Frogs and toads, newts, salamanders and caecilians are stars in this newly-renovated 3,000-square-foot exhibit in The Living World. Find out why this incredible group of animals is facing a global crisis and what you can do to help.
"Toadally" Awesome Amphibians
Amphibians are animals that live in water or on land. These amazing vertebrates (animals with a backbone) change from eggs, to tadpoles, to adults by going through a process called metamorphosis.
Check out the cool bullfrog tadpole pool, where you can see about 150 tadpoles at various stages of their metamorphosis.
Amphibian Diversity
Amphibians come in all colors, shapes and sizes and exist on every continent except Antarctica. See over 20 species of awesome amphibians on display: Chacoan Waxy Tree Frog, Chuxiung fire-bellied newt, Malaysian horned frog, Mexican Caecilian, Sambava Tomato Frog, Surinam Toad, black-eared mantella, Iberian Ribbed Newt, blue and yellow poison frog, green and black poison frog, jade gliding frog, African clawed frog, European fire salamander, Panamanian Golden Frog, Hellbender, Puerto Rican Crested Toad, American Bullfrog, cave salamander, Eastern newt, long-tailed salamander, marine toad and plains leopard frog.
An Extinct Possibility
The Earth is now facing the largest mass destruction of a species since the disappearance of the dinosaur. After thriving for over 360 million years, one third to one half of the world's approximately 6,000 known amphibian species could go extinct in our lifetime.
Why are the frogs fading? Amphibians face a number of threats including habitat loss, climate change, pollution and pesticides, introduced species and diseases.
Saving Amphibians
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums and zoos world-wide have declared 2008 the Year of the Frog to raise awareness of a looming, mass extinction of amphibian species - the most significant since the dinosaur.
The Saint Louis Zoo's WildCare Institute is leading conservation efforts for hellbenders in Missouri with the Ron Goellner Center for Hellbender Conservation, participating in a reintroduction program for the Puerto Rican crested toad and supporting work in Ecuador where there are 448 known species of amphibians, many of them endangered. See sidebar at right for more details.
The Amphibian Ark project was launched to buy valuable time for species that would otherwise go extinct. The Amphibian Ark is coordinating the rescue of endangered species and working with partners to protect and breed these species in secure facilities at zoos, aquariums and other facilities around the world. These rescued amphibians will be released back into the wild when the threats have been controlled.
Amphibians Around the Zoo
Four new biome areas in the Children's Zoo building explain that frogs are everywhere from the desert, forest, water and even the backyard. Kids can crawl through the Frog Surround to see tree frogs above them, climb about a tree house, learn how to attract frogs to the garden, touch live animals and much more.
A wide variety of amphibians can also be seen at the Herpetarium. Special displays will highlight the Zoo's conservation work with some of the most endangered amphibians on the planet.
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