Weird, noodly amphibian shows up in Florida

Biologists have caught a caecilian, a legless amphibian that can be anywhere from a few inches to 5 feet long. It's the first one found in the US.

Natalie van Hoose-Florida • futurity
July 28, 2021 ~6 min

Early amphibians’ move to land came with a spine switch-up

For early amphibians, moving from water to land and, for some, back to the water left an impression—on the shapes of animals' spines.

Katherine Unger Baillie-Penn • futurity
June 17, 2021 ~8 min


Why masses of salamander eggs come in two colors

Masses of spotted salamander eggs are either white or clear. New research indicates two dueling evolutionary forces at work.

Gail McCormick-Penn State • futurity
April 14, 2021 ~7 min

Weird amphibians offer oldest signs of ‘rapid-fire’ tongues

Skull fossils from a species of extinct amphibians called albanerpetontids shows the oldest-known evidence of a slingshot-style tongue, researchers say.

Natalie van Hoose-Florida • futurity
Nov. 30, 2020 ~12 min

Do big tadpoles become big frogs?

"We wanted to know, do large frogs have large tadpoles and small frogs small tadpoles, or are the sizes between the two decoupled?'"

Daniel Stolte-Arizona • futurity
Sept. 11, 2020 ~9 min

Some blobby frog heads hide amazing spiny skulls

Beneath their slick skin, some frog skulls sport spines, spikes, and other skeletal secrets called hyperossification.

Natalie van Hoose-Florida • futurity
March 26, 2020 ~7 min

Vanishing snakes highlight the biodiversity crisis

After frogs in protected area of Panama died off en masse, the snakes that ate them began to disappear, too. It shows the extent of our "biodiversity crisis."

Layne Cameron-Michigan State • futurity
Feb. 14, 2020 ~6 min

Team finds deadly fungus in Amazon frogs for the first time

Scientists thought lowland frogs living in the Peruvian Amazon were safe from the deadly chytrid fungus. A new study shows that's not the case.

Jim Erickson-Michigan • futurity
Oct. 18, 2019 ~6 min


Killer fungus is wiping out world’s amphibians

An invasive fungus has led to the decline of 501 species of amphibians. Scientists say we're running out of time to come up with a solution.

U. Melbourne • futurity
April 2, 2019 ~8 min

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