Amphibians in Crisis

Earth Stats — Mon, 25 May 2009 14:31:39 +0000

~33% – Amphibian species under threat of extinction (Murray 2009)

122 to 159 – Number of species that have gone extinct over the last 25 years (Stuart 2004, IUCN 2008)

38 – Number of amphibians that are officially extinct

1 – Number of species extinct in the wild, but surviving in captivity

120 – Amphibian species that have not been seen in the wild in recent years and feared extinct

<1% – Number of amphibian species with increasing populations

42% – Species with declining populations

489 – Species listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)

787 – Number of species listed as endangered by the IUCN

211 times – The extinction rate of amphibians compared to background extinction rate

>80% – Extinct and threatened amphibians in Cuba, Jamaica, and Dominican Republic

92% – Extinct and threatened amphibians in Haiti

4,000 – Number of species threatened by habitat loss

*Data: IUCN Red List 2008

The World of Amphibians

Earth Stats — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:45:07 +0000

6,487 – Number of amphibian species as of May 21, 2009

5,732 – Number of frogs and toads, which is 88% of known amphibian species

579 – Number of newts and salamanders, which makes up 9% of known amphibians

176 - Number of caecilians, or roughly 3% of total known amphibian species

60% – Percent of increase in recognized species since 1985

811 – Frog species described in Brazil as of January 2009

292 – Frog species found in the United States

180cm – Length from head to tail of the largest amphibian, the Chinese Giant Salamander

151cm – Length of the largest caecilian

11cm - Length of the smallest caecilian

10cm – Length of the smallest frog

Data: AmphibiaWeb 2009, IUCN 2009