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Road-killed Herps in Protected Areas
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Photo credit::Núria Garriga Amphibians are the vertebrate group that is more likely to become roadkill in Catalonia, even more so than reptiles, mammals and birds. This is the case according to an international team of scientists who have concluded that highly protected areas are home to more cases of animal death on the roads. Our…
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First feathered dinosaurs from NA
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This is an artistic reconstruction of feathered ornithomimid dinosaurs found in Alberta. Credit: Julius Csotonyi. The ostrich-like dinosaurs in the original Jurassic Park movie were portrayed as a herd of scaly, fleet-footed animals being chased by a ferocious Tyrannosaurus rex. New research published in the journal Science reveals this depiction of these bird-mimic dinosaurs is not…
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New squamate phylogeny
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Epictia tenella. JCM A new study, published online in Biology Letters on Sept. 19, has utilized a massive molecular dataset (161 squamate species for up to 44 nuclear genes each and 33 717 base pairs), the largest genetic datasets assembled for reptiles.to reconstruct the evolutionary history of lizards and snakes. The results reveal a surprising finding…
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Frog eggs & climate change
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Pantless tree frog embryos within the eggs on a leaf surface. The embryos die within a day if there is no rain to moisten the egg mass. Photo credit Justin Touchon. Most of the more than 6,000 species of frogs in the world lay their eggs in water. But many tropical frogs lay their eggs…
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A new egg-eating sea snake in the genus Apiysurus
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A new species of egg-eating sea snake, Aipysurus mosaicus from northern Australia and southern New Guinea has been described by Sanders et al (2012). A. mosaicus was previously considered an allopatric population of A. eydouxii, which occurs throughout the Sunda Shelf and in New Guinea. Molecular analyses reveal these two species to be sister lineages with…
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Iguana iguana genetically divided
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Recent molecular and morphological investigations of widespread species have demonstrated that many of them show deep genetic divergences and morphology that is geographically concordant.In many instances this results in the recognition of cryptic species. In an early on-line view of an article to be published in the Journal of Biogeography, Catherine Stephen and colleague investigated the genetic structure of the Neotropical…
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Bushmeat & Local Human Diets
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Malaysian Snail-eating Turtles on the grill in Thailand. JCM Oct. 23, 2012 – Animals like antelope, frogs and rodents may be tricky to catch, but they provide protein in places where traditional livestock are scarce. According to the authors of a new paper in Animal Frontiers, meat from wild animals is increasingly important in central…
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Western diamondback rattlesnake females not anorexic during pregnancy
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A southern Arizona Crotalus atrox at its den. JCM Anorexia (cessation of feeding) is frequently associated with gestation in snakes. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this, most often it is obstruction of the digestive tract due to the presence of fetuses or eggs, i.e. the increase in eggs and embryos take up so…
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A ranid frog with a retractable spike in its fifth digit
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The Otton Frog, Babina subaspera. Photo credit N. Iwai Combat-ready spikes which shoot from fingers sounds like the weaponry of a comic book hero, but a Japanese scientist has found exactly this in a rare breed of frog. The discovery, which is published in the Journal of Zoology, reveals how the Otton frog uses spikes…
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Color variation in island strawberry frogs
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The strawberry poison frog Oophaga pumilio ranges from Nicaragua through western Panama and throughout most of its mainland range it has a reddish-orange body with blue-black legs, and small black spots on its dorsum. In the Bocas del Toro Archipelago of Panama the frog displays a high level of variation is its warning coloration. More than 15 color…
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Lizards In Traditional Medicines in India
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Gekko gecko in a Malaysian market. JCM There are about 5729 lizard species in the world, and in many cultures saurians are believed to have medicinal properties and their skins are frequently used in the novelty leather industry. Subtamanean and Reddy (2012) discuss the use of the common monitor lizard and the Tokay gecko as…
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Lethally Hot Temperatures During the Early Triassic Greenhouse
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A paleogeographic reconstruction of the Early Triassic world (Smithian substage) around 252-247 million years ago, showing a ‘dead zone’ in the tropics. Marine reptiles (ichthyosaurs), terrestrial tetrapods and fish almost exclusively occurred in higher latitudes (>30 °N and >40 °S) with rare exceptions. (Art Credit: Yadong Sun, University of Leeds) Scientists have discovered why the…
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Timber Rattlesnakes & Fire
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A black timber rattlesnake. JCM Timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) are relatively widespread in the eastern US, and associated with forests. Beaupre and Douglas (2012) suggest they make excellent model organisms for understanding the effects of large scale habitat manipulations due to their low energy lifestyle, rapid response to changes in resources in the environment, and…
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Gender & Life Span in Komodo Dragons
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A female Komodo dragon guarding her nest in Indonesia. Credit: Tim Jessop An international team of researchers has found that female Komodo Dragons live half as long as males on average, seemingly due to their physically demanding ‘housework’ such as building huge nests and guarding eggs for up to six months. The results provide important…
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A New Thai Parachute Gecko
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Ptychozoon kaengkrachanense. Photo by M. Sumontha. Seven species of parachute geckos of the genus Ptychozoan are known, there is now an eighth species Ptychozoon kaengkrachanense a Thailand endemic which inhabits montane evergreen forest in Kaeng Krachan National Park, in western Thailand. The new species differs from all known Ptychozoon species by having three dark dorsal…
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Two recent publications on invasive snakes in the USA
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Invasive species have become common place, and invasive snakes can cause considerable damage to the ecosystems they colonize. However, as ectotherms snakes are limited by temperatures and different species have evolved in different climates. Jacobson et al. (2012) experimentally examined the ability of the Burmese python to survive winters north of southern Florida. Using daily high and…
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An unusual method of nitrogenous waste excretion in the softshell turtle Pelodiscus sinensis
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Pelodiscus sinensis Photo credit Bastet78 Chinese soft-shelled turtles are exquisitely adapted to their aquatic lifestyle, sitting contentedly on the bottom of brackish muddy swamps or snorkelling at the surface to breath. According to Y. K. Ip from the National University of Singapore, they even immerse their heads in puddles when their swampy homes dry up:…
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Suizo Report — 10-5 and 10-6-2012, Marty Speaks
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Howdy Herpers, 9 October 2012 Once again we let Marty Feldner, and his little ringtail, do the talking. I’ll add some comments at the end, and bring out my own rant about this last weekend later in the week.Marty writes: With Quailmageddon 2012 upon us the decision was made to track snakes only during the nights…
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Why is Python bivittatus so successful in Florida?
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Python bivittatus. JCM Why has the Burmese python (Python bivittatus) been so successful at invading southern Florida while other species have been less successful The invasive pythons have caused precipitous population declines among several species of native mammals. Reed et al (2012) examine the reasons for the snake’s success by scoring the Burmese python for each…
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Urban Snakes from Brazil’s Atlantic Forest
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Helicops angulatus. JCM Snake species living in urbanized areas are perhaps the most likely species to be studied. if for no other reason than the convenient access to the animals and study sites. While urban snake studies are relatively common in the USA and Eurasia, relatively few have been done in the tropics. Franca et…
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A Snail’s Escape Response to Snake Predation
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Snails that can shed their tails to escape much faster-moving predators and then regrow the amputated body section have been discovered living in sub-tropical Japan. At left. The snail-eating snake Pareas iwasakii as it feeds on a snail. Bar= 10 mm. Photo credit: Masaki Hoso. The ability to shed body parts, similar to that found in lizards, crabs…
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Suizo Report — Hauling a$$ and sitting tight
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Howdy Herpers, 10/03/12 In the report that went out yesterday, Marty had this to say about tracking our wayward male molossus CM14: “Found this neonate solare as HW, Ryan and I attempted to track male CM14, the only snake Roger designated as a “MUST GET.” Thanks for jinxing me! Roger and HW got his signal…
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Dwarf species of herbivorous fanged dinosaur from southern Africa
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Art by Tyler Keillor A new species of plant-eating dinosaur with tiny, 1-inch-long jaws has come to light in South African rocks dating to the early dinosaur era, some 200 million years ago. This “punk-sized” herbivore is one of a menagerie of bizarre, tiny, fanged plant-eaters called heterodontosaurs, or “different toothed reptiles,” which were among…
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Suizo Report — Marty Rants and Raves, 28 and 29 September 2012
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Howdy Herpers, Tuesday, 2 October 2012 And happy October to all of you. I’m always glad to see October roll around, as the month signifies the end of another miserably hot summer season, as well as the promise of gorgeous weather for at least the next seven months. But October also brings on the realization that…
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Study finds snakes in the wild harbor deadly mosquito-borne EEEV virus through hibernation
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The following is being carried by Medicalpress.com Snakes in the wild serve as hosts for the deadly mosquito-borne Eastern equine encephalomyelitis Virus (EEEV), possibly acting as a “bridge” to the next season, according to researchers studying endemic areas in the Tuskegee National Forest in Alabama. This sets the stage for mosquitoes feeding on the infected…
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Suizo Report — 21 through 23 September, 2012
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Marty Feldner and I are tag teaming with this report. I’m keeping Marty’s writing in the usual black font, while I go to blue. If you can’t see color fonts on your screen, well……….then you’re out of luck in this regard. No big deal. We’re pretty much interchangeable.On the evening of 21 September, I joined Marty…
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