EDGE of Existence programme
The EDGE of Existence programme is an innovative ZSL research and conservation initiative that focuses on the world’s most Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered EDGE species.
NEW - EDGE Amphibians
In addition to the EDGE Mammals projects that are already underway, ten new conservation initiatives have been launched for EDGE Amphibians in 2008.
Your donations are urgently needed and will go directly to help support one of our amphibian projects. You can donate here or through the EDGE website
1) Chinese giant salamander (salamander that can grow up to 1.8m in length and evolved independently from all other amphibians over one hundred million years before Tyrannosaurus rex)
2) Sagalla caecilian (limbless amphibian with sensory tentacles on the sides of its head)
3) Purple frog (purple-pigmented frog that was only discovered in 2003 because it spends most of the year buried up to 4m underground)
4) Ghost frogs of South Africa (one species is found only in the traditional human burial grounds of Skeleton Gorge in Table Mountain, South Africa)
5) Olm (blind salamander with transparent skin that lives underground, hunts for its prey by smell and electrosensitivity and can survive without food for 10 years)
6) Lungless salamanders of Mexico (highly endangered salamanders that do not have lungs but instead breathe through their skin and mouth lining)
7) Malagasy rainbow frog (highly-decorated frog that inflates itself when under threat and can climb vertical rock surfaces)
8) Chile Darwin’s frog (a frog where fathers protect the young in their mouths, this species has not been officially seen since around 1980 and may now be extinct)
9) Betic midwife toad (toads that evolved from all others over 150million years ago – the males carry the fertilised eggs wrapped around their hind legs)
10) Gardiner’s Seychelles frog (perhaps the world’s smallest frog, with adults growing up to just 11mm in length – the size of a drawing pin)
Read more about EDGE Amphibians
EDGE Mammals
Alarmingly, almost two-thirds of the top 100 EDGE mammal species are currently receiving little or no conservation attention. By highlighting and conserving these species ZSL aims to halt the extinction of many of the world’s most remarkable animals.
EDGE species are both Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered
Every mammal species has been given a score according to the amount of unique evolutionary history it represents, and its conservation status according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the world's most comprehensive assessment of the conservation status of plant and animal species.