Seen any deformed frogs?

Two years ago, middle school children on a field trip to a farm in southern Minnesota observed that about half of the local pond frogs sported unusual numbers of legs or structural limb deformities. Local biologists and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency soon found this was just the leading edge of a worrisome trend. Scientists from California to Quebec have now witnessed regional pockets with similarly high rates of limb and eye malformations in frogs, toads, and salamanders.

Though many researchers worry that these animals may serve as harbingers of a threat to humans, to date they have been unable to pinpoint what underlies the problem.

As part of a new, coordinated investigation of the issue, the U.S. Geological Survey has launched a North American Reporting Center for Amphibian Malformations (NARCAM) out of its Northern Prairie Science Center in Jamestown, N.D. Hoping to locate hot spots, NARCAM put out a call 3 weeks ago for help from the public. It wants everybody who encounters a deformed amphibian to report it, either through NARCAM's Website (www.npsc.nbs.gov/narcam) or a toll-free number (1-800-238-9801).

NARCAM requests that people "please leave amphibians where you found them." If there is a need to study or collect specimens, it will dispatch a local herpetologist.