Download and view FrogLog 101.

FrogLog issue 101 is the last in the first series of Regional Focus editions. In May 2011 we relaunched FrogLog in the new regional format. Our goal was to provide regional ASG groups and herpetological community members with an opportunity to showcase their activities. The community has warmly welcomed the new format and we look forward to continuing it into the future. This edition focuses on Europe, North Africa, and West Asia, a diverse region covered by two ASG regional groups.

We had a fantastic response to this edition with articles from Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Iran, Italy, and Switzerland to name but a few. We are extremely grateful, as ever, to everyone who submitted articles and hope that your conservation efforts continue to grow. We look forward to receiving an update next year on any progress to these and other projects in the area.

This edition also includes a brief article on the recent SSC Chairs meeting held in Abu Dhabi to mark the beginning of the next IUCN quadrennium. SSC Specialist Group members are enlisted for these four year periods, at the end of which members can decide if they wish to continue with their SG efforts or resign from their commitment. In some cases regional chairs will be stepping down, new members joining, and group structures and priorities will be assessed. Over the coming months we will be working closely with our members to update ASG member guidelines and be seeking your advice on the priorities for the ASG over the coming four years. This is an important time for the Specialist Groups and we look forward to working with you all to ensure that as a network we are as productive as possible to drive amphibian conservation forward.

We are also pleased to welcome two new members to the editorial team of FrogLog. Craig Hassapakis has joined us bringing with him his vast editorial expertise from the open access journal Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (read more about this on page 48) and Regina Fong has joined our team in the role of editorial intern to further develop FrogLog into a useful tool for the herpetological conservation community.

Contents

NEWS FROM THE ASG

4 Lost Frogs 2012 “Top 10” Announced Along with First Draft of the Complete List of “Lost” Amphibian Species
5 A Tiny Lost Shrub Frog Species Found After 100 Years!
6 First Complete Draft List of “Lost” Amphibian Species
8 Report from the SSC Chairs’ Meeting
10 Afromontane Meeting Announcement
11 Wildlife Without Borders – Amphibians in Decline

REGIONAL UPDATE

12 Amphibian Conservation in Britain
14 With Great Crest, Comes Great Responsibility: The Conservation of the Great Crested Newt
16 Dynamics in the Trade of Amphibians and Reptiles within the United Kingdom Over a 10 Year Period
17 Monitoring Natterjack Toad Breeding Activity and Success to Better Target Conservation Programmes
19 POPAMPHIBIEN – Estimating Amphibian Population Trends in France
20 Amphibian Conservation in Switzerland – karch and the Story so Far
22 Common Toad in Italy: Evidence for a Strong Decline in the Last 10 Years
24 Trying to Reverse the Decline of the Apennine Yellow-Bellied Toad in Northern Italy

26 Amphibians in South – Eastern Spain
28 Disclosing Northwest African Amphibians: moroccoherps.com
30 Overview of Conservation and Red List of Turkey’s Threatened Amphibians
32 The Amphibians of Tunisia: Biodiversity, Distribution, Status and Majors Threats
35 Range-wide Monitoring of Betic Midwife Toad Populations
36 Distribution of the Critically Endangered Yellow Spotted Newt, Neurergus microspilotus (Nesterov, 1916); (Salamandridae: Caudata) in Northwest Iran: New Localities and New Hope for its Conservation
38 Assessing the Potential Impact of an Invasive Species on a Mediterranean Amphibian Assemblage: A Morphological and Ecological Approach
40 40 Years of Natterjack Toad Conservation in Europe
44 The 2nd International Symposium on the Conservation of Amphibians: Bufo calamita
45 RACE: Risk Assessment of Chytridiomycosis to European Amphibian Biodiversity

GLOBAL NEWS

48 Amphibian and Reptile Conservation
50 Amphibian Composition of the Uda Mäliboda Trail in the Samanala Nature Reserve (SNR), Sri Lanka: A Cautionary Note

53 Discovery of the Largest Lungless Tetrapod, Atretochoana eiselti (Taylor, 1968) (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Typhlonectidae), in its Natural Habitat in Brazilian Amazonia
54 Frogs of Shoolpaneswr Wildlife Sanctuary, Gujarat, India