Cars are a big threat to amphibians, study says
Death by car could be a major contributor to the decline of many amphibian species, according to the first comprehensive survey of road kill, Purdue University researchers said this week.The biologists found animals from more than 65 species killed along 11 miles of road in suburban Tippecanoe County outside West Lafayette, Ind. Nearly 95% of the dead were frogs and other amphibians, and three-quarters of the deaths occurred along a one-mile stretch of Lindberg Road that crosses a wetland known as Celery Bog.During the 17-month study, biologists Andrew DeWoody and Dave Glista of Purdue collected 10,500 identifiable dead animals, they reported online Wednesday in the journal Herpetological Conservation and Biology. But they estimated that there were actually five times as many. The majority could not be identified because they were squashed beyond recognition, moldy and degraded, or partially eaten by predators.
Tags: amp, canoe, occ
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Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 10:21 pm under