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How many species of snakes and other squamates are there? Part 2. And, the bigger problem.
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The on-line Reptile Database lists 8,734 species of reptiles (squamates, chelonians, crocodilians and tuataras) as of February 2008, five years later in February of 2013 it reports 9,766 species, an increase of 11.9%. Lizard species increased by 14.1% and snake species increased by 8.9% during the five year period. In May of 2011 a graph…
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Nano scale structure contributes to Gaboon viper camouflage
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Bitis rhinoceros, West African Gaboon viper (a) The snake partly on white background and (b) partly on leafy substrate similar to the natural habitat. The West African Gaboon viper is a highly effective ambush predator that becomes invisible in leaf litter due to the empty black patches of its skin that are virtually indistinguishable from shadows on…
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Bd originated in Xenopus laevis
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An African Clawed Frog. These frogs, originally imported to the U.S. for pregnancy tests, have now established populations in the wild. SAN FRANCISCO, May 15, 2013 –African frogs, originally imported for early 20th century pregnancy tests, carried a deadly amphibian disease to the U.S., according to a new study published today in the journal PLOS…
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Suzio Report April 6
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Howdy Herpers, About 20 miles north of the center of Tucson lies a mountain range called the Tortolita Mountains. While the Tortolitas are rather vast in the…
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Cannibalistic Tadpoles
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The face of an unfortunate Budgett’s frog tadpole that is being digested inside the stomach of its larger sibling. A carnivorous, cannibalistic tadpole may play a role in understanding the evolution and development of digestive organs, according to research from North Carolina State University. These findings may also shed light on universal rules of organ…
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The Value of Unexpected Creatures
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Recently I did a snake workshop for people who knew little about snakes, but were otherwise very well educated in various fields of endeavor (law, medicine, psychology). While discussing gliding snakes, one participant commented to the effect that we now have to worry about flying snakes. The comment was a reminder that the general public, even the…
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Rana iberica’s hidden life underground
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Do frogs live underground? The answer is yes, some amphibians, such as salamanders and frogs have been often reported to dwell in subterranean habitats, some of them completely adjusted to the life in darkness, and others just spending a phase of their life cycle in an underground shelter. Up until 2010, however, no one suspected…
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Midwest frogs & mammal populations altered by invasive plant
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Western Chorus Frogs in amplexus. JCM The following is a press release from Lincoln Park Zoo. Researchers at Lincoln Park Zoo and Northern Illinois University have discovered a new culprit contributing to amphibian decline and altered mammal distribution throughout the Midwest region – the invasive plant European buckthorn. This non-native shrub, which has invaded two-thirds…
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Amphibians, Reptiles, & Natural History
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