Watch Watch

Texas Texas

utn ea 78704 Texas Austin,

South 00I 5,Suite100 , 35 IH 3000 ea mhba Watch Amphibian Texas – Texas Amphibian – TPWD has several – A free monitoring @ – A CD of the calls of Texas Austin, TX 78704 PWD BR W7000-492 (11/05) (800) 792-1112 ext. 7011 Contact Information leeann.linam tpwd.state.tx.us 3000 IH 35 South, Suite 100 www.tpwd.state.tx.us/amphibians/ Amphibian Watch, please contact: For more information about Texas Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Resources: How to Get Started Monitoring Packet packet, with complete instructions, is available from TPWD. Frog Call CD frogs and toads, TAW GuideFrogs to and the Toads Calls in of Texas, isMake available check for payable $5. to TPWDFund. Nongame Training Workshops Watch offers several workshops throughout the state each year toize help you to with better local familiar- amphibians. Educator Materials free resources designed to teachand elementary secondary school children aboutians amphib- and amphibian monitoring. – watching – examining – picking a site that – you will establish listening stops Where to Learn More You Can Make a Difference! Texas Amphibian Watch offers you the chance to help conserve amphibiansand in to Texas learn more aboutaround the you. amphibians Volunteers play anrole important in being our eyesYou and can ears get in involved Texas. by: for amphibians wherever you go. you will visit over timefor to changes watch in (and populations. listen) Being an Amphibian Spotter Adopting a Frog Pond Malformation Monitoring Conducting a Texas Frog andSurvey Toad on a roadside route thatmonitoring is system. part of a national frogs and toads at yourabnormalities. site to look for any www.tpwd.state.tx.us/amphibians/ The TPWD Web site provides information and monitoring materials needed forAmphibian Texas Watch. www.zo.utexas.edu/research/txherps This site, provided by theTexas, provides University descriptions of and pictures of all amphibians and reptiles inalso the has state. recordings of It callsfrogs for and most toads. of the Bullfrogs A Life Linked to Water Where Have all the Frogs Gone?

At an international conference in 1989, ! The term “amphibian” means “two lives,”describing a life on both land and water. scientists from all over the world became ! All amphibian species require water or moist habitats in which to lay their eggs and raise alarmed at what appeared to be dramatic What is an Amphibian? their young. declines in some amphibian populations. ! Even after metamorphosis, land-dwelling amphibians utilize moisture to obtain some of their Then, in 1995, a group of school children in oxygen through their semi-permeable skin. Minnesota were the first to call attention to Wart-covered, cold-blooded, slimy – these ! an alarming rate of malformations in some stereotypes don’t pay fair tribute to this Some salamanders remain aquatic throughout their life, using gills to breathe. ! frog populations. Research since that time amazing group of animals. Amphibians, Many amphibian species are sensitive to water quality changes, and may serve as indicators of water quality issues. has proposed that about one third of the one of the five classes of vertebrates, show amphibian species on earth are declining, an amazing variety of forms and lifestyles apparently due to a variety of interacting developed as they pioneered life on land. Toad Metamorphosis causes, including: The approximately 4,600 species in the world today can be divided into three groups: ! Habitat destruction Anura: the frogs and toads ! Habitat modification due to climate shifts Caudata: the salamanders ! Increases in UV radiation ! Gymnophonia: the caecilians Aquatic contaminants such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals ! Increases in parasites and disease, perhaps Texas Amphibians as a results of habitat changes

Texas has an interesting array of about Rio Grande Leopard frog 30 species of salamanders and over 40 anurans, ranging in diversity from the colorless cave-dwelling Texas Blind Salaman- der to the plate-sized Marine Toad of South Texas to the eel-like Amphiuma of East Texas streams. Diversity in Texas is especially high due to the rich aquatic habitats in East Texas, Why Watch Amphibians? the unique spring-fed ecosystems of the Texas Hill Country, the presence of subtropical With their links to aquatic and terrestrial habitats and species in South Texas and the habitats and their semi-permeable skin, isolated wetland habitats of West Texas. amphibians may serve as an important barometer of the health of environments we Barton Springs all share. Global declines have led to global Salamander calls for a better understanding of changes in Frog and toad species undergo “metamorphosis,” or a change in form, as they develop. amphibian populations. Through Texas In most species, the larvae or tadpoles are aquatic, using gills to breathe, while the adults Amphibian Watch, Texans can play a part in are terrestrial and use lungs to breathe. ensuring that amphibian populations in Texas are healthy, while learning more about these interesting animals!