Biologists from The University of Texas at Arlington are the first to discover an invasive frog—the greenhouse frog—in the Marshall Islands, a sprawling Pacific nation of volcanic islands and coral atolls located roughly halfway between Hawaii and Australia. "Originally from the Caribbean, these frogs are notorious for expanding their habitat by hitching rides in soil, potted plants and agricultural materials," said Samuel Fisher, a UT Arlington graduate student working under the guidance of biology Professor Matthew Fujita. "We mostly found the frogs on Laura Island, one of the larger islands and home to the main airport, but we confirmed them on other islands as well."
The greenhouse frog isn't the only introduced species raising concerns. The UTA team also studied the green anole, a lizard native to Texas and Oklahoma and commonly found across the southeastern United States. Possibly introduced from Hawaii, the green anole has become widespread on the Marshall Islands' main island. Researchers found evidence that it may be eliminating the emerald tree skink, a native lizard species.
