According to the Gregorian calendar, today is Leap Day. It is also the beginning of an amphibian conservation promotion by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums as part of their Year of the Frog campaign. Frogs and toads are the most numerous group of the amphibians, which also include the newts, salamanders and caecilians. But they are all in trouble.
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums will highlight 2008 as the Year of the Frog to mark a major conservation effort to address the amphibian extinction crisis. The Year of the Frog is also meant to engage the public in amphibian conservation and to raise funds for AZA amphibian conservation efforts into the future.
Find out the Top 8 Ways to Help Frogs in 2008
- Look, listen, and learn: educate yourself and your family about amphibians.
- Visit an Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited institutions near you and experience your very own amphibian adventure!
- Create amphibian friendly environments by providing clean water, hiding places, and insects to eat.
- Don’t pollute.
- Be a responsible pet owner.
- Conserve water at home, school, and work.
- Reduce the use of fossil fuels, such as oil, coal and natural gas.
- Be an amphibian champion.
Growing up on a lake in Florida, we had a lot of opportunities to witness amphibian activity. During the wet season there was a solid wall of noise coming from the passionate anurans in the pastures. It was not something you would hear so much as feel. Soon, the lake edge was strung with the black beads of toad eggs. And later, we could gather pollywogs by the handful. I have to wonder what it would be like if I ever went back there.
The difference between frogs and toads might seem obvious at first. Frogs are hoppers with long legs and wet skin. Toads are walkers with dry skin. But as my herpetology professor pointed out, there are exceptions to each of these and the distinction between frogs and toads amongst the experts is not so clear. For instance, the suborder of spadefoot toads (Mesobatrachia) also includes the parsley frogs.
Recently on This Week in Science, Justin and Dr. Kiki were commenting on the recent discovery of a very large amphibian fossil in Madagascar, appropriately dubbed Beelzebufo (at approximately minute 00:23:29). They ran into this same kind of consternation.
National Iguana Awareness Day was September 8, in case you missed it. I did.
The Pacific Science Center has a variation on a popular numbers game.
Do you Sudoku? Well, here’s a twist we think you’ll love. We call it PacSci-Doku…Instead of filling in the blanks with numbers, use letters. Hidden in one of the columns or rows is the answer to a science question. The question in this edition is:
What ancient sea reptile lived during the age of the dinosaurs in what is now Europe?
To find the answer, complete this PacSci-Doku using the following nine letters:
A O U S D L R P C
![Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure Poster [PDF]](http://cephalopodcast.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/pic-natgeo-seamonster.jpg)
This might be a fun supplement for educators following along when National Geographic premieres its new giant screen film Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure on October 5th.
Stunning photo-realistic computer-generated animated transports audiences back to the Late Cretaceous, when a great inland sea divided North America in two. The film follows a curious and adventurous dolichorhynchops – familiarly known as a ‘dolly’ – as she travels through the most dangerous oceans in history. Along the way, she encounters long-necked plesiosaurs, giant turtles, enormous fish, fierce sharks, and the most dangerous sea monster of all, the mosasaur.
Sadly, it doesn’t appear to be playing anywhere close to me. 
However, it’s not only a movie, it’s also a multimedia marketing blitzvideogame for the Wii
, Nintendo DS, and Playstation 2.
I have to think that combining these games with the standards-based lesson plans would make for a pretty interesting classroom assignment.
![Turtles in Trouble, thetravelfoundation.org.uk [150x217, 16K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_070508_mcsturtles.gif "Turtles in Trouble, thetravelfoundation.org.uk")
Take eight minutes out of your day and watch this clever little animated PSA about sea turtle conservation. Even though it is targeted at European travelers, its message is global.
The short film explains how UK tour operator practice can make a positive difference to the conservation of endangered loggerhead and green turtles during the summer holiday season at destinations in Greece, Crete and Turkey.
It’s not nearly as dry as it sounds. In fact, it is delightfully moist.
More oceanic adventures from PBS. They updated the site to include an educators guide.
VOYAGE OF THE LONELY TURTLE
Premieres Sunday, April 15th at 8 p.m.
A solitary loggerhead turtle in the middle of a vast ocean may not sound like an adventure film, but stick with her. Along her 9000-mile voyage to nest, our loggerhead tour guide in VOYAGE OF THE LONELY TURTLE encounters hammerhead sharks, deep ocean tempests, and man-made death traps in the form of fishing nets and hooks. Her body of well-suited armor and specialized adaptations for deep-ocean dwelling will help the sea turtle evade many of the ocean’s menaces. But this is just one set of challenges to overcome. Here is another: she must find her way across the Pacific, from Baja to a small stretch of beach in Japan, a precise location that she has been to just once before, as a two-inch hatchling, decades ago.
![Great Turtle Race, Yahoo trading card [200x150, 22K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_070410_yahooturtle.gif "Great Turtle Race")
Leatherback sea turtles are the largest and most ancient lineage of marine turtles. Eleven of them have been fitted with satellite transmitters as part of the Great Turtle Race, which begins on April 16, 2007.
The event is organized by The Leatherback Trust, Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP), Conservation International and Costa Rica’s MINAE. Some of the turtles are sponsored by Plantronics, Yahoo and West Marine, among others.
The whole site is a pretty slick production and includes Flashified trading cards for all the animals and a Flickr page. No word on whether the sponsors got to stencils their logos directly onto the turtles.
The sponsored turtles…are “racing” toward feeding areas south of the Galapagos Islands after nesting at Playa Grande in Costa Rica’s Las Baulas National Park, the primary nesting area for leatherbacks in the Pacific. The leatherback is a 100 million-year-old, massive sea animal that outlived the dinosaurs but is now dangerously close to extinction. Leatherback numbers have decreased at Playa Grande from thousands of nesting turtles 10 years ago to fewer than 100 in the last five years. This online event will raise funds to protect Playa Grande and raise awareness about what individuals can do-no matter where they live-to help protect sea turtles in our daily actions.
Lesson plans for K-5 and 6-12 grades are hosted by ERIC. Additional educational materials are supposed to be available in the “Sea Turtle School” area at www.GreatTurtleRace.com.
UPDATE: Stephen Colbert devoted part of his monologue to the leatherback race. One of the turtles is named after him.
More tentacle tinglage coming up from PBS. Sadly, no lesson plans or prepared companion guides for educators. Originally aired December, 2005.
ENCOUNTERING SEA MONSTERS
Airs April 8, 2007 at 8pm on PBS
NATURE follows Bob Cranston in his quest to film and understand the world’s most mysterious cephalopods.
Continue reading ‘PBS Special: Encountering Sea Monsters’
Mi hombre no necesita huevos de tortuga
My man does not need turtle eggs.
The folks over at Deep-Sea News, along with Argentinian supermodel Dorismar, want to remind all Catholics that sea turtles are not fish and make an inappropriate option for Lent fasting.
Because of the common misconception of sea turtles as ‘fish,’ it is estimated that as many as 10,000 endangered green, loggerhead, and olive ridley turtles are taken for feast food each year during Catholic religious holidays. Other species, such as leatherbacks, are also at risk as their eggs are poached in massive quantities throughout Latin America.
Continue reading ‘Send a message to the Pope: My man does not need sea turtle eggs.’
[via CTURTLE]![The Anatomy of Sea Turtles, by Jeanette Wyneken, Ph.D. [200x150, 12K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_070307_seaturtleanatomy.jpg "The Anatomy of Sea Turtles, by Jeanette Wyneken, Ph.D.")
Download a free PDF copy of the Anatomy of Sea Turtles by Jeanette Wyneken, Ph.D. Not for the squeamish if parasagittal dissections make you squick. It includes black and white illustrations by Dawn Witherington and color photographs.
…a fundamental background, reference photos of normal anatomy, and diagrams to guide novice or professional biologists, stranding personnel, and veterinarians. Species identification, standard dissection techniques, standard measurements, and basic anatomy are covered with a diverse audience in mind.
Hey, a new aquatic podcast!
![TWiST: This Week in Sea Turtlesfe thumbnail [4K, 80x60]](http://cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_060513_twist.gif "TWiST: This Week in Sea Turtles podcast")
Hot topics in sea turtle research and conservation.
Hosts: Michael Coyne, Matthew Godfrey and Manjula Tiwari
This is an experiment. We aren’t entirely sure where this will go, but we hope it will stimulate discussion and inform and educate the sea turtle community. It also gives the geeks another outlet! We plan to make this a weekly show, so listen and enjoy!
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