the Decline of the 38 Assessing the Potential Impact of an 14 With Great Crest, Comes Great Apennine Yellow-Bellied Toad in Invasive Species on a Mediterranean Responsibility: The Conservation of Northern Italy Amphibian Assemblage: A the Great Crested Newt 26 Amphibians in South - Eastern Spain Morphological and Ecological Approach 16 Dynamics in the Trade of Amphibians 28 Disclosing Northwest African and Reptiles within the United Amphibians: moroccoherps.com 40 40 Years of Natterjack Toad Conservation in Europe Kingdom Over a 10 Year Period 30 Overview of Conservation and 17 Monitoring Natterjack Toad Breeding Red List of Turkey’s Threatened 44 The 2nd International Symposium on Activity and Success to Better Target Amphibians the Conservation of Amphibians: Bufo calamita Conservation Programmes 32 The Amphibians of Tunisia: 19 POPAMPHIBIEN - Estimating Biodiversity, Distribution, Status and 45 RACE: Risk Assessment of Amphibian Population Trends in Majors Threats Chytridiomycosis to European Amphibian Biodiversity France 35 Range-wide Monitoring of Betic 20 Amphibian Conservation in Midwife Toad Populations Switzerland - karch and the Story so 36 Distribution of the Critically Far Endangered Yellow Spotted Newt, 22 Common Toad in Italy: Evidence for a Neurergus microspilotus (Nesterov, Strong Decline in the Last 10 Years 1916); (Salamandridae: Caudata) in Northwest Iran: New Localities and New Hope for its Conservation GLOBAL NEWS 48 Amphibian and Reptile Conservation 53 Discovery of the Largest Lungless 54 Frogs of Shoolpaneswr Wildlife 50 Amphibian Composition of the Uda Tetrapod, Atretochoana eiselti Sanctuary, Gujarat, India Mäliboda Trail in the Samanala (Taylor, 1968) (Amphibia: Nature Reserve (SNR), Sri Lanka: A Gymnophiona: Typhlonectidae), in its Cautionary Note Natural Habitat in Brazilian Amazonia Recent Publications 57 | Meetings 72 | Internships & Jobs 72 Funding Opportunities 74 | Author Instructions 77 2 | FrogLog Vol. 101| March 2012 Editorial FrogLog rogLog issue 101 is the last in the first series of Regional Focus editions. In ASG EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE May 2011 we relaunched FrogLog in the new regional format. Our goal was F to provide regional ASG groups and herpetological community members James P. Collins with an opportunity to showcase their activities. The community has warmly wel- comed the new format and we look forward to continuing it into the future. This ASG Co-Chair edition focuses on Europe, North Africa, and West Asia, a diverse region covered C G by two ASG regional groups. laude ascon ASG Co-Chair We had a fantastic response to this edition with articles from Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Iran, Italy, and Switzerland to name but a few. We are extremely grate- Phillip J. Bishop ful, as ever, to everyone who submitted articles and hope that your conservation ASG Deputy Chair efforts continue to grow. We look forward to receiving an update next year on any progress to these and other projects in the area. Robin D. Moore ASG Program Officer This edition also includes a brief article on the recent SSC Chairs meeting held in Abu Dhabi to mark the beginning of the next IUCN quadrennium. SSC Specialist James P. Lewis Group members are enlisted for these four year periods, at the end of which mem- ASG Program Coordinator bers can decide if they wish to continue with their SG efforts or resign from their commitment. In some cases regional chairs will be stepping down, new members Ariadne Angulo joining, and group structures and priorities will be assessed. Over the coming months we will be working closely with our members to update ASG member Amphibian Red List Focal Point guidelines and be seeking your advice on the priorities for the ASG over the com- ing four years. This is an important time for the Specialist Groups and we look FROGLOG EDITORIAL BOARD forward to working with you all to ensure that as a network we are as productive as possible to drive amphibian conservation forward. Editor-in-chief We are also pleased to welcome two new members to the editorial team of FrogLog. Craig Hassapakis has joined us bringing with him his vast editorial ex- James P. Lewis pertise from the open access journal Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (read more about this on page 48) and Regina Fong has joined our team in the role of editorial intern to further develop FrogLog into a useful tool for the herpetologi- Editors cal conservation community. Craig Hassapakis James P. Collins Claude Gascon Phillip J. Bishop James P. Lewis Robin D. Moore ASG Program Coordinator Editorial Intern Regina Fong Editorial Office Conservation International 2011 Crystal Drive, Suite 500, Arlington, VA 22202 USA. [email protected] Please consider the enviornment before printing this publication. Reduce, reuse, recycle. FrogLog Vol. 101 | March 2012 | 3 ASG Updates Lost Frogs 2012 “Top 10” Announced Along with First Draft of the Complete List of “Lost” Amphibian Species By Robin Moore & James Lewis s we launch into this new phase of the Search for Lost Frogs Yunnan lake newt, Cynops we thought it made sense to replace the three “found” spe- wolterstorffi, China. Last ANURA cies from the top ten with new ones. Thanks to some very seen 1979. This is really a ALYTIDAE A Discoglossus nigriventer strong nominations from the ASG community, picking just three to striking amphibian; a black feature was a very hard task. background is decorated with ARTHROLEPTIDAE Cardioglossa cyaneospila orange stripes and blotches. Arthroleptis pyrrhoscelis We settled on those species that are iconic, unusual or striking in These newts are adapted to an some way, while maintaining a broad geographic scope. None of entirely aquatic life and some BUFONIDAE Ansonia latidisca the three new species have been seen within the past three decades. adults have been observed Atelopus balios The three selected species are: with the remnants of gills. The Vandijkophrynus amatolicus male has a deep blue tail in HYPEROLIIDAE Chrysobatrachus cupreonitens Chile Darwin’s frog, Rhinoderma rufum, Chile. Last seen 1980. breeding season, and they are Hyperolius chrysogaster Chile Darwin’s frog is a truly iconic lost species, and one of only two the “Peter Pans” of the animal Hyperolius leucotaenius Hyperolius nimbae species in the world where the young undergo part of their develop- world, demonstrating what Hyperolius sankuruensis ment in their parent’s mouth. Eggs are laid on the ground and when is known as “neoteny” and tadpoles start to wriggle, the guarding male swallows them into his retaining juvenile characteris- MICRIXALIDAE Micrixalus elegans vocal sack. The male then transports tadpoles to water where he tics into adulthood. The newts Micrixalus thampii releases them to complete their development. Another unusual would be observed by the feature of this species is its long, pointed nose. The species lived by thousands swimming among MICROHYLIDAE slow running streams in wet temperate forests but there have been aquatic plants on the shores of Ramanella anamalaiensis no recorded sightings since 1980 despite repeated searches. the lake during breeding sea- PETROPEDETIDAE son, but none have been seen Conraua derooi Dutoit’s torrent frog, Petropedetes dutoiti, Kenya. Last seen since 1979. Local knowledge of PHRYNOBATRACHIDAE 1962. Dutoit’s torrent frog is found in and around fast flowing the newt is limited to reports Phrynobatrachus asper streams and waterfalls of Mount Elgon in Kenya. The frogs lay by a few older fishermen in the RANIDAE their eggs on wet rocks close to torrential streams; upon hatching area. Amolops chakrataensis the tadpoles cling to vertical rock surfaces grazing algae, and here RHACOPHORIDAE Pseudophilautus semiruber they remain until they develop into froglets. The family to which There are a number of searches Raorchestes chalazodes this frog belongs started to evolve separately from the rest of the planned for these species and amphibians 5 million years before the extinction of the dinosaurs, other lost frogs from around CAUDATA which according to the EDGE web site, “makes them as different the world and we are eager to PLETHODONTIDAE from their closest relatives as pigs are to whales!” The species has hear of any searches that take Chiropterotriton mosaueri not been reported since 1962 despite numerous searches and the place. Even if your search is GYMNOPHIONA habitat being in good shape. unsuccessful in finding your TYPHLONECTIDAE target species this is important Atretochoana eiselti information we are interested “Lost” amphibian species found to date. in collating in order to even- This list will be continually updated as species are redicovered. tually feed back into the Red List. We would all encourage search teams to submit blogs for publications on the ASG web site to help publicize your efforts and encourage others to follow in the search. We hope to be able to support more searches in the future, not to mention supporting conservation actions for species that have been found, to ensure they are never lost again. We thought long and hard about launching phase II of The Search for Lost Frogs under the umbrella of the ASG.
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