Conservationists Discover Hidden Diversity in Ancient Frog Family – via Herp Digest

Date: April 11, 2019

Source: University of Kent

Research scientists led by the University of Kent have uncovered hidden diversity within a type of frog found only in the Seychelles, showing that those on each island have their own distinct lineage.

The family tree of sooglossid frogs dates back at least 63 million years. They are living ancestors of those frogs that survived the meteor strike on earth approximately 66 million years ago, and their most recent common ancestor dates back some 63 million years, making them a highly evolutionarily distinct group.

However, recent work on their genetics led by Dr Jim Labisko from Kent's School of Anthropology and Conversation revealed that until they can complete further investigations into their evolutionary relationships and verify the degree of differentiation between each island population, each island lineage needs to be considered as a potential new species, known as an Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU). As a result, Dr Labisko advises conservation managers they should do likewise and consider each as an ESU.

There are just four species of sooglossid frog; the Seychelles frog (Sooglossus sechellensis), Thomasset's rock frog (So. thomasseti), Gardiner's Seychelles frog (Sechellophryne gardineri) and the Seychelles palm frog (Se. pipilodryas).

Of the currently recognised sooglossid species, two (So. thomasseti and Se. pipilodryas) have been assessed as Critically Endangered, and two (So. sechellensis and Se. gardineri) as Endangered for the International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN Red List. All four species are in the top 50 of ZSL's (Zoological Society of London) Evolutionarily Distinct Globally Endangered (EDGE) amphibians.

Given the Red List and EDGE status of these unique frogs Dr Labisko and his colleagues are carrying out intensive monitoring to assess the level of risk from both climate change and disease to the endemic amphibians of the Seychelles.

Dr Labisko, who completed his PhD on sooglossid frogs at Kent's Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology in 2016 said many of these frogs are so small and good at hiding the only way to observe them is by listening for their calls. Although tiny, the sound they emit can be around 100 decibels, equivalent to the sound volume of a power lawnmower’.

Dr Labisko's team are using sound monitors to record the vocal activity of sooglossid frogs for five minutes every hour, every day of the year, in combination with dataloggers that are sampling temperature and moisture conditions on an hourly basis

Dr Labisko said: 'Amphibians play a vital role in the ecosystem as predators, munching on invertebrates like mites and mosquitos, so they contribute to keeping diseases like malaria and dengue in check. Losing them will have serious implications for human health.’

As a result of this study into the frogs, the research team will also contribute to regional investigations into climate change, making a local impact in the Seychelles.

Amphibians around the world are threatened by a lethal fungus known as chytrid. The monitoring of these sooglossid frogs will provide crucial data on amphibian behaviour in relation to climate and disease. If frogs are suddenly not heard in an area where they were previously, this could indicate a range-shift in response to warming temperatures, or the arrival of disease such as chytrid -- the Seychelles is one of only two global regions of amphibian diversity where the disease is yet to be detected.

It may also impact on a variety of other endemic Seychelles flora and fauna, including the caecilians, a legless burrowing amphibian that is even more difficult to study than the elusive sooglossids.

Researchers know that caecilians can be found in similar habitats to the frogs, so they can use the frog activity and environmental data they are collecting to infer caecilian presence or absence and generate appropriate conservation strategies as a result.

Endemic, endangered and evolutionarily significant: cryptic lineages in Seychelles' frogs (Anura: Sooglossidae) by Jim Labisko Richard A Griffiths Lindsay Chong-Seng Nancy Bunbury Simon T Maddock Kay S Bradfield Michelle L Taylor Jim J Groombridge is published in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Kent. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference:

Jim Labisko, Richard A Griffiths, Lindsay Chong-Seng, Nancy Bunbury, Simon T Maddock, Kay S Bradfield, Michelle L Taylor, Jim J Groombridge. Endemic, endangered and evolutionarily significant: cryptic lineages in Seychelles’ frogs (Anura: Sooglossidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2019; 126 (3): 417 DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/bly183

Diversity provides stability among animals in the wild

Study on moths explains why insect pests only occur in some years

Date: August 13, 2015

Source: Helmholtz Centre For Environmental Research - UFZ

Summary: Why some species of plants and animals vary more in number than others is a central issue in ecology. Now researchers have found an important finding to answer this question: Individual differences have a positive and stabilizing effect on the number of moths. Species with varying color drawing are generally more numerous and fluctuate less in number from year to year. This could help to explain why some insect species in some years are very abundant pests and cause substantial damage in agriculture and forestry.

Continued ...

Diversity of European butterflies could be seriously underestimated, DNA suggests

Date: July 24, 2015

Source: Institute of Evolutionary Biology

Summary: The DNA sequences of the 228 known butterfly species in the Iberian peninsula have been obtained by researchers who compared it to available data for Europe. Their study compiles 3500 genetic sequences of all the species, with their geographical distribution, and will be useful for the conservation of butterfly biodiversity. The DNA sequences obtained suggest that up to 28% of species could be totally new to science.

Continued ...

Diverse gene pool critical for tigers' survival, say experts

Date:

April 16, 2014

Source:

Stanford University

Summary:

Increasing tigers' genetic diversity -- via interbreeding and other methods -- and not just their population numbers may be the best solution to saving this endangered species, according to research. Iconic symbols of power and beauty, wild tigers may roam only in stories someday soon. Their historical range has been reduced by more than 90 percent. But conservation plans that focus only on increasing numbers and preserving distinct subspecies ignore genetic diversity, according to the study. In fact, under that approach, the tiger could vanish entirely.

Continued

Surprising Diversity in Aging Revealed in Nature

Dec. 8, 2013 — In our youth we are strong and healthy and then we weaken and die -- that's probably how most would describe what aging is all about. But, in nature, the phenomenon of aging shows an unexpected diversity of patterns and is altogether rather strange, conclude researchers from The University of Southern Denmark.

Not all species weaken and become more likely to die as they age. Some species get stronger and less likely to die with age, while others are not affected by age at all. Increasing weakness with age is not a law of nature.

Read on

Mass extinction of lizards and snakes at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary – via Herp Digest

Nicholas R. Longricha,1,

Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullarb, and

Jacques A. Gauthiera

Author Affiliations

Edited by David Jablonski, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, and approved November 8, 2012 (received for review July 6, 2012) 

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences vol. 109 no. 52

Nicholas R. Longrich,  21396–21401

Abstract

The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary is marked by a major mass extinction, yet this event is thought to have had little effect on the diversity of lizards and snakes (Squamata). A revision of fossil squamates from the Maastrichtian and Paleocene of North America shows that lizards and snakes suffered a devastating mass extinction coinciding with the Chicxulub asteroid impact. Species-level extinction was 83%, and the K-Pg event resulted in the elimination of many lizard groups and a dramatic decrease in morphological disparity. Survival was associated with small body size and perhaps large geographic range. The recovery was prolonged; diversity did not approach Cretaceous levels until 10 My after the extinction, and resulted in a dramatic change in faunal composition. The squamate fossil record shows that the end-Cretaceous mass extinction was far more severe than previously believed, and underscores the role played by mass extinctions in driving diversification.

1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: nicholas.longrich@yale.edu.

Author contributions: N.R.L. designed research; N.R.L., B.-A.S.B., and J.A.G. performed research; J.A.G. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; N.R.L., B.-A.S.B., and J.A.G. analyzed data; and N.R.L. wrote the paper.