N elVsietter of
The Minnesota Herpetological • S o C 1 e t y July 2001
Volume 21 Number 7
Anecdotal evidence for amphibian declines was around for several years when conversations at the First World Congress of Herpetology in Canterbury, England in 1989 spurred scientists into action. Could the disappearances of the Golden Toad (Buto perig/enes) in Costa Rica, Spotted frogs (Rana pretiosa) in the Pacific Northwest, Gastric-brooding August General Meeting frogs (Rheobatrachus silus) from Friday, August 3rd , 2001, 7:00 Australia, and others, all be related? To get a better handle on this seemingly PM global problem, the Species Survival Program: Amphibian Commission of the World Conservation Population Declines and Their Unit (IUCN) formed the Declining Possible Causes Amphibian Populations Taskforce Guest Speaker: Dr. Tim (DAPTF). The mission of the DAPTF is to "determine the nature, extent and Halliday causes of declines of amphibians throughout the world, and to promote means by which declines can be halted or reversed".
Upcoming meeting The Vice-president's Report By Tony Gamble
. published Dorling Kindersley Ha~dbook, "Reptiles and Amphibians" (written with television host, Mark O'Shea). He is also editor (or co-editor) of the following books: "The Senses and Communication", "Behaviour and Evolution", "The Tinbergen Legacy", and "Animal Behavior". For more information on declining amph~bian populations check out the following: The Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force (DAPTF) Home Page http://www.open.ac.uk/daptf/
"Status and Conservation of Midwestern Amphibians" Edited by August's speaker, Dr. Tim Mike Lanoo, Published by the Halliday, has been the University of Iowa Press. International Director of DAPTF since 1994. He "Amphibians in Decline: Canadian has been working on Stu~ies of a Global Problem" Edited by amphibians since 1969. Dav!d M. Green, Published by the His earlier studies were on Society for the Study of Amphibians and the sexual behavior of Reptiles. European newts. He has since worked on mating behavior and sexual compe- "Tracking the Vanishing Frogs" by tition in European toads, midwife toads Kathryn Phillips, published by St. and an African treefrog. In the early Martin's Press. 1990s he returned to an early interest in extin~tion. In his talk, he will present an Upcoming Meetings' overview of our current knowledge of . amp~ibian population declines and their September 7th - TBA possible causes. He will also describe the work of the DAPTF.
Dr. Halliday is a professor at the Open University in Milton Keynes, England. He is author of the book, "Sexual strategy ". He co-authored (with Kraig Adler) the excellent Facts on File book "The Encyclopedia of Reptiles' and Amphibians" as well as the recently 1