Response to comment on 'Amphibian fungal panzootic causes catastrophic and ongoing loss of biodiversity'

Lambert et al. question our retrospective and holistic epidemiological assessment of the role of chytridiomycosis in amphibian declines. Their alternative assessment is narrow and provides an incomplete evaluation of evidence. Adopting this approach limits understanding of infectious disease impacts and hampers conservation efforts. We reaffirm that our study provides unambiguous evidence that chytridiomycosis has affected at least 501 amphibian species

Adaptive responses of animals to climate change are most likely insufficient

Biological responses to climate change have been widely documented across taxa and regions, but it remains unclear whether species are maintaining a good match between phenotype and environment, i.e. whether observed trait changes are adaptive. Here we reviewed 10,090 abstracts and extracted data from 71 studies reported in 58 relevant publications, to assess quantitatively whether phenotypic trait changes associated with climate change are adaptive in animals. A meta-analysis focussing on birds, the taxon best represented in our dataset, suggests that global warming has not systematically affected morphological traits, but has advanced phenological traits. We demonstrate that these advances are adaptive for some species, but imperfect as evidenced by the observed consistent selection for earlier timing. Application of a theoretical model indicates that the evolutionary load imposed by incomplete adaptive responses to ongoing climate change may already be threatening the persistence of species.Peer reviewe

Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas

The rapid disruption of tropical forests probably imperils global biodiversity more than any other contemporary phenomenon¹⁻³. With deforestation advancing quickly, protected areas are increasingly becoming final refuges for threatened species and natural ecosystem processes. However, many protected areas in the tropics are themselves vulnerable to human encroachment and other environmental stresses⁴⁻⁹. As pressures mount, it is vital to know whether existing reserves can sustain their biodiversity. A critical constraint in addressing this question has been that data describing a broad array of biodiversity groups have been unavailable for a sufficiently large and representative sample of reserves. Here we present a uniquely comprehensive data set on changes over the past 20 to 30 years in 31 functional groups of species and 21 potential drivers of environmental change, for 60 protected areas stratified across the world’s major tropical regions. Our analysis reveals great variation in reserve ‘health’: about half of all reserves have been effective or performed passably, but the rest are experiencing an erosion of biodiversity that is often alarmingly widespread taxonomically and functionally. Habitat disruption, hunting and forest-product exploitation were the strongest predictors of declining reserve health. Crucially, environmental changes immediately outside reserves seemed nearly as important as those inside in determining their ecological fate, with changes inside reserves strongly mirroring those occurring around them. These findings suggest that tropical protected areas are often intimately linked ecologically to their surrounding habitats, and that a failure to stem broad-scale loss and degradation of such habitats could sharply increase the likelihood of serious biodiversity declines.Keywords: Ecology, Environmental scienc

A review of the reproductive biology of the only known matrotrophic viviparous anuran, the West African Nimba toad, Nimbaphrynoides occidentalis

Amphibians, and anurans in particular, show the highest diversity of reproductive modes among tetrapods. Nevertheless, viviparity is scarce in anurans and its occurrence is even more often assumed rather than confirmed. Probably the best studied viviparous amphibian is the Nimba toad, Nimbaphrynoides occidentalis. During more than 40 years of research, the Nimba toad’s reproductive morphology, endocrine activity of the ovary as well as the pituitary gland, and to some extent the ecological impact (seasonality, humidity, food availability) on reproduction was examined. Due to the Nimba toad’s unique reproductive mode, summaries are usually included in reviews discussing amphibian reproduction and articles on reproductive biology often discuss the exceptional reproductive system of Nimba toads. However, to our knowledge a detailed synthesis, summarising all the different original studies on the toad’s reproduction, is so far missing. In this paper we review and summarise all available initial publications, which often have been published in French and/or are difficult to access. A short overview is given of the climatic and environmental conditions experienced by Nimba toads and the key findings supporting a “true” viviparous reproduction with matrotrophy (maternal provision of nutrition during the gestation) and pueriparity (birth of juveniles). Then foetal development (morphological, gonad and pituitary development), and the female (ovary, oviduct, pituitary and their endocrine interactions) and the male reproductive system (testes and pituitary) are reviewed. Finally, the reproductive cycle and its link to the Nimba mountains’ seasonality and ecological/ conservation implications are discussed

A type catalogue of the reed frogs (Amphibia, Anura, Hyperoliidae) in the collection of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (ZMB) with comments on historical collectors and expeditions

We present a commented catalogue of the type specimens of the Afro-Malagasy frog family Hyperoliidae at the herpetological collection of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (ZMB). In current publications and databases, many names based on ZMB primary types are listed as synonyms of other species, the types often declared as lost. Consequently, the respective names are often no longer considered in current taxonomic work. We traced 146 nominal taxa of the family Hyperoliidae in the ZMB collection of which currently 130 are presented by primary types (88 holotypes, 10 lectotypes and 32 taxa based on syntype series); 50 of these taxa are currently considered as valid. Primary types of nine taxa could not be located during our inventory of the collection holdings. Seven taxa are exclusively represented by secondary types (paratypes). Many of these types comprise taxa where types have been thought to be lost. As a further service to the community, we provide important details about collectors and their travel routes, as well as respective documents stored in the collection of the Department of Historical Research at ZMB. This should make it easier to potentially compare the ZMB types in future taxonomic revisions

A type catalogue of the reed frogs (Amphibia, Anura, Hyperoliidae) in the collection of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (ZMB) with comments on historical collectors and expeditions

We present a commented catalogue of the type specimens of the Afro-Malagasy frog family Hyperoliidae at the herpetological collection of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (ZMB). In current publications and databases, many names based on ZMB primary types are listed as synonyms of other species, the types often declared as lost. Consequently, the respective names are often no longer considered in current taxonomic work. We traced 146 nominal taxa of the family Hyperoliidae in the ZMB collection of which currently 130 are presented by primary types (88 holotypes, 10 lectotypes and 32 taxa based on syntype series); 50 of these taxa are currently considered as valid. Primary types of nine taxa could not be located during our inventory of the collection holdings. Seven taxa are exclusively represented by secondary types (paratypes). Many of these types comprise taxa where types have been thought to be lost. As a further service to the community, we provide important details about collectors and their travel routes, as well as respective documents stored in the collection of the Department of Historical Research at ZMB. This should make it easier to potentially compare the ZMB types in future taxonomic revisions

Description of two Werneria tadpoles from Cameroon (Amphibia: Anura: Bufonidae)

Hirschfeld, Mareike, Barej, Michael F., Loader, Simon P., Rödel, Mark-Oliver (2012): Description of two Werneria tadpoles from Cameroon (Amphibia: Anura: Bufonidae). Zootaxa 3172 (1): 65-68, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3172.1.5, URL: https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.3172.1.

The rediscovery of Perret’s toad, Amietophrynus perreti (Schiøtz, 1963) after more than 40 years, with comments on the species’ phylogenetic placement and conservation status

Perret’s toad, Amietophrynus perreti, has not been seen since 1970 and thus believed to be lost. We searched for the species 50 years after its original description and successfully recorded its continued presence at the type locality, where it seems to maintain a viable population. We failed however, to record the species at suitable sites elsewhere and A. perreti could thus indeed be a micro-endemic species, specialized and restricted to the granite inselbergs of the Idanre Hills, Nigeria. We recorded and discuss potential threats and suggest keeping the toad’s current conservation status as ‘Vulnerable’. We investigated the systematic status of Perret’s toad using a mitochondrial fragment of the 16S rRNA gene and could confirm that it is a member of the genus Amietophrynus despite its aberrant larval biology, different to the rest of the genus. In spite of this biological difference, A. perreti is not a phylogenetically isolated lineage, but is nested within a clade of western African Amietophrynus species, such as A. maculatus, A. regularis, A. latifrons and A. togoensis and is sister to the widespread and savannah dwelling A. maculatus

The taxonomic status of two West African Leptopelis species: L. macrotis Schiøtz, 1967 and L. spiritusnoctis Rödel, 2007 (Amphibia: Anura: Arthroleptidae)

We herein examine the taxonomic status of two West African forest-dwelling Leptopelis species. The small L. spiritusnoctis, described from the Upper Guinean forests of West Africa, was recently synonymized with L. aubryi, described from Gabon. The large L. macrotis, known from Ghana to Sierra Leone, was downgraded to a subspecies of L. millsoni, ranging from the Niger Delta to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. These taxonomic decisions are in contrast to the general biogeographic pattern of African forest anurans and we consequently tested if the morphologically similar taxon pairs are indeed conspecifics by applying acoustic and molecular techniques. Both techniques confirmed that populations from West Africa differ significantly from their Central African morphological equivalents. Consequently, we herein resurrect L. spiritusnoctis as a valid species. The acoustic data indicate that L. aubryi may comprise a complex of cryptic species. We further advocate using the name L. macrotis for West African and L. millsoni for Central African populations of these larger arboreal frogs. However, we had neither genetic nor acoustic data from the type locality of L. millsoni available and could not clarify if these frogs belong to the more western or eastern taxon or even represent a Nigerian endemic. Thus, it is possible that West African populations need to be termed L. millsoni in the future. For populations east of the Cross River, Nigeria, the name L. guineensis would be available

Re-description of the type series of Nectophrynoides viviparus (Bufonidae), with a taxonomic reassessment

FIGURE 1. Map of the Southern Highlands, Tanzania. Black dots: type locality and further records of the species.Published as part of Loader, Simon P., Poynton, John C., Davenport, Tim R. B. & Rödel, Mark-Oliver, 2009, Re-description of the type series of Nectophrynoides viviparus (Bufonidae), with a taxonomic reassessment, pp. 41-50 in Zootaxa 2304 on page 43, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.27533