Prof Phil Bishop is a frog specialist in the University of Otago zoology department and is conference director of the 9th World Congress of Herpetology.
The congress is one of the biggest scientific gatherings hosted by the university, and has attracted 874 people to the city from more than 55 countries.
The congress, which is held every four years, is expected to inject about $2million into the city economy.
Prof Bishop said 60% of the world’s amphibian species were threatened, and many reptiles also faced a grim future.
There was a "critical need" for more awareness and support for conservation efforts, and the congress was likely to help boost public awareness of the plight of amphibians, including New Zealand’s endemic frogs, and reptiles.
During the gathering, 621 presentations are being made, often in multiple venues simultaneously.
Prof Alison Cree’s keynote talk yesterday afternoon was titled "Slowly does it: working with reptiles that may outlive their researchers".
She said some tuatara could live for at least 100 years, and could function at cool temperatures.
She also paid tribute to New Zealand’s numerous endemic gecko and skink species — lizards that collectively occupied "an even greater diversity of latitudes and habitats than tuatara".
"Some awesome species even survive on cool and wet mountain tops, where they are almost inaccessible to researchers," she said.
