Speciation via interspecific hybrids is very rare in animals, as compared to plants. Whereas most plants overcome the problem of meiosis between different chromosome sets by tetraploidization, animal hybrids often escape hybrid sterility by clonal reproduction. This comes at the expense of genetic diversity and the ability to purge deleterious mutations. However, here we show that all-hybrid po...

Amphibian conservation goals depend on effective disease-treatment protocols. Desirable protocols are species, life stage, and context specific, but currently few treatment options exist for amphibians infected with the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Treatment options, at present, include antifungal drugs and heat therapy, but risks of toxicity and side-effects make these o...

Phenological shifts are primary responses of species to recent climate change. Such changes might lead to temporal mismatches in food webs and exacerbate species vulnerability. Yet insights into this phenomenon through experimental approaches are still scarce, especially in amphibians, which are particularly sensitive to changing thermal environments. Here, under controlled warming conditions, ...

The present study reports spontaneous tyrosinase gene mutations identified in oculocutaneous albinos of three Japanese wild frog species, Pelophylax nigromaculatus, Glandirana rugosa and Fejervarya kawamurai. This represents the first molecular analyses of albinic phenotypes in frogs. Albinos of P. nigromaculatus collected from two different populations were found to suffer from frameshift muta...

Reactive nitrogen compounds such as nitrite (NO2(-)) are highly toxic to aquatic animals and are partly responsible for the global decline of amphibians. On some fish and Caudata amphibian species low levels of sodium chloride significantly reduce the toxicity of nitrite. However, the nitrite-salinity interaction has not been properly studied in anuran amphibians. To verify if chloride (Cl(-)) ...

Information about demography and habitat use is key for the effective management of amphibian populations, because it is the basis for the long-term monitoring of endangered species and provides insights about the processes by which common species thrive in heavily transformed habitats. A capture-mark-recapture study was performed on a population of Perez’s frog (Pelophylax perezi) in central S...

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are regarded as promising alternatives for antibiotics due to their inherent capacity to prevent microbial drug resistance. Amphibians are rich source of bioactive molecules, which provide numerous AMPs with various structures as drug candidates. Here, we isolated and identified a novel AMP Brevinin-2Ta (B-2Ta) from the skin secretion of the European frog, Pelophyl...