Frogs - This virtual exhibition originally ran at the Exploratorium for one year. The site examines all aspects of frogs, from their lives to frog mythology. One section discusses frog survival mechanisms - the North American wood frog spends 2-3 months of each winter frozen, with abody temperature between -1oC and -6oC. Researchers in cryopreservation hope that by understanding how the frog achieves this, they may be able to preserve human organs for transplant. The site is colourful, informative, and above all, fun. It makes excellent use of pictures, video and interactive projects - anyone want to make their own rainstick? There are also plenty of audio clips available, with sounds of the Puerto Rican rainforest, whilst Frog Tracker allows you to make your own chorus of North American Frogs. In all, this is an extremely well thought-out site, and proves that learning can be fun. (21 December 2001) SC
http://www.exploratorium.edu/frogs/
EuroTurtle - A site for those who want information on the sea turtles of the world, and the problems they face in the wild. The two main sections, Education and Conservation, appear pretty self-explanatory at first glance... but seem to contain more or less the same information, just in a slightly different order. Either way, the material you'll find inside is comprehensive and well-done: the large Introduction to Sea Turtles section gives a good starting point, leading on to the Biology section which looks at turtle anatomy, behaviour and reproduction in more detail. The conservation area of the site discusses some of the threats to turtle survival, which include noise and light pollution, and some of the ways that these threats are being tackled. (21 November 2001) RJN
http://www.euroturtle.org/
The Virtual Vivarium - After dipping their toes in the pond of amphibian knowledge, Ms. Jouper's 5th grade class in Raymond, Washington, jumped headlong into the subject and masterminded this online guide to all things frog. This colourful web-presence for the webbed-footed includes a page with links to cartoon-illustrated bios for over thirty varieties of frog. There are separate sections on anatomy, frog terminology, and a java animation on metamorphosis. 'Frog Fun' includes word games, colouring sheets, a frog board game, and even instructions for frog origami! 'Frog Facts' highlights everything from the African Goliath Frog (equal in size to a house cat) to little known behaviours such as the frog's use of its eyeballs in swallowing food. 'Frog News' fails to mention any gossip on Kermit and Miss Piggy, but includes equally sensational, and far more shock-journo headlines such as 'Frog Deformities' and the initially puzzling but raunchily fascinating 'Frogs Throw Up Their Stomachs'. If you don't know frogs, jump to this site now. Hop to it! (21 April 2001) MN
http://www.raymond.wednet.edu/frogs/
Crocodile Specialist Group A - This site tells the story of the Florida-based Crocodile Specialist Group, a worldwide organisation dedicated to the continued existence of the world's 23 species of crocodilians. The site explains that as recently as 1971, all of these species were either in decline or under threat of extinction. In the past few decades, the CSG has worked to reverse this decline, and now many of the crocodile, alligator, caiman and gharial populations are back from the brink and doing well. Alongside the text, and in the gallery, you'll find plenty of pictures, all of which enlarge if you click on them. The site doesn't cover everything - you won't find information on crocodilian biology in here - but you'll find a comprehensive links section to take you further in your quest for croc knowledge, and you can also browse over to the excellent CITES crocodilian ID guide. (16 December 2000) RJN
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herpetology/c...
