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David Lindenmayer, Ben ScheeleScience  26 May 2017:Vol. 356, Issue 6340, pp. 800-801DOI: 10.1126/science.aan1362 Biologists have long valued publishing detailed information on rare and endangered species. Until relatively recently, much of this information was accessible only through accessing specialized scientific journals in university libraries. However, much of these data have been transferred online with the advent of…

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By Warren CornwallMay. 25, 2017 , 2:00 PM The extent to which rare animal poachers piggyback on scientific research became clear to Mark Auliya soon after he published a 2012 paper announcing the discovery of the Borneo earless monitor lizard (Lanthanotus borneensis) in a new part of the southeast Asian island. The conservation biologist at the…

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Snakes have long been thought to be solitary hunters. A new study from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, shows that the Cuban boa (Chilabothrus angulifer) coordinate their hunts to increase their chances of success. Vladimir Dinets, a research assistant professor of psychology at the University of Tennessee, observed Cuban Boa’s hunting behavior in bat caves.…

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Tobago’s Erythrolamprus ocellatus above. Trinidad’s coral snake  mimic E.   aesculapii below. Losses of adaptations in response to changed selective pressures are evolutionarily important phenomena but relatively few empirical examples have been investigated in detail. To help fill this gap, Hodson and Lehtinen took advantage of a natural experiment in which coral snake mimics occur on two…

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The Desert Monitor, Varanus griseus is the extant species with the closest distribution to Europe today In a recent paper, Georgalis et al. (2017) report the remains of a varanid lizard from the middle Pleistocene of the Tourkobounia 5 locality near Athens, Greece. The new fossil material comprises cranial elements only (one maxilla, one dentary, and…

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Varanus panoptes Image credit: Greg Hume The impact of invasive species is often underestimated by many. However, invasives can trigger trophic cascades in animal communities but published cases documenting the results of removing top predators are extremely rare. An exception is the invasive cane toad (Rhinella marina) in Australia, which has caused severe population declines in…

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Image credits: Tyler Keillor (sculpture) and Ximena Erickson (original photography); modified by Bonnie Miljour.  Klein et al. (2017) note that fossil snakes are well represented in the Upper Cretaceous of northern Africa (99.7 to 94.3 MYA), with material known from Morocco, Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, and Niger. The Moroccan Kem Kem beds have yielded a…

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Brazil’s Atlantic Forest has montane ranges with an exceptionally high diversity of endemic amphibians and reptiles. Connections between this area and other areas of South America have been proposed as reason. In a new paper Ivan Prates and colleagues report the the rediscovery of Anolis nasofrontalis and Anolis pseudotigrinus, two mainland species from the Brazilian…

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Ophiacodon mirus. Image Credit ru.wikapedia People who like watching lizards often get the best opportunity to do so in the morning, as they can usually be found sunbathing at this time of day. This is because they rely on an external energy supply to reach their operating temperature. However, mice and other mammals make themselves…

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Snakes provide a variety of ecosystem services, not the least of which is rodent control. This is a free service provide by nature. However, like much of what is free, Republicans insist on privatizing it so somebody can make a profit. Arizona HB2022 failed on a tie vote yesterday (April 10, 2017). The bill, if…

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Leatherback turtle hatchlings. Photo Credit: Juan Patiño  Debris from logging in tropical forests is threatening the survival of hatchling leatherback turtles and the success of mothers at one of the world’s most important nesting sites in Colombia. New research by the University of Exeter and the Doñana Biological Station in Seville, Spain, has found that…

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A new study of Peruvian frogs living at a wide variety of elevations — from the Amazon floodplain to high Andes peaks — lends support to the idea that lowland amphibians are at higher risk from future climate warming. That’s because the lowland creatures already live near the maximum temperatures they can tolerate, while high-elevation…

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Bryan Frye and a cobra. A University of Queensland-led international study has revealed how one of the world’s most feared types of snakes — cobras — developed their potent venom. Associate Professor Bryan Fry of UQ’s School of Biological Sciences said cobras were killers in Africa and Asia, and caused crippling social and economic burdens…

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Before and after. The polka-dot tree frog in natural light  (top) and under UV (bottom.)Photo credit: Julian Faivovich  & Carlos Taboada  The first fluorescent frogs have been discovered in South America. The green fluorescence is due to a compound found in the lymph and skin glands of the polka-dot treefrog (Hypsiboas punctatus). At twilight, the phenomenon…

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Gyiophis salweenensis Photo credit. Evan Quah The 54th species of homalopid snake has been described by Quah et al. (2017). The new species, Gyiophis salweenensis was described from the lowlands of Mawlamyine District in Mon state, southeastern Myanmar. The authors suggest that Gyiophis salweenensis  is presumed to be closely related to G. maculosa Blanford and…

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Seven new species discovered from the Western Ghats. A. Radcliffe’s Night Frog (Nyctibatrachus radcliffei), B. Athirappilly Night Frog (Nyctibatrachus athirappillyensis), C. Kadalar Night Frog (Nyctibatrachus webilla), D. Sabarimala Night Frog (Nyctibatrachus sabarimalai), E. Vijayan’s Night Frog (Nyctibatrachus pulivijayani), F. Manalar Night Frog (Nyctibatrachus manalari), G. Robin Moore’s Night Frog. [(D-G. Size of the miniature species in comparison…

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Distribution of kingsnakes in the Lampropeltis getula complex in North America:  (A) Lampropeltis californiae (banded); (B) Lampropeltis holbrooki;  (C) Lampropeltis nigra; (D) Lampropeltis getula getula; (E) Lampropeltis getula  “sticticeps”; (F) Lampropeltis getula floridana; (G–I) Lampropeltis getula  meansi (patternless, striped, and wide-banded, respectively); (J) Lampropeltis  splendida; (K) Lampropeltis getula nigrita; (L) Lampropeltis californiae  (striped). Distributions are…

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A juvenile Eastern Massasauga. Photo credit: Eric Hileman. A new study is bringing attention to a little known and imperiled rattlesnake that slithers among the wetlands in regions surrounding the Great Lakes. The Eastern Massasauga rattler was once common in such states as Indiana and Illinois. Until recent years, it could still be found in…

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Sulawesi Lined Gliding Lizard (Draco spilonotus)  showing the sun on the dewlap Photo A. S. Kono/Wikamedia In a recent paper, Klomp et al. describe how a gliding lizard in the genus Draco orient their body to the sun so that the light emphasizes their display. The following is the abstract from the paper. Effective communication requires…

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The following is an abstract recently published in the International Zoo Yearbook. The Critically Endangered Antiguan racer Alsophis antiguae is endemic to Antigua and Barbuda (441 km2 area) but declined following the arrival of invasive mammals. By 1995, only an estimated 51 Antiguan racers survived on an offshore islet (Great Bird Island: 8·4 ha), many…

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The new fish-scale gecko, Geckolepis megalepis, has the largest body scales of  all geckos. This nocturnal lizard was discovered in the ‘tsingy’ karst formations  in northern Madagascar. Photo Credit: F. Glaw Many lizards can drop their tails when grabbed, but one group of geckos has gone to particularly extreme lengths to escape predation. Fish-scale geckos…

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In this Dec. 3, 2016 photo, a man holds a rare frog that  hasn’t been seen in decades, in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.   Arthroleptis troglodytes, also known as the “cave  squeaker” because of its preferred habitat, was  discovered in 1962 but there were no reported sightings  of the elusive amphibian after that. An international  “red list” of threatened…

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The lizard Magnuviator ovimonsensis is a newly discovered species at Egg  Mountain in Montana,  US, at a site rich in fossils from the Cretaceous Period.  The lizard is thought to have lived 75 million years ago. Artist credit:  Misaki Ouchida Paleontologists picking through a bounty of fossils from Montana have discovered something unexpected — a new…

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Pigmy Rattlesnakes, Sistrurus miliarius. Rattlesnakes have been documented to show parental care, a complex social behavior that is widespread among vertebrates. This behavior has been linked to neuroendocrine regulation in mammals, and, to a lesser extent, birds and fish. However, its influence on reptiles is poorly known. In mammalian species and humans, the posterior pituitary hormones…

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Adult female Eastern Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus). The rattle was painted with nail polish to  aid with individual identification. Photo credit Danielle Bradke. Monitoring populations of rare and endangered species is a priority for management and conservation. However, rare and endangered species have low detection probabilities. Low detection rates may be the result of small populations at low densities, misidentification,…

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Hemorrhois hippocrepis Photo credit: Accipiter (R. Altenkamp) Island ecosystems may be more vulnerable to invasive species than any other ecosystems. Island species have often evolved in isolation with reduced competition and predation from mainland species. When new species invade an island they are often able to out-compete the local endemics resulting in serious population declines…

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Biologists from the University of California at Riverside used high-speed cameras to study predator-prey interactions in the wild. They found that the rattlesnakes strike faster in the wild — compared to laboratory observations conducted in prior studies — but the kangaroo rats’ “sling shot” tendons give them a good chance at evasion. Feeding is paramount…

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The colubrid snake genus Rhynchocalamus composed of three small, gracile snakes distributed in Southwest Asia. While, these snakes are sometimes called Kikuri snakes, a name sometimes applied to the members of the genus Oligodon, they also tend to have blackheads and are sometimes called the blackheaded snakes, a name that may confuse them with the…

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Bale Mountains Adder, Bitis harenna Gower et al. 2016 Bale Mountains Adder, Bitis harenna Bale Mountains Adder is similar in scalation to Bitis parviocula. It is known from the holotype and one photograph taken of a specimen that was not collected. It inhabits the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia near the town of Dodola, which is on…

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Anolis is the largest genus of lizards with more than 416 described species. Eight new species were described by Kohler and Hedges (2016)  Anolis chlorodius, Hispaniola revising the green anoles of Hispaniola. Using morphological and molecular genetic data the authors recognize 16 species of green anoles on the island, eight of which they describe as new species (A.…

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Three new species of turtles were described during 2016. This brings the number of recognized species to 345. All three of the new species have relatively small distributions and are good candidates for threatened status. The Yellow-bellied Snapping Turtle, Elseya flaviventralis Goode’s Thornscrub Tortoise, Gopherus evgoodei The Yellow-bellied Snapping Turtle, Elseya flaviventralis Thomson & Georges, 2016 (family Chelidae), inhabits…

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Rana pipiens. JCM In the southwest, the Northern Leopard Frog, Rana (Lithobates) pipiens, is considered a threatened species, Much of this is due to droughts, land development, and falling water tables because of human water needs. Invasive species are a major contributor to loss of biodiversity. However, translocations of a species within its own distribution…

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A male Tantilla tjiasmantoi Koch & Veneagas, 2016. Seasonally dry tropical forests have a distinct seasonality with several months of arid-like conditions when many plants lose their leaves. In South America, these forests are discontinuous and can occupy large areas such as the Caatinga in northeastern Brazil or small fragments as being found in inter-Andean valleys…

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This blog usually focuses on non-avian reptiles. However, the research reported here on birds has great implications for how we think about the number of species of reptiles. Birds are the most studied group of vertebrates, reptiles are much less studied. Thus if it is possible to double the number of bird species, the number…

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This is a photograph of the rare short nosed sea snake discovered on Ningaloo reef, Western Australia.Photo credit: Grant Griffin, W.A. Dept. Parks and Wildlife Scientists from James Cook University have discovered two critically endangered species of sea snakes, previously thought to be extinct, off the coast of Western Australia. It’s the first time the…

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Examples of a Random Image Structure Evolution (RISE) sequence for  snake pictures. Participants looked at a sequence of 20 pictures with  interpolation ration starting from 95% to 0% with steps of 5%. RISE  sequence gradually changes from unorganized to well discernible.  Photo credit: Nobuyuki Kawai A Nagoya University research team uses new image processing tool to confirm…

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A typical defensive display of a Frilled Lizard. The savanna-dwelling Australo-Papuan Frilled Lizards’ spectacular threat display has made the lizard world famous. They are distributed across northern Australia and southern New Guinea. In a recent  Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution article Pepper and colleagues (2017) examine the Frilled Lizard’s phylogeography as it relates to changes in the…

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A modern alytid European frog, Bombina. JCM The Neogene (the Miocene and Pliocene) extends from about 22.5 to 2.5 million years ago, and it has been termed “the age of snakes.”  The global climate became seasonal, drier and cooler. Polar ice caps formed and thickened, and by the end of the Neogene the first of…

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The puff adder, Bitis arietans. The effect of food availability on the spatial ecology of snakes  is under studied. Snake are low-energy specialists, particularly species that specialize in ambush foraging.  Ambush specialists can feed infrequently and  endure long periods without food. Because they have low-energy requirements, one possible tactic for feeding may be to simply…

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A Galápagos Land Iguana (Conolophus subcristatus). Photo credit Traveset et al. The isolation of ocean islands like the Galápagos prevents the arrival of large mammals, which disperse the seeds of many plants by ingesting them. In the absence of mammals, this function is filled by birds, tortoises, lizards and iguanas. To date, no investigation had…

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The Cryptic Golden Tegu, Tupinambis cryptus,one of the newly  described species. Tob is an adult from Trinidad middle  is a juvenile from Tobago. Bottom is a female on a termite nest,  probably looking of a place to deposit her eggs. JCM, Graham White. The golden tegu lizard, previously thought to be a single species, may actually…

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Reconstruction of Tetrapodophis. In 2015, Martill et al. described Tetrapodophis amplectus, a fossil snake with four legs. Tetrapodophis was found in the Bürgermeister-Müller-Museum, a natural history museum in Solnhofen, Germany, while students were on a field trip to the museum.  The Brazilian fossil was part of an exhibit on the Cretaceous and estimated to be 110 million years old.…

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(a) Specimen of Calliophis bivirgatus, the blue coralsnake (Photo by Tom Charlton). (b) Dissected preserved 112 cm Calliophis bivirgatus specimen with 29 cm elongated venom glands (arrows). The Asian Coral snakes in the genus Calliophis feed upon other snakes, including other snake-eating venomous species of Elapidae such as kraits (Bungarus) and king cobras (Ophiophagus). A unique evolutionary scenario ensues,…

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