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  PlanetSave 5 May 06
8 new frog species discovered
Written by AP

EurekAlert 20 Apr 06
 Laos – a lost world for frogs
 Wildlife Conservation Society

Latest study documents sixth species found in two-year period

NEW YORK – Frogs and lots of them are being discovered in the Southeast Asia nation of Lao PDR, according to the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society, which says that six new frog species have been found by scientists over a two-year period.

Working in conjunction with the WCS Laos Program, scientists describe the latest three species in the recent issue of Copeia, the journal of the American Society of Herpetologists and Ichthyologists.

Little is known about the new frogs, other than where they live and how they differ morphologically from other similar species.

"Now that these species have been documented we can go back and start to learn something about their biology," said Bryan Stuart of the Field Museum, a co-author of the study.

The American Museum of Natural History and Russian Academy of Sciences also collaborated on the new study. Lao PDR, the least densely populated country in Asia, has produced a treasure trove of wildlife discoveries in recent years, from the Laotian rock rat, which is the lone living member of an ancient mammal family, to the Annamite striped rabbit and saola, a type of forest antelope.

Nine amphibians have been discovered by Stuart and his collaborators since 2002.

"Certainly much more remains to be found in Laos," said Stuart. With a high level of biodiversity, Lao PDR has some of the most significant forest areas remaining in Southeast Asia. However, the combined loss of forest cover (estimated at nearly 55 percent) and over-exploitation of many species threatens much of Laos's wildlife.

Already, a newly described salamander species found by Stuart in Laos has turned up earlier this year in the Japanese pet trade, where it is commanding a high commercial price.

This species is currently known only from two, nearby localities in northern Laos. Conservationists are eager to begin surveys of this species to document the extent of its range and habitat requirements, in order to get it protected by the Lao government before it becomes threatened by overexploitation.

PlanetSave 5 May 06
8 new frog species discovered
Written by AP

Bangkok - You want to find a new frog species? Head to the south-east Asian nation of Laos.

Their findings were reported earlier this year in Copeia, the journal of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, and in other peer-reviewed scientific journals since 2004.

"Nobody has really paid much attention to Laos in terms of amphibian and reptile research," Bryan Stuart, whose team made the discoveries, told The Associated Press in a phone interview. Species unknown to science "So the amphibian fauna of Laos is much more poorly understood compared with neighbouring countries. Almost every one of my field trips has yielded species unknown to science," he said.

The frogs are the latest new species to come out of the tiny, landlocked Asian country. Many are found in Laotian forests, largely unexplored by outsiders because of the geographic remoteness and the country's history of political turmoil.

Last year, scientists reported discovering a rat-like rodent known locally as kha-nyou. The mammal, with the face of a rat and the body of a skinny squirrel, previously was thought to have died out 11 million years ago, researchers writing in Science said in March.

Scientists working in conjunction with the New York-based World Conservation Society, or WCS, say they have discovered eight new species of frogs in the past two years. Among them is one where the male is half the size of the female and another which has a row of spines running down its belly.

Forests under threat

Stuart, whose team also discovered a new species of salamander in Laos in 2004, said he is captivated by the new finds but also concerned since many of the frogs depend on forests which are constantly under threat across the region.

"These frogs are not living in rice paddies or near villages. They are living in intact forests," he said. "When forests are cleared, we're losing this piece of biodiversity that we may never have known existed," he said. "I can't think of any tropical region where there isn't a threat to intact forest. Certainly, there is forest destruction in Laos."

Concern about collectors

Another threat - at least to the black and gold salamander Stuart's team discovered - is collectors. Earlier this year, the salamander turned up in the pet trade in Japan, where it is commanding a high commercial price. There also have been reports of it being sold in Germany and Britain, the WCS said.

"The collectors are getting in before we understand the ecology of the salamander," said Michael Hedemark, co-director of the WCS Lao Programme. "Our concern is that the population will be driven to extinction before we understand it better."

Stuart, a research assistant at the Field Museum in Chicago, plans to return to Laos later this year for additional research.

He said he believes the conservation benefits of reporting a new discovery outweigh the threat of collectors. Referring to the frogs, he says none of their characteristics - such as size or colour - are likely to interest collectors.

But reporting their discovery, he said, may spur the government to protect its forests better. "The process of discovering and describing biodiversity must go on," he said.
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