New frog discovered inhabiting I-95 corridor from Connecticut to North Carolina
Science Daily – Oct. 29
More than a half century after claims that a new frog species existed in New York and New Jersey were dismissed, a Rutgers researcher and team of scientists have proven that the frog is living in wetlands from Connecticut to North Carolina and are naming it after the ecologist who first noticed it. “Even though he was clearly on to something, the claim Carl Kauffeld made in his 1937 paper fell short,” said Rutgers doctoral candidate Jeremy Feinberg. “We had the benefits of genetic testing and bioacoustic analysis that simply weren’t available to Kauffeld to prove that even though this frog might look like the two other leopard frogs in the area, it was actually a third and completely separate species.” In the paper, “Cryptic Diversity in Metropolis: Confirmation of a New Leopard Frog Species from New York City and Surrounding Atlantic Coast Regions,” published in PLOS ONE, Feinberg and a team of seven other researchers revealed the scientific name for the new species: Rana kauffeldi. The leopard frog, first encountered by Feinberg on Staten Island six years ago not far from the Statue of Liberty, will be commonly referred to as the Atlantic Coast Leopard Frog … Feinberg, the lead author, encountered the new species six years ago in one of the most developed, heavily populated areas in the world. Two years ago, he and scientists from Rutgers, UCLA, UC Davis, and The University of Alabama — who had worked together to show that this frog was a brand new species — made the initial announcement.
Amendment One is useless, costly, and wrong: reader opinion
Al.com – Oct. 30
Normally, when legislatures do foolish things, at least they do them on their own. But sometimes they ask for our help in being foolish. Alabama’s legislature has done so this year by putting Amendment One on the ballot in this November’s election. We should decline their invitation. Amendment One, also called the American and Alabama Laws for Alabama Courts Amendment, is a weird law. It amends the state constitution to say that courts and other enforcement authorities “shall not apply or enforce a foreign law if doing so would violate any state law or a right guaranteed by the Constitution of this state or of the United States.” Sounds great, right? You might start wondering, though. Constitutions are important documents and should only be amended only when necessary. Is there a need here? Are Alabama courts currently overrun by foreign law, let alone foreign laws that violate the state or federal constitutions? The answer is no. Generally, Alabama courts only deal with foreign law when two parties — say, Mercedes and an Alabama supplier — reach a contract together and agree that some other country’s law, like German law, will govern the contract. (Paul Horwitz is a professor at the University of Alabama School of Law.)