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New Book, Natural History of Neotropical Treeboas (genus Corallus)
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Nine species comprise the arboreal boid genus Corallus. Combined, they range from Guatemala in northern Central America to southeastern Brazil in South America, and two species occur on islands in the West Indies. Based on extensive fieldwork by the author extending over 25 years, observations from colleagues, and the literature, Natural History of Neotropical Treeboas…
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Fluctuating sea levels and global cooling reduced crocodylian species over millions of years
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The giant Sarcosuchus, an extinct crocodilian. Illustrators Credit: Imperial College London and Robert Nicholls (Paleocreations) Crocodylians include present-day species of crocodiles, alligators, caimans and gavials and their extinct ancestors. Crocodylians first appeared in the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 85 million years ago, and the 250 million year fossil record of their extinct relatives reveals a diverse evolutionary history. Extinct…
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Snakebite, Economics, and El Nino in Costa Rica
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Snakes and snakebites in Costa Rica. (A) The terciopelo B. asper. (B) Average annual snakebite incidence, by canton, from 2005 to 2013. County color indicates snakebite incidence rate, county boundary color indicates relative risk, and a marking described in the map legend indicates the primary cluster. From Chaves et al. 2015 Snake envenomation is frequently considered a neglected medical problem…
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Large monitor lizards and early Australians
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At least three large species of monitor lizards lived in prehistoric Australia, an undescribed fossil species known from one location, the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), and the Megalania (Varanus priscus). Komodo dragons are an extant relic species confined to a few islands in the Lesser Sundas, Indonesia. Megalania is extinct, attained a length of about 7 m…
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The cold climate hypothesis and viviparity in snakes
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Two neonate Enhydris enhydris emerging from the birth canal at the same time. Most homalapsid snakes are tropical yet viviparous. The usual answer to the question of which came first the egg or the neonate in lizards and snakes is usually answered as the egg. Squamates reproduce either by laying eggs (oviparity) or by giving…
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New taxonomic arrangement for the short-horned lizards of the douglasii Species Group
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Members of the Phrynosma douglassi complex. Photo credit: R. Montanucci. Horned Lizards of the genus Phrynosoma are perhaps the most novel North American lizards. One species group, the Short-horned lizards (the Phrynosoma douglasii species complex) occur throughout the inter-montane West and Great Plains of western North America. In a new paper, Montanucci(2015) has reviewed the…
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South Florida and invasive herps
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Iguana iguana is invasive in Florida South Florida is on the front lines in the war against invasive reptiles and amphibians because its warm climate makes it a place where they like to live, a new University of Florida study shows. Using computer models and data showing where reptiles live in Florida, UF/IFAS scientists predicted…
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Eunotosaurus, and the origin of turtles
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Eunotosaurus africanus (Seeley 1892) Middle Permian ~15 cm snout to vent length, was considered by Watson (1914) as the ancestor to the turtle because of its wide ribs and low number of dorsal vertebrae. The present study nests turtles with Stephanospondylus and the wide ribs find their origins in the less wide ribs of Milleretta…
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Desmatochelys padillai, the oldest sea turtle
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The skeleton of Desmatochelys padillai measures almost 2 meters. Photo Credit:PaleoBios/Cadena Scientists at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt have described the world’s oldest fossil sea turtle known to date. The fossilized reptile is at least 120 million years old — which makes it about 25 million years older than the previously known oldest specimen.…
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The ancestral squamate was oviviparous ― I think
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All members of the sand boa genus Eryx give birth to live young, except the Arabian Sand Boa, Eryx jayakari. This suggests that E. jayakari (left) re-evolved egg-laying from a viviparous ancestor. Right the viviparous Kenyan sand boa Eryx colubrinus. Photo credits: Rick Staub and Arkive, and Roy Stockwell. I very much dislike chicken and egg questions because it…
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When sister species live together, Tegu lizards in Argentina
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Two Tegus, Salvator merianae and S. rufescens JCM When two closely related species live side by side it is generally assumed that they have some way of dividing the resources so that they are not in direct competition with each other. The large terrestrial lizards the Black and White Tegu, Tupinambis (=Salavator) merianae, and the…
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The coral snake & the caecilian
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Photo credit: DMM Mendes The majority of coral snakes are terrestrial/fossorial species, but the Suriname Coral Snake (Micrurus surinamensis) and the Ribbon Coral Snake (Micrurus lemniscatus) use shallow water, swampy habitats for foraging for food. Like other coral snakes they tend to feed on small, elongated prey. Their diet includes invertebrates, lizards, amphibians, fish, and…
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