[bestfrogbracket]

The tournament is here! 64 frogs total, with the winner of each bracket facing off against each other in the finals. Round 1 begins Friday, March 24 at 4 pm CDT/9 pm GMT! Four polls will be posted per day, each lasting 24 hours. There will be no break between rounds.

Good luck, and remember that all frogs are winners in our hearts <3

[sweetfirebird]

Hey the US government is proposing to get rid of the Endangered Species Act. Please go comment.

(yes this entirely for corporate profit)

Cut and paste the docket number to put in your response if you remember. You can comment anonymously if you want.

The Oregon Zoo has some sample arguments you can make.

We have until December 22nd!

[six-improbable-things]

I don't usually add on to stuff like this, but this is really really important to me.

Since OP didn't explain what's actually changing (lots of things) here's a simple explanation of one of the Big Ones.

One of the biggest changes is a proposal to remove the ESA’s Threatened Species Blanket Rule (FWS-HQ-ES-2025-0029). The Blanket Rule is extremely important because it automatically extends the same protections given to endangered species to all newly listed threatened species, quickly providing prohibitions on harming, killing or trading the species. If the Blanket Rule is rescinded, species-specific rules would have to be enacted, imposing additional procedural delays and uncertainty at the most critical time for the species' survival. And with more and more species in danger each year, that’s a risk that we as a country cannot afford to take. 

Also, @why-animals-do-the-thing / @animalphotorefs this seems like something that your reach might help with, and that's relevant to your blog(s).

If you run into issues, try turning off your VPN if you have one, in case it's getting annoyed that you're not "in the U.S.".

If you need a template, I'm putting one I got sent at work under the cut. (But check out the Oregon Zoo link, too! Or better yet, write your own! Unique and individual comments catch more attention than copy-pasted ones!)

"For over fifty years, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) has played a major role in protecting wildlife, preventing nearly 99% of listed species from becoming extinct. This legislation has had support across the country since 1973 because safeguarding America’s wildlife is not only a responsibility, but a proud part of our nation’s history. The proposed change to remove the ESA’s Blanket 4(d) Rule will result in fewer protections for threatened species and compromise the ESA’s mission. It is imperative to maintain our commitment to protecting endangered species and their habitats. I encourage the Administration to withdraw all proposed changes to the ESA in order to ensure our country’s wildlife will continue to be protected for generations to come."

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Thanks for the tag, I definitely want to jump in here because the most helpful thing any individual can do is write your own comment.

I’m going to give you a little bit of information about the process that’s happening here, why it’s happening, and how you can best contribute to protecting the Endangered Species Act. You can skip it by scrolling to the red text, but you’ll be best set up to comment and help if you know some things about what’s happening first, so please stick with me. I promise to be as simple and jargon free as possible.

First, and to catch people's attention as they scroll, here's two red wolf sisters: a species the ESA actively preserving. This is who we're doing this for.

To clarify one thing: they’re not trying to totally repeal the ESA, the entire law, they’re looking to roll back regulations implementing it/enforcing it to what was being used in 2019. This is still bad! Very bad! But a thing that’s important when dealing with legislation/regulation is precision in the language we use.

Okay, so here’s what you need to know. This is part of what is known as the “notice-and-comment” rule making process, which is federally mandated. This happens with the implementation of regulations to enact new laws, or changes to the interpretation of laws. Laws like the ESA, once passed, are delegated to various federal agencies and departments to enact and make happen, and they do that by deciding what regulations need to exist to fulfill the text and intent of the law. This change to the ESA is happening because one of the earliest executive orders from this administration “directed all departments and agencies to immediately review agency actions to identify those actions that potentially impose an undue burden on the identification, development, or use of domestic energy resources, and, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, consider suspending, revising, or rescinding agency actions identified as unduly burdensome that conflict with this national objective.” So, as @sweetfirebird said, literally go figure out what laws and regs and protections they can interpret differently, put on hold, or trash for the energy sector. Fucking gross.

This “notice-and-comment” process is the process with which all these federal agencies go about exploring changing regulations. It’s a formal process that is specifically designed to allow stakeholders to have input on what happens. Good news: in the ESA, the public is literally a stakeholder! It’s written into the law that any “person” (basically an individual or a group of individuals) can sue the government for a violation of the law. This is actually historically the prime enforcement mechanism of the ESA. Which means you, as an American on tumblr reading this, have absolutely valid standing to go tell the feds to knock this shit off. And with the way the “notice-and-comment” process works, they actually have to take your argument into account. (Yes, even though we know this admin is a piece of shit and dgaf). Here’s why.

A “notice and comment” process has four major steps.

Agency issues a notice of proposed rulemaking. That’s what you’re looking at in the first link @sweetbirdfire shared. They have to describe what the rule they want to make/change is and explain the legal authority for the rule.

The public must be given an opportunity to participate in a written comment period. That’s what you’re being asked to do - submit a comment before the comment period is over on the 22nd.

The agency must “consider all relevant, timely-submitted comments. If it decides to issue a final rule, the agency develops the regulatory text along with a preamble explaining the rule’s basis and responding to all significant issues raised in the comments.”

Final rule is published.

Okay, so why did I jump to a direct quote from federal documents in the third bullet point? Because that’s the really important shit. When federal agencies move forward with rulemaking after a public comment period, they are required to consider and response to all significant issues raised. And that is why you should write your own comment if you can.

It’s really common for organizations encouraging people to leave public comment to ask people to send in form letters. It’s easy, it takes no time or real work, it shows a lot of general public support on the issue, and they can quote the comment numbers when they’re lobbying.

But! What I’ve been told by serious professional people who work with regulatory agencies is that all those form letters only have the functional weight of a single comment during the “notice-and-comment” process. If 100 people only bring up the same significant set of issues, that requires far less time and work for the agency to respond to than even 20 people writing in with their individual concerns. I’ve seen follow-ups on comment periods where they actually count how many people raised issues on a single topic or concern - but the form letters only counted as one “comment” because they were the exact same thing.

And while the political agency head probably wants to fast-track this process of changing the regs to let the feds tear up whatever the fuck they want, a “notice-and-comment period” is a really good way to gum up those gears. There are still people in lower-level positions who do this daily work and I expect that they’re opposed to this and will go through the whole process like they’re been trained to. Under normal administrations, an overwhelming number of concerns raised during comment periods have stalled the creation/change of specific regulations for a decade. This is a process that works best when as many people as possible participate, and it’s detrimental to our interests as invested members of the public that that isn’t more widely known or the process understood.

So! What does that mean you should do here?

Write your own comment if you have the time/spoons.

Literally, write it in your own words, rather than using the form letters provided. If you make it a “different comment” it has to be considered separately and your concerns on the topic will be given more weight. Even if you just stick to the topics the Oregon Zoo offered: to be clear, they’re really good ones.

But, you’ll have even more impact if you can tie it to specific concerns for you. It takes a little more work so I don’t expect everyone to do this, but if you have some specialized or local knowledge that can be relevant, this is a great time to drop that in. Tie the concern to endangered or threatened species in your specific community, or an ecosystem that you know companies might want to pillage.

Your comment doesn’t have to be super well written or perfectly edited. It can be in language about as casual as you’d use in a tumblr post (with punctuation, though). This isn’t something you’re turning in for a grade - it’s raising your hand to say hey, I object! You’re not a major advocacy group or professional org, you don’t have to be perfect, you just have to tell them how you feel. That being said. Public comments are public record. You can submit them anonymously but don’t include identifying information.

Here’s a link directly to the comment portal. While the site has a text box embedded in the page, you can also submit a document/file containing your comment.

https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FWS-HQ-ES-2025-0039-0001

Comments close at 11:59 PM EST (4:59 GMT) on December 22nd. We have less than five days to get more comments in. I’m really not kidding when I say every unique, individual comment makes an impact. Let’s do this.

Images from @animalphotorefs

[stickyfrogs]

Thank you to everyone who has already donated, signed up to help or shared the Amphibian Foundation’s Emergency Relocation Fund! 😀🐸

The Amphibian Foundation are having a Last Chance Open House on Oct 25 where you can meet all the animals before they move! You can register here!

You can also donate directly, sponsor a critter or help out on moving day!

$1 from every 2026 Stickyfrogs Calendar will also be donated to the Emergency Fund! 🐸

[hungercityhellhound]

The City of Atlanta Georgia has decided to demolish the research and conservation center of the Amphibian Foundation. This organization works tirelessly to conserve the Frogs, Toads, Salamanders, Newts, and other amphibians in the United States. In addition, they provide key education for herpetologists on the care, conservation, and preservation of reptiles and amphibians.

This emergency need is compounded by the government mass firing of conservation officials and the pulling of funds from many of the country's conservation organizations.

If you can help please donate here:

Support AF's Emergency Fund

The building where AF is located will be demolished in June 2026.

Key points from the Amphibian Foundation.

Our building will be demolished in 2026, and we need to identify a new location (or locations) for 7 labs and over 1,000 animals, many of which are endangered and part of critical conservation programs.

We've identified a new location for most of AF, but not our research and conservation programs. We have an amazing lead, but it's not confirmed yet.

Our first fundraising project is the AF Emergency Fund as the minimum cost estimates to move this many labs and animals safely is $50,000. (It costs about 50 USD per animal to move them)

If you can't donate.. please share... here.. and everywhere else.

[hungercityhellhound]

The City of Atlanta Georgia has decided to demolish the research and conservation center of the Amphibian Foundation. This organization works tirelessly to conserve the Frogs, Toads, Salamanders, Newts, and other amphibians in the United States. In addition, they provide key education for herpetologists on the care, conservation, and preservation of reptiles and amphibians.

This emergency need is compounded by the government mass firing of conservation officials and the pulling of funds from many of the country's conservation organizations.

If you can help please donate here:

Support AF's Emergency Fund

The building where AF is located will be demolished in June 2026.

Key points from the Amphibian Foundation.

Our building will be demolished in 2026, and we need to identify a new location (or locations) for 7 labs and over 1,000 animals, many of which are endangered and part of critical conservation programs.

We've identified a new location for most of AF, but not our research and conservation programs. We have an amazing lead, but it's not confirmed yet.

Our first fundraising project is the AF Emergency Fund as the minimum cost estimates to move this many labs and animals safely is $50,000. (It costs about 50 USD per animal to move them)

If you can't donate.. please share... here.. and everywhere else.

[sarahmackattack]

One last talent show to save the rec center

Ok everybody here's the deal.

My science education nonprofit, Skype a Scientist (you might know her, creator of the squid facts hotline and matcher of classrooms + scientists) has secured absolutely no grants to support general operations for 2025. But! We're selling advent calendars to fund our program! They absolutely rule. They can save our nonprofit asses. If we sell 5000, which I realize, is so many, we can fund our program for 2025. Then I can offer a bunch of programming for free. Running a nonprofit is a weird job.

Every day, counting down to frankly whatever you want (it's usually Christmas, but man, maybe you want to count down to Halloween, that's fine by me) scratch off the sparkly sparkly iridescence and reveal a fact about frogs! We have 24 top-notch frog facts here.

You should get one for every kid in your life, then get one for all the adults who still let themselves access joy in critters.

Get 'em here: https://squidfacts.bigcartel.com/

[markscherz]

Hey, @sarahmackattack is awesome and so is Skype a Scientist. Supporting them *and* getting 24 frog facts to scratch off like an advent calendar seems like an incredible win-win to me. So if you can, I emphatically encourage you to do the thing.

[markscherz]

Bad Newts: Amphibians are in Serious Trouble

My colleagues and I have just had a paper published in Nature, based on our efforts to assess almost all amphibian species for the IUCN Red Lists. The major takeaway messages:

It is a bad time to be an amphibian

Two fifths of all amphibians are threatened with extinction.

Salamanders are the most threatened group; three fifths of all salamanders are threatened with extinction!

Climate change is a major driver of amphibian declines globally

Habitat loss, especially due to agriculture, is a problem for the vast majority of amphibians

Chytrid pandemics have caused and continue to cause catastrophic declines of both salamanders and frogs

Protected areas and careful management are working as strategies! They are actively improving the outlook of some species

As many as 222 amphibian species may have gone extinct in recent times; of those, 185 are suspected extinct but not yet confirmed.

Our paper is Open Access, you can read it here!

Photo of Atelopus hoogmoedi by Jaime Culebras, used with permission

[bestfrogbracket]

ROUND 1 POLL 32

Dwarf Mexican Tree Frog (Tlalocohyla smithii)

Indian Bullfrog (Hoplobatrachus tigerinus)

Voting ended onSep 28, 2023

Dwarf Mexican Tree Frog: Found throughout Mexico and down to Costa Rica, this frog is the largest of its genus. They have the ability to change colour but tend to retain their dark patches. They are very dependent on pools of water, and in dry years can be difficult to find. To survive, they wrap themselves in a cocoon of “parchment-like” material. In pools, females lay up to 3500 eggs in a film on the surface of the water. When attacked, they let out high-pitched distress calls.

Indian Bullfrog: This frog’s striking appearance isn’t universal: females and non-breeding males are olive or grey with a white stomach and lack the bright blue and yellow colouration that breeding males use to attract mates during monsoons. There, they congregate in water, fighting over females that come within reach. They spend most of their time on land, however, eating everything from earthworms to small birds and rodents. The tadpoles are also carnivorous, with reports of them eating animal carcasses and cannibalism. In winter and during drought, they hibernate by burrowing underground.

[bestfrogbracket]

ROUND 1 POLL 31

American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus)

Edible Frog (Pelophylax kl. esculentus)

Voting ended onSep 28, 2023

American Toad: These toads lay up to 8000 eggs in a single clutch, laid out in a string. Tadpoles have been proposed to have a mutually beneficial relationship with the algae Chlorogonium, where the algae growing on their backs seems to cause them to grow faster. Like most toads, their parotoid glands contain bufotoxin, a foul-tasting chemical. They are also known to interbreed with A. woodhousii and A. hemiophrys in regions where their ranges overlap. Females of the same clutch, however, are able to recognize their brothers through their calls, avoiding potential inbreeding.

Edible Frog: Found throughout Europe, this species is a hybrid of Rana ridibundus (the marsh frog) and R. lessonae (the pool frog). Due to this, they can be either diploid or triploid and demonstrate different genomes due to a process called hybridogenesis. They are also sometimes quite difficult to distinguish from either parent species, taking on traits from one or both. For example, their hibernation behaviours vary depending on which parent species they coexist with: if near R. ridibundus, they hibernate in water. If near R. lessonae, they hibernate on land. As their common name suggests, they were often eaten by humans of the area.

[bestfrogbracket]

ROUND 1 POLL 30

Common Coquí (Eleutherodactylus coqui)

Black Rain Frog (Breviceps fuscus)

Voting ended onSep 28, 2023

Common Coquí: Named after their call, the common coqui is found in Puerto Rico. This call not only serves to attract a mate, but also to mark territory. A challenging male may enter their territory and begin a duel, where they call for up to several minutes and the first to falter loses. Adults climb higher in the canopy at night and return to the ground when humidity drops in the morning, while juveniles tend to stay closer to the ground. They lay their eggs on leaves in this canopy, where they hatch directly into frogs. Males guard these eggs – although they sometimes eat a few – and chase off any predators.

Black Rain Frog: This frog is found in the forested and mountainous regions of southern South Africa, not relying on nearby sources of water. Instead, it burrows in tunnels up to 150 mm deep or lives low in the foliage of the area. Eggs are laid in similar, shallower burrows, and covered with a few layers of unfertilized eggs for protection. The male also remains near the burrow to guard it from threats, even while continuing to call.

[bestfrogbracket]

ROUND 1 POLL 29

Lake Titicaca Frog (Telmatobius culeus)

Beelzebufo ampinga

Voting ended onSep 28, 2023

Lake Titicaca Frog: Found exclusively in the Lake Titicaca region between Bolivia and Peru, this frog is completely aquatic. They have lungs about one third the size of typical frog lungs, and breathe heavily through their skin – which is why they have so many folds, to function as makeshift “gills” and provide a greater surface area. The cold waters and strong winds of lake Titicaca oxygenate the water and allow them to breathe. Other adaptations to this environment include the highest red blood cell count and lowest red blood cell size and metabolic rates of any frog. If it winds up needing more oxygen, it surfaces to breathe or floats at the bottom of the lake, bobbing to expose more of the skin flaps to fresh water. When stressed, they excrete a milky white substance.

Beelzebufo ampinga: This extinct frog lived 66-70 million years ago, with all known fossils found in Madagascar. Estimates put their adult size at around the size of an African Bullfrog, at 23.2 cm (9.1 in). They may have grown larger, since all found skulls are unfused. These skulls also suggest that the frogs heads were plated in bony structures and may have had a bite force of 500 to 2000 Newtons. (For reference, a human bite is approximately 700 N.) They likely used this powerful bite to eat small theropods and amphibians. Their name is a play on Beelzebub, a name for the Christian devil, and Bufo, the scientific name for true toads, due to its enormous size.

[bestfrogbracket]

ROUND 1 POLL 27

Long-Nosed Horned Frog (Pelobatrachus nasutus)

Bornean Flat-Headed Frog (Barbourula kalimantanensis)

Voting ended onSep 27, 2023

Long-Nosed Horned Frog: This frog’s appearance serves as excellent camouflage for the rainforest floors of Thailand, Borneo, Singapore, and Malaysia where it lives. They’re ambush predators who feed on large prey, including small rodents and other frogs. They also lay their relatively small clutches of eggs in streams, attaching them to the underside of rocks and logs.

Bornean Flat-Headed Frog: The only known lungless frog! They don’t have a glottis, which normally separates the esophagus and windpipe, and males even lack a vocal sac. Their flat shape is likely to increase surface area through which they absorb oxygen from the cool, fast-flowing streams they live in. These streams have a higher oxygen content than warm stagnant waters, making this species very vulnerable to any changes in water quality from human activity.

[bestfrogbracket]

ROUND 1 POLL 28

American Green Tree Frog (Hyla cinerea)

Purple Harlequin Toad (Atelopus barbotini)

Voting ended onSep 27, 2023

American Green Tree Frog: Naturally found in the Southeastern United States, they prefer swamps and densely foliaged lakesides as habitats. Certain coastal populations, however, have developed a tolerance to moderate salinity in water thanks to different processes that regulate osmosis. Males form large choruses during mating season, and as a result are forced to modify their calls in frequency and duration to stand out from the others and draw attention from females. In some areas, they even compete with other species such as the invasive Osteopilus septentrionalis and modify their call to be more clearly heard. Females prefer lower-frequency calls, so if a male notices that his is distinctly higher-frequency than others in the area, he may forego calling altogether and attempt to ambush a female instead.

Purple Harlequin Toad: Native to French Guiana, it was found to likely belong to the Guiana Shield clade of harlequin toads through genetic testing done in 2020. Different populations separated by location vary significantly in size, with females from the Sophie region being smaller than males – contrary to all other populations of this species. Unfortunately, they are threatened by local logging and the chytrid fungus.

[bestfrogbracket]

ROUND 1 POLL 26

Tailed Frogs (Ascaphidae)

White’s Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea)

Voting ended onSep 27, 2023

Tailed Frogs: Because the fast-flowing streams of Western North America where they are found prevent typical amphibian fertilization, this genus has developed a mechanism for internal fertilization. The “tail” of the frog is actually its cloaca, present only in males, and is controlled by a muscle unique to its genus. 45-75 eggs are laid under large rocks the spring after fertilization and tadpoles can take up to four years to metamorphosize. They lack tongues and do not vocalize. This genus is also one of the most primitive anurans still alive, with many skeletal similarities to fossils from the Jurassic period.

White's Tree Frog: This Australian frog is well-known for its prevalence in the pet trade. In the wild, it lives near water bodies or in eucalyptus trees, which often have hollows filled with water. It is actually a species complex, including the brown L. mira, found in New Guinea. Its parotoid gland secretes a waxy substance which it wipes across its body to increase moisture retention and absorption. However, this substance is also antiviral and antibacterial, and is being investigated for pharmaceutical use.

[bestfrogbracket]

ROUND 1 POLL 25

Shovel-Headed Tree Frog (Triprion Spatulatus)

Hairy Frog (Trichobatrachus robustus)

Voting ended onSep 27, 2023

Shovel-Headed Tree Frog: This species, along with its sister species T. petasatus, is named after the odd shape of its head, which it uses to plug the entrance to tree holes where it lives. It is mostly arboreal and found in Western Mexico. It breeds only during the rainy season, when water is available, and has a low-pitched mating call. It is an opportunistic and generalist hunter, waiting for any insect or spider to pass by before pouncing.

Hairy Frog: Found along the Western coast of central Africa, the “hair” these frogs are named after are actually small skin protuberances that grow on males during the breeding season. At this point, they are primarily aquatic and experiencing increased metabolic activity, so it is thought that the “hairs” allow for increased oxygen intake and carbon dioxide release. This theory also works with their sexually dimorphic lungs: female lungs are typical, while male lungs have increased musculature attached to the diverticulum, perhaps due to an increased need for respiration.  To defend themselves, the last bone in their toes can stick out through the skin to allow them to scratch predators.

[markscherz]

What frog is the least “frog”

No question, Myobatrachus gouldii

[src]

A really, really weird frog from Australia.

[bestfrogbracket]

ROUND 1 POLL 22

Túngara Frog (Engystomops pustulosus)

Gardiner’s Seychelles Frog (Sechellophryne gardineri)

Voting ended onSep 26, 2023

Túngara Frog: Native to Central and South America, these frogs lay eggs in a foamy mass to keep them moist during dry spells. This foam has been investigated for use in topical drug delivery as a cream and biofuel production. Their mating calls are in two parts with females more attracted to calls including the latter part than those who don’t, although they frequently modify it: one of their predators, the fringe-lipped bat, is attracted by this part of the call. They use this call modification in developed areas as well, where urban-dwelling males will make their calls more conspicuous than their counterparts in rural and wild areas.

Gardiner's Seychelles Frog: These frogs range from 9.3-12.5 mm in length, with females being slightly longer than males, which places them as the fourth smallest known frog species in the world. They’re found primarily on the islands of Mahé and Silhouette in the Seychelles islands. The populations are indistinguishable except for minor differences in colouration. They lay 8-16 eggs on the ground which will hatch directly into froglets. Although they lack a middle ear cavity, they can still hear by amplifying sound with their mouth cavity until it transmits to the inner ear.