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Serpent-handling pastor profiled earlier in Washington Post dies from rattlesnake bite
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Pastor Mack Wolford, a member of the Pentecostal “Signs Following” tradition, handles a rattlesnake during a service at the Church of the Lord Jesus in Jolo, W.V., in this Sept. 2, 2011, photo. (Lauren Pond for the Washington Post via Getty Images) By Julia Duin, Washington Post: May 29 Mack Wolford, a flamboyant Pentecostal pastor from West Virginia whose…
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Tuatara’s Chew
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New Zealand’s tuatara has a unique way of chewing its food, say scientists who have studied its jaws in detail. This beak-headed reptile uses a “steak-knife sawing motion” as it chews. This could help explain how the species has continued to adapt to a changing world – and changes in available prey – over more…
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Leatherback Hatchlings & Climate
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When leatherback turtle hatchlings dig out of their nests buried in the sandy Playa Grande beach in northwest Costa Rica, they enter a world filled with dangers. This critically endangered species faces threats that include egg poaching and human fishing practices. Now, Drexel University researchers have found that the climate conditions at the nesting beach…
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Copperheads Bites Costly and Painful
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Shannon Casas, Gainesville Times May 26, 2012 John Jensen has some good news and some bad news about copperhead snakes. The bad news: They’re abundant and often found in suburban areas. The good news: Their bite isn’t likely to kill you. “Copperheads can live in a small little wood lot right next to a bunch of…
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Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary’s Herpetofauan
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A female gavial. Abijit Das Abhijit Das and colleagues (2012) report on the herpetofaunal of Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, the study site is located in the Terai region of Uttar Pradesh, India, on the border with Nepal. Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary is characterized by extensive alluvial plains, wetlands, grasslands, woodlands and moist forests. The sanctuary is home…
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Mixcoatlus, A New Genus for Some Montane Mexican Pitvipers
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Mixcoatlus browni, UTA The numbers of known New World pitvipers have increased greatly from the 90 species in nine genera recognized only two decades to almost 120 species in 15 genera today. Mexico is well known for its diverse pitvipers with at least 56 species and nine genera. And, our knowledge of pitviper diversity and…
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Two New Cryptic Species of Pit Vipers in the Genus Cerrophidion from Central America
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Top: Cerrophidion sasai. Bottom: C. wilsoni. Photos: Eric Smith UTA The discovery of cryptic species has become increasingly frequent with the application of molecular phylogenetic analyses, particularly for species with broad geographic distributions. Now, Jadin et al. (2012) have described two new species of Central American montane pit vipers in the genus Cerrophidion, that had been…
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Early 20th Century Attempts to Conserve Komodo Dragons
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The idea of conservation can be found in early religious and philosophical writings. There are examples in many ancient religions. In ancient Greece Plato lamented the degradation of pasture land. In the bible, God commanded Mosses to let the land rest from cultivation every seventh year. Prior to 18th century European cultures frequently considered admiration…
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Turtles are the Sister to the Archosaurs
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An archosaur feeding on a turtle. JCM The evolutionary origin of turtles is one of the last unanswered questions in vertebrate evolution. Paleontological and morphological studies place turtles as either evolving from the ancestor of all reptiles or as evolving from the ancestor of snakes, lizards, and tuataras. Conflictingly, genetic studies place turtles as evolving…
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Suzio Repiort – Some Weird Molossus Shots
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Howdy Herpers, 05/24/12 I’ve been slowly but surely digitizing some of my 35mm images. What’s the point in doing that if I can’t bore you all to tears with some of them? I’m too lazy to go back to my notes, but I’m going to guess that it was in July of 2000 that the…
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CBD Threatens to Sue USFW Over Herps
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Graptemys barbouri ATLANTA — An environmental group threatened Tuesday to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for not moving quickly enough to protect 25 amphibian and reptile species across the Southeast that it believes are in danger of extinction. Officials at the Minneapolis-based Center for Biological Diversity said they hoped the threat of a…
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Diasporus citrinobapheus, a New Frog from Panama
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A new bright yellow frog species has been found in the mountains of western Panama. The frog belongs to a species-rich group of frogs, the so called rainfrogs that lack a tadpole stage, but develop directly as little frogs inside the egg. The frog, that measures less than 2 cm, was discovered by Andreas Hertz…
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Sedentary Sea Snakes
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The turtleheaded sea snake, Emydocephalus annulatus. Drawing by Ethel King, Australian Museum. A mark and re-capture study of the turtleheaded sea snake, Emydocephalus annulatus, in New Caledonia suggests that snakes living in two bays less than 1.15 kilometers apart are separate populations. Lukoschek and Shine (2012) found that while the snakes could swim from one bay to the other,…
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A Giant Pelomedusiod Turtle from Colombia
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Above: Reconstruction of Carbonemys preying upon a small crocodylomorph. Picture a turtle the size of a Smart car, with a shell large enough to double as a kiddie pool. Paleontologists from North Carolina State University have found just such a specimen – the fossilized remains of a 60-million-year-old South American giant that lived in what is…
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The Cold Tolerant Red-bellied Snake
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The red-bellied snake, Storeria occipitomaculata, is a small, fossorial thamnophiine snake with a disjunjct distribution that includes the area from eastern North Dakota to Nova Scotia, south to Florida, and west to eastern Texas. Speculation that the Great Plains acts as a barrier to westward dispersal has been hypothesized, due to the fact that they…
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New Pharmaceutical Product from Heloderma
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A drug made from the saliva of the Gila monster lizard is effective in reducing the craving for food. Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, have tested the drug on rats, who after treatment ceased their cravings for ordinary food and also chocolate. An increasing number of patients suffering from type 2 diabetes…
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Giant Tiger Snakes on Islands
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Some populations of tiger snakes stranded for thousands of years on tiny islands surrounding Australia have evolved to be giants, growing to nearly twice the size of their mainland cousins. Now, new research in The American Naturalist suggests that the enormity of these elapids was driven by the need to have big-mouthed babies.Mainland tiger snakes,…
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New Cordylus from Central Africa
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Cordylus marunguensis An international collaboration of scientists has announced the discovery of a new species of lizard from remote, war-torn mountains in Central Africa. The new species, Cordylus marunguensis, is described from the Marungu Plateau, a montane area west of Lake Tanganyika in south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The expedition that led to the new species…
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Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Closer to Endangered Species Act Protection
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World’s Largest Rattlesnake Threatened by Habitat Destruction, Persecution TALLAHASSEE— The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that the eastern diamondback rattlesnake may qualify for Endangered Species Act protection. Today’s finding responds to a 2011 petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, noted snake expert Dr. Bruce Means, Protect All Living Species and One…
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Pituophis ruthveni Releases
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Louisiana Pine Snake, Pituophis ruthveni Asheville, NC — On May 1, USDA Forest Service, U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Memphis Zoo, and other partners released seven young Louisiana pine snakes on a restored longleaf pine stand in the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana. The release is the fourth…
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A Huge Plio-Pleistocene Croc From Africa
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The illustration shows the comparative sizes of ancient/modern crocodiles and ancient/modern humans. Illustration by Chris Brochu. A crocodile large enough to swallow humans once lived in East Africa, according to a University of Iowa researcher. “It’s the largest known true crocodile,” says Christopher Brochu, associate professor of geoscience. “It may have exceeded 27 feet in…
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Many New Skinks
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An Anguilla Bank skink. Blair Hedges and his team have discovered and scientifically named 24 new species of lizards known as skinks. Credit: Karl Questel In a single new scientific publication, 24 new species of lizards known as skinks, all from islands in the Caribbean, have been discovered and scientifically named. According to Blair Hedges, professor…
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