May. 12, 2023
Poison frogs living in human care aren’t poisonous, thanks to a “detox” diet of mild insects, like crickets and fruit flies. Can adding alkaloids to a frog’s diet help it regain its toxins and get...
May. 07, 2023
'Hoppy' Amphibian Awareness Week! All week long, the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute will be sharing stories about amazing amphibians and the scientists working to save...
Apr. 28, 2022
'Hoppy' Amphibian Awareness Week! All week long, the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute will be sharing stories about amazing amphibians and the scientists working to save...
Nov. 05, 2021
For decades, scientists have wondered whether the key to saving frogs from the deadly chytrid fungus lies in their skin. Could they genetically modify bacteria found in the frogs’ mucus layer and...
Apr. 05, 2019
Stories about amphibians don’t always end with “happily ever after,” but scientists around the globe, including Brian Gratwicke at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, are working together...
Nov. 30, 2018
The secret to salamanders’ survival may be in their slimy secretions. Scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute are swabbing salamanders in Shenandoah, looking for disease-fighting...
Jan. 19, 2018
Through years of research and breeding, Smithsonian scientists have created a thriving variable harlequin frog colony in human care and released approximately 500 healthy frogs in Panama’s Colon...
Jan. 18, 2018
Once common along highland streams in western Costa Rica and Panama, the variable harlequin frog, Atelopus varius, is endangered throughout its range, decimated by a disease caused by the amphibian...
Oct. 13, 2017
In 2016, the international import of 201 salamander species into the United States was restricted in an effort to prevent the newly discovered deadly salamander fungal disease, Batrachochytrium...
Jul. 11, 2016
Nearly one-third of all amphibian species globally are at risk of going extinct.
Oct. 28, 2012
A team of scientists and keepers is traveling all over the eastern United States this year to study a unique and amazing animal: the hellbender.