Scientists for some time have known about the fungal infection protection that a bacteria, Pedobacter cryoconitis,provided salamander eggs. Now scientists have taken that research a step farther and found that the same bacteria that protects the eggs of the salamanders also exists on the skin of red-backed salamanders and speeds the recovery of salamanders against the chytrid fungus. The chytrid fungus has been pointed out as the main suspect in the disappearance of amphibian species around the world.
May 2007 Archives
"In Search of Relic Species from the Jurassic Period", a film documenting the Guanwu salamander, Hynobius formosanus, won an award at the 40th Worldfest Independent Film Festival. Especially notable was that an article in the Taiwan Journal states that the film documents the live birth of Guanwu salamanders. The Guanwu salamander was a recent discovery in 1996 and is found mainly in the Guanwu area of Shei-pa National Park in Taiwan.