Thank you!

I just wanted to say a big thanks to all those who helped me out with the animals at the Darwin Event, I couldn’t have done it without you.
Cheers Adam, Judith, Rose, Vicky and Rebecca, you were  stars!

Re:Christmas frog and Harlequin toads!

I have been asked about the little curled up frog that I posted on my Christmas message. This wonderful tree frog is Nyctimantis rugiceps from Ecuador and curls into a ball in defense when discovered.
It belongs to a primitive genus and occupies the same niche as the crowned treefrog Anotheca spinosa in Central America. Both [...]

Not just frogs!

Had a great time meeting everyone at the Darwin Day and at the Science and Industry Museum yesterday. A big thanks to all who attended. Only one mishap when the frog jumped straight onto a little girls face  – and she screamed and screamed, and screamed some more!! Anyway, just thought you might [...]

Question Re: Agalychnis or Cruziohyla?

Apart from their DNA profile, Cruziohyla frogs are differentiated from Agalychnis species by the unique peptides in thier skin and their morphology – colouration, extended skin to their legs and calcars, and eye colouration (they have two colours to the eye: grey and yellow). The two genera are also separated by [...]

Tree frog ‘leg-waving’

 
Here is a short clip of leg-waving behaviour in Cruziohyla calcarifer I thought might be interest. During work I did for my thesis in 2002 I described this and found that it was only carried out by the males, even while they are paired with females, suggesting that the behaviour is territorial rather [...]

RE: Finding my first Splendid leaf frog?

Originally it took me about 5 years to find my first Cruziohyla calcarifer in the wild. Up until then only very few had been found. I returned each year to Costa Rica in the hope of finding these wonderful frogs and worked in several locations before finding any trace. The first C. calcarifer I ever [...]

Young Splendid Leaf Frogs

Thanks very much for all the nice comments about the teaching found on youtube, and also for the amount of interest I have received about the separation of Agalychnis  frogs highlighted in my last post. Please feel free to respond on the blog as well as by email about what’s posted, as your feedback in this way [...]

ARG UK Herpetofauna Workers’ Conference 2009

Over the weekend I attended the National Herpetofauna Workers meeting in Lancashire and gave a lecture at the evening event. It was a super conference and I really enjoyed meeting everyone who attended. For further information on how to get involved with this great organisation please see: http://www.arg-uk.org.uk/.
At the conference, I highlighted the forthcoming conservation project I am [...]