Frog or Toad…What’s the Difference?

April 1, 2002 •  by

Originally, these Anglo-Saxon words referred respectively to species of the genera Rana and Bufo, Britain’s native taxa. (Rana and Bufo are Latin for frog and toad—those genera are also the common ones in Italy.) As English-speakers moved across North America, … Read more

The Gardener and the Quail

April 1, 2002 •  by

Years ago, there was a quail refuge on the outskirts of the town of Bolinas. Seeking to restore her yard to the coastal prairie it used to be, Bolinas writer Judith Lowry decided to shape her garden to meet the quail’s habitat needs. In the process, she discovered how a covey of quail can stitch together a sometimes fractious neighborhood.

Frog Resources

April 1, 2002 •  by

Want to know more about frogs and how to keep them among us? Do you miss being awakened by frog songs in the night? There are fewer frogs in fewer places than there used to be here in the Bay … Read more

From the Bottom Up

January 1, 2002 •  by

It’s small, it’s restless, and it changes sex halfway through its life. Plus, the humble bay shrimp occupies a crucial niche in the complex food web of San Francisco Bay. It once played a significant role in the economy and culture of the local Chinese community. Today, both the shrimp and those who fish for it are still hanging on, but it hasn’t been easy.

The Dream Given by You

October 1, 2001 •  by

The return of endangered coho salmon to their ancestral spawning grounds in this west Marin watershed is an essential component of the connective tissue that holds a fragmented ecosystem together. Greeting the salmon tethers us to the landscape’s seasonal rhythms and reawakens a lineage that goes back to the first inhabitants of this place.

Resources about Salmon and Other Anadromous Fish

October 1, 2001 •  by

Anadromous Fish Symposium The Center for Ecosystem Mangement and Restoration (CEMAR) and the Oakland Museum are sponsoring a symposium on November 14-15 on “Salmon and Steelhead in Your Creek: Restoration and Management of Anadromous Fish in Bay Area Watersheds.” This … Read more

Mastadons in Our Midst

July 1, 2001 •  by

The Blackhawk Quarry in Danville points to a time, nine million years ago, when the Bay Area was inhabited by elephant-like browsers, herds of three-toed horses, packs of bone-crunching dogs, and an eight-foot-long-sabertooth salmonid, Where did they all go?

Shadows in Flight

July 1, 2001 •  by

Rarely seen and, until recently, poorly understood, bats are a significant component of the Bay Area’s natural environment. Now, researchers are filling in the gaps by studying several of the area’s most at-risk species.

Taxonomy 101

July 1, 2001 •  by

Over 200 years ago, Swedish naturalist Karl von Linne (or, as he Latinized the name, Carolus Linneaus) devised a system for classifying all living things based on anatomical structures. Although Linneaus lived before Darwin, his method presaged later concepts of … Read more