
Amphibians, Reptiles, & Natural History

Naturalist, Photographer , Zoologist
After retiring from a career teaching biology and anatomy & physiology and science administration, I study reptiles and amphibians (but focus mostly on squamates). My current interest are in snake phylogeny and diversity, highly aquatic snakes (that are non-sea snakes), the herpetofauna of Trinidad and Tobago, and giant snakes. I have been on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Herpetological Society, the Board of Directors of the Tucson Herpetological Society; a research associate at the Field Museum in Chicago. I have been a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Snake Specialists Group International Society for the History and Bibliography of Herpetology (ISHBH); and on the board of directors of Friends of Madera Canyon.

A new family of elapoid snakes is discovered. The new family contains five species and occurs in eastern and northeast Africa.

Urbanization changes landscapes, often simplifying and homogenizing natural ecosystems while introducing novel environments. Although this transformation often adversely impacts native wildlife, generalist species that exhibit broad dietary and habitat requirements can persist and exploit…

The Puerto Rico anole, Anolis cristatellus, is adapting to life in the city, Longer legs, larger toe pads are some of the adaptations seen in urban populations of this anole.

We set baited live traps during the Tegu active season from 2018-2020, resulting in the capture and removal of 170 Tegus from the population.

resting glassfrogs increase transparency two- to threefold by removing nearly 90 percent of their red blood cells from circulation

An invasive snake threatens vulnerable snakes and lizards in Switzerland

The new species has only been found at the type locality in Ngopa town, one of the townships in Champhai district of the south-eastern part of Mizoram, in northeast India

the frog Ranoidea nyakalensis (Liem, 1974) was endemic to tropical Australia has been declared extinct after not being seen since 1990.

Monitor lizards encounters with otters are cautious. The presence and number of otter pups are positively associated with otter aggression. The otters tended to be more vigilant in groups with more pups and more…