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Summary1. Altered global climates in the 21st century pose serious threats for biological systems and practical actions are needed to mount a response for species at risk. 2. We identify management actions from across the world and from diverse disciplines that are applicable to minimizing loss of amphibian biodiversity under climate change. Actions were grouped under three thematic areas of intervention: (i) installation of microclimate and microhabitat refuges; (ii) enhancement and restoration of breeding sites; and (iii) manipulation of hydroperiod or water levels at breeding sites. 3. Synthesis and applications. There are currently few meaningful management actions that will tangibly impact the pervasive threat of climate change on amphibians. A host of potentially useful but poorly tested actions could be incorporated into local or regional management plans, programmes and activities for amphibians. Examples include: installation of irrigation sprayers to manipulate water potentials at breeding sites; retention or supplementation of natural and artificial shelters (e.g. logs, cover boards) to reduce desiccation and thermal stress; manipulation of canopy cover over ponds to reduce water temperature; and, creation of hydrologoically diverse wetland habitats capable of supporting larval development under variable rainfall

All frogs are assumed to jump in a similar manner by rapidly extending hindlimbs during the propulsive phase and rotating the limbs forward during flight in order to land forelimbs first. However, studies of jumping behavior are lacking in the most primitive living frogs of the family Leiopelmatidae. These semi-aquatic or terrestrial anurans retain a suite of plesiomorphic morphological features and are unique in using an asynchronous (trot-like) rather than synchronous "frog-kick" swimming gait of other frogs. We compared jumping behavior in leiopelmatids to more derived frogs and found that leiopelmatids maintain extended hindlimbs throughout flight and landing phases and do not land on adducted forelimbs. These "belly-flop" landings limit the ability for repeated jumps and are consistent with a riparian origin of jumping in frogs. The unique behavior of leiopelmatids shows that frogs evolved jumping before they perfected landing. Moreover, an inability to rapidly cycle the limbs may provide a functional explanation for the absence of synchronous swimming in leiopelmatids.

Amphibians are currently the most threatened group of vertebrates worldwide, and introduced fauna play a major role in their decline. The control of introduced predators to protect endangered species is often based on predation rates derived from diet studies of predators, but prey detection probabilities using different techniques are variable. We measured the detectability of frogs as prey, using morphological and DNA-based diet analyses, in the stomachs and faeces of four mammal species that have been introduced to many areas of the world. Frogs (Litoria raniformis) were fed to rats (Rattus norvegicus and R. rattus), mice (Mus musculus) and hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus). DNA-based analysis outperformed morphological analysis, increasing the prey detection rate from 2% to 70% in stomachs and from 0% to 53% in faeces. In most cases, utilizing either stomachs or faeces did not affect the success of prey DNA detection; however, using faeces extended the detectability half-life from 7 to 21 h. This study is the first to measure prey DNA detection periods in mammalian stomachs, and the first to compare prey DNA detection periods in the stomachs and faeces of vertebrates. The results indicate that DNA-based diet analysis provides a more reliable approach for detecting amphibians as prey and has the potential to be used to estimate the rate of predation by introduced mammals on endangered amphibians.

Archey's frog Leiopelma archeyi is a critically endangered New Zealand endemic species. The discovery of the emerging infectious disease, chytridiomycosis, in wild populations of this frog raised concern that this disease may drive the species to extinction. Twelve wild-caught Archey's frogs naturally infected with the amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis were monitored in captivity by observing clinical signs, measuring weight gain, and performing repeated PCR tests. Eight frogs were treated with topical chloramphenicol, without PCR results being available, for B. dendrobatidis at the day of entry of the frog into the trial. Eleven of the 12 frogs (92%) cleared their infection within 3 mo of capture, even though they were held at 15°C and in high humidity, conditions that are ideal for the survival and propagation of B. dendrobatidis. B. dendrobatidis in the remaining frog tested positive for the fungus was eliminated after treatment with topical chloramphenicol. None of the 8 frogs exposed to chloramphenicol showed any acute adverse reactions. Archey's frog appears to have a low level of susceptibility to the clinical effects of chytridiomycosis. Individual frogs can eliminate B. dendrobatidis and Archey's frog can apparently be treated with topical chloramphenicol with no acute adverse reactions. However, the small number of specimens treated here requires that more extensive testing be done to confirm the safety of chloramphenicol. The significance of the amphibian chytrid fungus for wild populations of Archey's frog needs to be determined by a longitudinal study in an infected wild population to correlate the presence of B. dendrobatidis in individual frogs. Such a study should occur over a period of at least 3 yr with clinical assessment and monitoring of survival, growth and body condition parameters.

Men and women living in New Zealand and California completed five studies regarding human physique and sexual attractiveness. In Studies 1-3, women rated images of male stimuli and, in Studies 4-5, men rated female stimuli. In Study 1, women in both countries rated mesomorphic (muscular) and average male somatotypes as most attractive, followed by ectomorphic (slim) and endomorphic (heavily built) figures. In Study 2, amount and distribution of masculine trunk hair (chest and abdominal) was altered progressively in a series of front-posed male figures. In both countries, the image lacking any trunk hair was rated as the most attractive, with a steady decline in attractiveness as hirsutism became more pronounced. Study 3 assessed attractiveness of front-posed male figures that varied only in the length of the non-erect penis. Five lengths were presented: The smallest penile size was rated as less attractive than three intermediate sizes. The largest penile size was not the most attractive, but received higher scores than the unaltered and smallest penile size. In Study 4, men rated the attractiveness of back-posed female images varying in waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) (from 0.5 to 1.0). The 0.7 WHR figure was rated more attractive in New Zealand and the 0.6 WHR in California. Study 5 measured the attractiveness of female skin color; men expressed preferences for lighter skinned female figures in New Zealand and California. Results indicate very similar preferences for sexually dimorphic physical traits among men and women of European extraction, living in two culturally and geographically different environments.

Bioacoustic signals appear to be so essential to the social communication of anuran amphibians that other sensory modalities have been largely ignored. We studied the abilities of Leiopelma hamiltoni, a species evolutionarily basal to most living anurans, to communicate by means of chemosignals. We collected frogs in the field, held them in captivity for 72 h, and then tested their preferences for substrates that they had marked themselves to those marked by conspecifics. Individuals preferred paper towels that they had marked themselves to those marked by frogs collected from other home ranges. Preferences were greater, on average, when the conspecific had been collected farther away. Frogs did not discriminate between their own odor and those of other individuals with which they had shared a home range. Individuals preferred their own odor to a blank unmarked towel but also avoided odors of unfamiliar conspecifics when paired with a blank. The discovery of chemical communication in an archaic anuran offers a window into how frogs may have communicated before mechanisms of bioacoustic signaling evolved. We suggest, however, that chemical signaling may be widespread in anuran amphibians.

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