Leaping to the Defence of the Frog

There has been a recent flurry of activity related to the conservation of the World's Amphibia (frogs, toads, newts, salamanders etc) including the 'Edge' project by the Zoological Society of London aimed at raising the profiles of the 100 currently most endangered species of this group of strange, ancient vertebrates(http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jan/21/conservation). One problem for these animals is that they lack the charisma of a tiger or a panda. They are, however, a 'key' link in the evolution story with some remarkable abilities and an important role in ecology, eating pest species and providing food for other (often more appreciated) species e.g. dragonflies, otters and herons. The skin secretions of some of these animals (e.g. the Poison arrow frogs) are also of considerable medical importance (and there appears to be scope for further investigation here). The species (20% of those in the 'Edge' project have not been recorded for decades and may already be extinct) are threatened by habitat loss (they generally need both land and freshwater habitats). This has been particularly well illustrated with reference to rainforest loss (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/apr/17/frontpagenews.conservation). Pollution with agro-chemicals (their permeable skins are said to make them excellent 'bioindicators' of environmental contamination) are thought to also be problematic, although the dynamics of such effects may be complex (http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bsc/jappl/2006/00000043/00000004/art00009). The fungal infection chytridiomycosis (thought to have driven around 40 species to extinction) is also a very serious threat to Amphibia. There has, however, been some recent good news in this respect. Apparently, bathing Amphibia in a solution of Choramphenicol, a component of clinical eye ointment, protects Amphibia from chytridiomycosis (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7067613.stm).