A NEW FAMILY OF LEGLESS AMPHIBIANS DISCOVERED IN INDIA

A new family of caecilian amphibians, the Chikilidae, has been discovered and named from a biodiversity hotspot in India.
Read a news release HERE

NEW GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS FOR THE PYGMY NILE CROCODYLE 

A team of researchers, trained by the late John Thorbjarnarson, and working at the Kidepo Valley National Park, Uganda (Africa), are finding new areas that are home to one of the least known crocodilians in Africa, the pygmy Nile crocodile.Their conservation status remains unknown.

Read more at The Wildlife Conservation Society link. 

ONE OF THE LAST TWO RABB'S FRINGE-LIMBED TREE FROG DIED IN CAPTIVITY

The Rabbs' fringe-limbed tree frog (Ecnomiohyla rabborum) was identified by Zoo Atlanta's herpetology curator Joseph Mendelson during a 2005 trip to Panama, and formally described to science in 2008. It was already a non-common species when discovered, probably due to a a fungus pathogen outbreak where it occurs. It has not been observed in the wild since 2007 and it is believed to be extinct.


Only two specimens were known to be alive outside its natural habitat, both kept in the botanical garden in Atlanta, USA. Unfortunatelly, one of them die due to ill health, although it was preserved for future genetic studies.

NEW DWARF CHAMELEONS AMONG THE SMALLEST TERRESTRIAL VERTEBRATES

From the paper's 'background': "One clade of Malagasy leaf chameleons, the Brokesia minima group, is known to contain species that rank among the smallest amniotes in the world. We report on a previously unrecognized radiation of these miniaturized lizards comprising four new species described herein".
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0031314

A NEW LIZARD SPECIES FROM PERU


A new lizard species of the genus Potamites has been described from the montane forests of the Cordillera de Vilcabamba (Cusco region) and Apurimac River valley (Ayacucho region), between 1500 and 2000 meters of elevation, in southern Peru. 

Scientific description: http://www.pensoft.net/journals/zookeys/article/2048/abstract/a-new-species-of-andean-semiaquatic-lizard-of-the-genus-potamites-sauria-gymnophtalmidae-from-southern-peru

THE WORLD'S SMALLEST VERTEBRATE IS A TROPICAL FROG

Two new species of diminutive terrestrial frogs were recently discovered from the megadiverse hotspot island of New Guinea. One of them, Paedophryne amauensis, represents the smallest known vertebrate species, attaining an average body size of only 7.7 mm.

The genus Paedophryne, also recently described, has four species which are among the ten smallest vertebrates, rendering it the most diminutive genus of amphibian anurans. Minute frogs, in general, seem not to be just 

mere oddities, but represent a previously unrecognized ecological guild. 

Read full article in: PLoS ONE 7(1): e29797.

CROCODYLES IN THE SAHARA DESERT

Crocodylus niloticus has experienced local extinctions throughout the Sahara desert, because of increasing aridity and human intervention. However, relict populations still persist in Chad, Egypt and Mauritania.  A new study evaluates the status of the Saharan crocodiles and provides new data for Mauritania to assist conservation planning. 

TOP 100 EVOLUTIONARY DISTINCT AND GLOBALLY ENDANGERED AMPHIBIANS

Know HERE100 extraordinary amphibians threatened with 
extinction!

A NEW SPECIES OF BLIND AND LIMBLESS LIZARD FROM CAMBODIA

The Dalai Mountain blind lizard (Dibamus dalaiensis) is a new species to science, coming from the biodiversity hotpot named the Cardamom mountains, in Cambodia. It it the first of its genus and family to be found in this country.  These lizards are blind and without extremities to walk, and have fossorial (live underground) habits. Find more in: cambodian-scientist-discovers-new-species-of-blind-and-legless-lizard/

ATELOPUS BALIOS REDISCOVERED

Conservation International says: "Atelopus balios
Last seen 1995. Rediscovered after 15 years in Ecuador by Eduardo Toral-Contreras and Elicio Tapia. Researchers feared that the deadly amphibian Chytrid fungus had wiped out this species along with many other closely related species in Ecuador. This find is significant and very encouraging, offering an opportunity to protect this attractive and rare species".

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