Did you know that the more spots a male peacock has on his tail, the more likely he is to father babies, survive harsh winters and escape predators? Scientists think that only the healthiest males have lots of spots and that is why they are more successful than other males.
Too many amphibians disappearing, study finds
Too many amphibians disappearing, study finds A study published today in the journal 'Nature"
warns that global populations of frogs, toads, newts and
salamanders are in decline. Human interference, acid rain,
ultra-violet rays, chemicals and even sport-fishing are all factors
in the degredation of amphibian populations world-wide. The
research was conducted by a doctoral student, Jeff Houlahan, from
the University of Ottawa. He spent 1.5 years searching the Internet
for studies of amphibian populations from around the world and
collected 936 studies to investigate. When he analyzed the results,
Mr Houlahan found that, globally, amphibians have been in decline
for several decades, especially in North America. Scientists had
long suspected this trend, which is now confirmed. Some of Canada's
amphibian populations are protected by law, but many others still
remain vulnerable. 13 APRIL 2000
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