Amphibian Trait Databases
List of trait references and datasets available for use
In our efforts to distribute information about amphibians as broadly as possible, we have compiled a list of trait databases that have been compiled for amphibians by amphibian researchers. These datasets span many different types of traits that researchers might use in comparative analyses. We have not collected or collated these data ourselves but rather point interested researchers to these various resources that have been created by others. Thus, we have not verified all of these data sets, which is the responsibility of interested users. Our objective is to provide a handy place for links to trait databases useful to the community. If you have compiled a trait database that you would like to make available to the world, please reach out to the AmphibiaWeb team.Click any header to sort
| Taxonomic Scope | Geographic Scope | Trait type | Citation | Method | download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All orders (+6,500 species) | Global | Ecology, Morphology and Reproductive (17) | AmphiBIO: Oliveira B, São-Pedro V, Santos-Barrera G, Penone C, and GC Costa. 2017. AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123 | Literature extraction (more than 1,500 literature sources). | https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424 |
| All orders | Global | Morphology (42 Anuran, 27 Caudata, 37 Gymnophiona). | Huang N, Sun X, Song Y, Yuan Z, and Zhou W. 2023. Amphibian traits database: A Global database on morphological traits of amphibians. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 32, 633–641. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13656 | Literature extraction. | https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.21159229 |
| Anura, Caudata (86 species) | Regional: Europe | Life History | Trochet A, Moulherat S, Calvez O, Stevens V, Clobert J, Schmeller D. 2014. A database of life-history traits of European amphibians. Biodiversity Data Journal 2: e4123. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.2.e4123 | Literature extraction. | European Amphibians Database3.xlsx (113.67 kb) References.xlsx (35 kb) |
| Anura (40 species) | Regional: Southeast USA | Physiological and Behavioral Thermoregulation | TRAD: DuBose TP, Catalan V, Moore CE, Farallo VR, Benson AL, Dade JL, Hopkins WA, and Mims MC. 2023. TRAD: Thermal traits of anurans database for the Southeastern United States: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9HZFHSR. | Literature extraction (267 peer reviewed papers, dissertations, thesises, or rarely guides). | Link to downloadable CSV's |
| Anura (293 species of 14 families) | Regional: Colombia | Morphology (8) | Mendoza-Henao AM, ÁM Cortes-Gomez, MA Gonzalez, OD Hernandez-Córdoba, A R Acosta-Galvis, F Castro-Herrera, JM Daza, JM Hoyos, MP Ramirez-Pinilla, N Urbina-Cardona, and B Salgado-Negret. 2019. A morphological database for Colombian anuran species from conservation-priority ecosystems. Ecology 100(5):e02685. 10.1002/ecy.2685 | Measured from 4,623 museum specimens of the seven largest collections in Colombia | See Supplemental |
| Anura | Global | Sexual Dichromatism (dynamic and ontogenetic) | Read more | Bell Rayna C. and Zamudio Kelly R. 2012. Sexual dichromatism in frogs: natural selection, sexual selection and unexpected diversityProc. R. Soc. B.2794687–4693 DOI for paper | Literature extraction and personal communication | See table of species and traits |
| Anura | Regional: United States | Morphology, Ecology, Life History, Reproductive, Behavioral | Moore, C.E., J. Helmann, Y. Chen, S. St. Amour, L. Hughes, N. Wax, M.C. Mims. 2021. Anuran Traits of the United States (ATraiU): A database for anuran traits-based conservation, management, and research. Ecology, 102(3):e03261. 10.1002/ecy.3261 DOI for paper | Literature extraction | See Supporting Information for data sets |
| Gymnophiona (218 Caecilian species) | Global | Morphology (both species and individual level) | Wei, P., Song, Y., Tian, R. et al. CaecilianTraits, an individual level trait database of Caecilians worldwide. Sci Data 12, 428 (2025). DOI for paper | Literature extraction | See Data set (XLXS) on FigShare |