Neotropical poison frogs sequester alkaloid-based chemical defenses from their diet, which seem to repel invertebrate predators after contact. In this study, we tested the reaction of predatory ants toward skin secretions of captive-bred poison frogs without alkaloids. Although the secretions had a smell and taste similar to those of wild-caught frogs, the ants did not avoid them, but actually ...

One of the critical adaptations for freeze tolerance by the wood frog, Rana sylvatica, is the production of large quantities of glucose as an organ cryoprotectant during freezing exposures. Glucose export from the liver, where it is synthesized, and its uptake by other organs is dependent upon carriermediated transport across plasma membranes by glucose-transporter proteins. Seasonal changes in...

Lens regeneration among vertebrates is basically restricted to some amphibians. The most notable cases are the ones that occur in premetamorphic frogs and in adult newts. Frogs and newts regenerate their lens in very different ways. In frogs the lens is regenerated by transdifferentiation of the cornea and is limited only to a time before metamorphosis. On the other hand, regeneration in newts ...

Thresholds for evoked advertisement calling for 18 males were measured in a temperate forest in southern Chile, in order to relate this behavior to the intensities of neighbors’ calls that males of this species encounter in nature. Stimuli used were bouts of natural single-note advertisement calls played back at increasing intensity in steps of 6–12 dB. Male frogs responded with single-note adv...

background: there has been increasing awareness throughout the world regarding the remarkable decrease in amphibian population. for such amphibian population decline several causes have been given. cadmium, a heavy metal is released both from natural sources (leaching of cadmium rich soils) and anthropogenic activities to the aquatic and terrestrial environments. this study evaluated the toxici...

background: chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate pesticide that elicits broad-spectrum insecticidal activity against a number of important arthropod pests. determining the insecticides’ toxicity to amphibians can give us a better understanding regarding the role of toxicants in amphibian declines. this information would be beneficial to assess their ecological relevance at environmental concentra...

Many poisonous organisms carry small-molecule toxins that alter voltage-gated sodium channel (NaV) function. Among these, batrachotoxin (BTX) from Pitohui poison birds and Phyllobates frogs stands out because of its lethality unusual effects on NaV How these toxin-bearing avoid autointoxication remains poorly understood. In frogs, a DIVS6 pore-forming helix N-to-T mutation has been proposed as ...

The mountain chicken frog (Leptodactylus fallax) is the largest endemic amphibian species in Western Hemisphere. Since 1998, this critically endangered has been maintained as a European Endangered Species Programme, but low breeding success and high mortality rate threaten sustainability of captive population. In current study, we analyzed gross histopathologic postmortem information from 212 f...