Cocobolo Nature Reserve Monitoring
I’m leaving Saturday for another round of research and monitoring on the endangered Limosa Harlequin Frog (Atelopus limosus) monitoring with Alex Shepack, Michael Roy, and Abel Batista in the wonderful Cocobolo Nature Reserve in Eastern Panama. We’re looking for more clues on the enigmatic behavior of the deadly amphibian chytrid fungus in the area and the mechanisms that allow some local frogs to survive. In addition we’ll be setting up opportunities for student research on the project through the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History and Yale...
Read MoreLimosa Harlequin Frog (Atelopus limosa)
This is what it is all about – being able to see healthy Limosa Harlequin Frogs (Atelopus limosus) in their natural environment and trying to unlock the secrets of this population through our research in Cocobolo Nature Reserve, Panama. Hopefully we can we help to expand the size of this population through careful habitat management and apply the lessons learned elsewhere to allow other populations of this, and some of the many other endangered amphibians in the world to return where they belong: in a healthy environment. Twan Leenders RTPI President
Read MoreCochranella granulosa
RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser always wanted to photograph a glass frog like this, and on the recent trip to Panama he decided to give it a shot with this beautiful Cochranella granulosa. Can you see why they’re called glass frogs?
Read MoreHelmeted Iguana (Corytophanes cristatus)
Here’s a Helmeted Iguana (Corytophanes cristatus)…or as Twan called it, a baby dragon…for your Tuesday. Be sure to check out the leaf for a better sense of scale (not the dragon kind of scale) as it is not quite as large and imposing as it initially seems!
Read MoreFreshwater Crab
A nice example of how tropical rainforest ecosystems are equally complex underwater in rainforest streams as they are in the actual forest – no species exists in a vacuum. Note how an impressive number of hydras has found a cozy home on this freshwater crab… Photographed by RTPI President Twan Leenders for the Meet Your Neighbours global biodiversity project.
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