Keep up with news and features of interest to the reptile and amphibian community on the kingsnake.com blog. We cover breaking stories from the mainstream and scientific media, user-submitted photos and videos, and feature articles and photos by Jeff Barringer, Richard Bartlett, and other herpetologists and herpetoculturists.
The most distinctive of all crocodilains, the gharial, helps us kick off the weekend in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Majorpat!
A biodiversity survey in the Philippines found species unseen for decades: the Malatgan River caecilian and Palawan toadlet.
From National Geographic:
When the expedition finally stumbled across the serpentine amphibian, it was at the end of a road and a seven-hour hike beyond that from the nearest village. The area is known as Cleopatra's Needle.
"This is an animal that doesn't have any flashy colors or anything like that, but it's one of those last, iconic species that we couldn't find," says Brown.
Remarkably, the expedition also found the Palawan toadlet (Pelophryne albotaeniata), which had been missing for the last 40 years.
Hat tip to the green iguana! The animal that brought so many of us to the cold-blooded side deserves center stage in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user knoxville!
Little turtle frogs have some unusual behavior, from the way they give birth to the way they dig.
From io9:
The turtle frog is not something that, on sight, you would automatically call a frog. For one thing, if you see it, you’re probably in the middle of the Australian desert. The frog prefers living on and in sandy, loose soil. It’s also an unpleasant pink color which sometimes deepens to purple, so it generally looks like a lump of raw meat that someone stuck eyes on.
If you see it hatch its young, it still won’t seem froglike to you. This is one of the few frogs that’s never a tadpole. There being a dearth of pools in the desert, the turtle frog waits for heavy rains, comes out to mate, and then lays eggs that hatch small, but perfectly formed frogs. No little swimmers here.
Today's herp photo of the day reminds us to always flip that tin! This five-lined skink was found with her eggs under a paving stone, uploaded by kingsnake.com user CDB_reptiles!
Lava from a volcanic eruption in the Galapagos is flowing away from the only known habitat of pink iguanas.
From Newsweek:
Isabela is a mostly uninhabited island that, along with the rest of the Galapagos, lies about 560 miles west of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. It’s home to the incredible diversity of life that helped inform Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution when he visited the area in 1835.
Luckily, it appears that the iguanas are not in any immediate danger. The Galapagos National Park released a statement that these pink animals, along with their cousins the yellow iguanas and Galapagos giant tortoises, are not “expected to be affected.” The park reports that the lava is largely flowing onto the southeastern portion of the summit; the iguanas live on the northern flank of the volcano.
You know it is going to be fun when you start out the day with an Eastern coachwhip in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user jodscovry!
Using genetic profiling, the University of Georgia is tracking loggerhead turtle females, including where they nest and lay eggs.
From phys.org:
Traditional methods call for researchers to attach a tag to turtle flippers to track them, but studies show that flipper tagging can miss up to 20 percent of all females that nest on a beach each season. Researchers also know that females nest on several different beaches, which can cause miscalculations about the turtle population. They can't monitor all of the beaches where the turtles nest at night, and many of the flipper tags get lost eventually, Nairn said. But much like a human fingerprint, the genetic signature obtained using the DNA method is unique for each individual turtle.
Not only does this DNA information identify the turtle mother, but it also allows researchers to speculate on population recovery, including how many nests are being laid, how often turtles nest and how many females are laying eggs. Over the first two years of the study, UGA identified around 800 nesting mothers along the Georgia coast, and researchers continue to track those turtles, including where they've nested over the years and how often they've returned to nest.
We love everything that rattles, but today we give the spotlight to this baby timber rattlesnake in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user jameswv!
It's summer, so we end our week with something a lil hot with this photo of a Lansberg's hognosed pitviper (Porthidium lansbergii) in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user neverscared!
This week's Herp Video at least gives the fisherman proof of the one that got away! This angler loses his big Northern to the original fisherman in this lake, a giant snapping turtle!
Submit your own reptile & amphibian videos at http://www.kingsnake.com/video/ and you could see them featured here or check out all the videos submitted by other users!
This week's Herp Video at least gives the fisherman proof of the one that got away! This angler loses his big Northern to the original fisherman in this lake, a giant snapping turtle!
Submit your own reptile & amphibian videos at http://www.kingsnake.com/video/ and you could see them featured here or check out all the videos submitted by other users!
How much does it cost relocate threatened tortoises to a conservation area? Almost $100,000.
From wftv.com:
There are about 75 gopher tortoises on the property. Rodriguez was surprised to learn what it might cost to move them.
"Wow, yeah, that's a big number. That is a very big number for them to actually move them," she said.
City officials said the burrows are on approximately 80 acres, which they are going to use to build retention ponds for a large reclaimed water project.
In Florida, the gopher tortoise is a threatened species, so the reptile and its borrow are protected under state law.
Most commonly known as the harlequin toad, this Atelopus barbotinitakes center stage in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user jamesmatthews!
Do you support this petition calling for the green iguana to be designated a domesticated animal?
From change.org:
Having this designation would afford them many advantages such as the protection under the humane laws that dogs and cats already enjoy. It would raise public awareness and education about the Green Iguana and that would give it more respect and better care like other domestics.
The definition of "Domesticated" will vary with every person that you speak to, but we agree with the one that is used legally by most city ordinances that states that it shall mean: bred for and adapted to living dependently in an urban household setting.
Ten crocodiles born in Sweden will be released in Cuba, their parents' native habitat.
From Global News:
The Skansen Zoo in Stockholm sent the reptiles to Cuba’s National Zoo in April to help encourage reproduction of the protected species native to the island.
Hiram Fernandez, a veterinarian at the Cuban zoo, says the reptiles will be released soon in Zapata Swamp, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) southeast of the capital. Their ranks have been thinned by hunting and diminishing habitat, with few examples of Crocodylus rhombifer still found in Zapata Swamp and Cuba’s Isle of Youth.
Who says reptile pets can't give us joy!? Certainly not us! Kelly's smile and joy is with his banana pectinata shines through in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user KellyP!
Uluru skinks are the first lizards to show familial behavior, including raising several generations of offspring in a single family home.
From mongabay.com:
Adult Uluru skinks pair for consecutive years and may raise several generations in a single burrow constructed by the parents. Not unlike humans, multiple generations of skinks live in the shared home, with parents and children contributing to the maintenance and expansion of their home. The burrows are up to thirteen meters in length, have twenty entrances, and contain designated latrines. Researcher found that skink families inhabited them for up to 7 years straight.
DNA testing of Uluru skinks reveals that young lizards sharing the same burrow are nearly all full siblings, who delay leaving the burrow to care for the family home. According to Macquarie University researcher Dr. Adam Stow this cooperative living arrangement is remarkable for lizards: "It’s an unusual case of parental care and also having the siblings cooperate [that] make[s] them possibly the word’s most social lizard."
"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get!" While that may be true with chocolates, the work in genetics helps us know almost what is going to pop out of a clutch. But there is a great variety as seen in this clutch of boa constrictors in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user creptilia!
This week's Herp Video shares an afternoon herping trip along a creek bed. Where there is water, there will be lots of life! Get yourself out this weekend and share your videos with us!
Submit your own reptile & amphibian videos at http://www.kingsnake.com/video/ and you could see them featured here or check out all the videos submitted by other users!
Red and black? Black and yellow? Mimics in nature are clear with this pair of South American hognose from the same clutch in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Longhitano!
Unable to lay fertilized eggs without help, scientists have attempted the first artificial insemination of a softshell turtle.
From the New York Times:
“Even if we get just one or two hatchlings, I will be very happy,” said Gerald Kuchling, a project leader for the Turtle Survival Alliance, a nonprofit conservation organization. “Even a single one would give hope for the recovery of this magnificent animal. It would be a turn.”
Quite a turn, actually. The Yangtze giant softshell turtle — thought to be the largest freshwater turtle in the world — was once common in the Yangtze and Red Rivers. But by the late 1990s, pollution, hunting, dams and development had driven it to the brink of extinction.
There are only four known specimens remaining, and only one female — an 85-year-old resident of the Suzhou Zoo. For years, biologists have been trying to coax her and her 100-year-old mate to produce hatchlings. So far the pair have disappointed scientists, with the female laying clutch after clutch of unfertilized eggs.
Proving that good things come in small packages, this field caught ringneck shines in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran!
In a battle between an alligator and a truck, who would win?
From the Huffington Post:
When confronted by an oncoming truck on Thursday, an alligator in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, refused to back down. Instead, the reptile went on the attack, and proceeded to tear off the truck's entire front bumper.
"I was coming home from my camp when an alligator crossed my path," the driver of the truck told Jukin Media, a video licensing and production company. "I honestly thought he would back up and run the other way, when he did the exact opposite."
The Colombian Park Zoo and Purdue University are working together to help the Hellbenders, who are disappearing from the wild in Indiana.
From WLFI.com:
“When our amphibian species start disappearing, there’s a problem,” said senior zookeeper Noah Shields. “This is not just another animal that may be going extinct here in Indiana. This is a very, very important species.”
Found in the Blue River in southern Indiana, and in rivers from Arkansas to New York, the Hellbender species is millions of years old. Recently, however, they are starting to disappear. Purdue associate professor Rod Williams has been leading the charge to preserve the species, which is now considered endangered in Indiana.
“They’re very sensitive to changes in the environment,” Williams said. “Hellbenders are also a very long lived amphibian. They can live 30 years in the wild. So when you have a really long-lived animal that starts to decline in the wild at a very rapid rate, it’s cause for concern that there’s something going on in the environment.”
Several months ago canoeists found several dead turtles in an Australian River, and this may be the harbinger of the extinction of Bellinger River snapping turtles.
From Scientific American:
Since then more than 400 dead turtles have shown up. Dozens more sick turtles were also recovered, each of which was lethargic, emaciated and covered in infected lesions in their eyes, skin and even internal organs.
None of the infected turtles survived.
The 60-kilometer river is the only home to the Bellinger River snapping turtle (Elsaya georgesi), a rare but little-studied species that has already been on the decline for years due to pollution and predation by invasive foxes. Scientists now fear that this mysterious, as-yet-unidentified disease has reached 90 percent of the turtle’s habitat and could cause the species’s imminent extinction.
What a better way to spotlight this gorgeous super conda hognose! This stunning snake takes center stage in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user nearhoofm!