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.
Rising seal levels may spell the end for green sea turtles.
From the New Zealand Herald:
An experiment has shown green sea turtle embryos are much more likely to die when they are inside eggs that go underwater for six hours.
Scientists say the study shows the turtles, which rely on low-lying coastal habitats, are likely to feel the early impacts of rising sea levels.
"In some places it only takes a small rise in sea levels, when combined with a storm or a king tide, to inundate what had previously been secure nesting sites," said lead researcher Dr David Pike of James Cook University.
Endangered iguanas were re-introduced to the Fijian island of Monuriki two months ago, and appear to be doing well.
From the Guardian:
Scientists have welcomed the first results of a captive breeding program aimed at saving a group of critically endangered Fijian crested iguanas, the first such attempt to reintroduce a species in that country.
Some of the iguanas that were introduced to the Fijian island of Monuriki two months ago have been tracked down by scientists and appear to be healthy.
A total of 32 iguanas were microchipped and released, with tiny radio transmitters glued to the tails of 11 for tracking purposes. Nine were recovered on Sunday.
US Geological Survey biologist Robert Fisher reported all had increased in length and lost their excessive weight. A lean diet of native plants had evidently “sorted them out,” he said. There was no evidence of trauma or other health issues.
Zoo Atlanta is set to release nine threatened Eastern indigo snakes in Alabama woodlands where they once ranged.
From the Atlanta Business Journal:
“A collaborative effort by Zoo Atlanta, the Central Florida Zoo’s Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation and Auburn University will result in the latest release of this iconic reptile in Conecuh National Forest in southern Alabama,” Zoo Atlanta said in a prepared statement.
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Three of the nine snakes were reared at Zoo Atlanta, which has reared around 60 eastern indigo snakes for release since the program’s inception in 2008, the zoo said.
First a rattlesnake took a bite out of Todd Fassler. Then the bill for the antivenin that saved his life took another.
From the Washington Post:
The bulk of his hospital bill — $83,000 of it — is due to pharmacy charges. Specifically, charges for the antivenin used to treat the bite. KGTV reports that Fassler depleted the antivenin supplies at two local hospitals during his five-day visit. Nobody expects antivenin to be cheap. But $83,000?
There's currently only one commercially available antivenin for treating venomous snakebites in the United States -- CroFab, manufactured by U.K.-based BTG plc. And with a stable market of 7,000 to 8,000 snakebite victims per year and no competitors, business is pretty good. BTG's latest annual report shows CroFab sales topped out at close to 63 million British pounds, or $98 million dollars, last fiscal year. The antivenin costs hospitals roughly $2,300 per vial, according to Bloomberg, with a typical dose requiring four to six vials. In some cases multiple doses are needed, according to CroFab's promotional Web site.
BTG has fought aggressively to keep competitors off the market. A competing product, Anavip, just received FDA approval this year and likely won't be on the market until late 2018. This lack of competition is one reason that snakebite treatments rack up such huge hospital bills -- $55,000. $89,000. $143,000. In May of this year, a snakebit Missouri man died after refusing to seek medical care, saying he couldn't afford the bill.
A keen eye will pick up this well camouflaged Garter in the field, but thankfully we make the job easy for you in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user snakekate !
The fossil record tells us an ancient snake had four feet -- but he wasn't using them to run any marathons.
From Mashable:
The roughly 120 million-year-old snake, dubbed Tetrapodophis amplectus (literally, four-legged snake), likely didn't use its feet for walking. Instead, the appendages may have helped Tetrapodophis hold onto a partner while mating, or even grip unruly prey, said study co-researcher David Martill, a professor of paleobiology at the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom.
Previous research has detailed two-legged snake fossils, but this is the first known snake ancestor to sport four legs, he said. It likely evolved from terrestrial-burrowing creatures, and was a transitional animal that lived during the shift from ancient lizards to modern-day snakes, he added.
This Ambilobe Panther Chameleon is all fired up in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user vinniem1210! Be sure to tell vinniem1210 you liked it here!
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The last surviving female turtle of her species has laid only infertile eggs.
From Scientific American:
Two months ago the world’s conservationists crossed their collective fingers and waited to find out if a 100-year-old female Yangtze giant softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei), the last of her gender, would—after artificial insemination—finally lay fertile eggs and save her species from extinction.
I’m sorry to say that those hopes have, at least temporarily, been dashed. The Turtle Survival Alliance reported this week that the centenarian did lay 89 eggs, but all were infertile.
That doesn’t mean the quest is over, however. The female is expected to lay one or two more clutches of eggs this year. They’ll try to inseminate here again before then.
Read the full story, and more about turtle reproduction, here.
What a beautiful shot to end our week! But really it is hard to not see beauty when you look at the Asian Vine Snake (Ahaetulla prasina) our Herp Photo of the Day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user 13lackcat! Be sure to tell 13lackcat you liked it here!
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More Florida sea turtle adventures, this time with a guy who loved them so much he brought them home. Too bad that's totally against the law.
From Tech Times:
Officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission visited the home of William Henry Jowett after receiving a tip that he was keeping two of the threatened reptile at home.
The 53-year old eventually received a misdemeanor citation after he was discovered keeping two loggerhead sea turtle hatchling. The penalties for this included up to one year imprisonment and a potential fine of up to $1,000.
Jowett reportedly obtained the animals from the canal in his backyard two months ago and decided to place these in a saltwater aquarium to show to his daughter. He said that he had plans to release the turtles but became attached to the animals.
The animals were taken from the aquarium and moved to the Loggerhead Marine Life Sanctuary Center. The turtles were later released offshore.
This attractively marked Eastern Box Turtle is named Louie and the owner says he is 9 years old! Louie the Box Turtle is our spotlight in our Herp Photo of the Day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user terrapene! Be sure to tell terrapene you liked it here!
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The beautiful pygmy frog, Microhyla pulchra, is a one-of-a-kind amphibian. But its uniqueness, known as crypsis, is making conservation efforts challenging.
From io9.com:
Crypsis is an entity’s ability to avoid detection. It can be a predator’s ability to avoid being spotted by prey, or prey’s ability to avoid being spotted by predators, or, in this case, an animal’s ability to avoid being spotted by biologists. Although I know it’s a valid term for a behavior, I can’t help but admire the ability of biologists to make their own failure to find an animal into a recognized property of the animal.
Snakes and Cats living together, it will be anarchy! Wait what? Nah it is just a nice shot of a Cat Snake (Boiga cyanea) in our Herp Photo of the Day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user ptahtoo! Be sure to tell ptahtoo you liked it here!
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Apparently the friend of your enemy is your enemy, when it comes to sea turtles -- at least in Florida, where a Vietnam veteran was allegedly shot with his own gun by someone who took exception to his efforts to protect a sea turtle nest.
From Local10.com:
A Vietnam veteran was shot while trying to save baby sea turtles at a South Florida beach.
Stan Pannaman, 72, of Tamarac, was shot Friday night near a sea turtle nest in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.
Pannaman said he and Doug Young, a fellow volunteer trying to protect the nest, were confronted by Michael McAuliffe, who approached them and said he didn't like sea turtles.
"He got more aggressive and he got up and he came towards us and he started pulling the stakes away from the nest area," Young told Local 10 News.
No longer just black and white, these snakes show some of the variety in color that the Black Headed Pythons have in our Herp Photo of the Day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Tom_Keogan! Be sure to tell Tom you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here!
The Dorset Wildlife Trust has a message to herpers: leave tin alone.
From the BBC:
Reptile conservationist Gary Powell said: "If tins are disturbed outside of an official survey then it can affect the results of the research".
Disturbing protected species could result in breaking the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations Act.
Conservationists from Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and Dorset Wildlife Trust leave small pieces of tin and sometimes roofing felt at Upton Heath nature reserve in Corfe Mullen.
World Snake Day is a perfect time to reflect on why snakes are so amazing.
From the Deseret News:
It is incredible that any creature can crawl, swim, dig, climb, capture prey and in some cases, glide through the air, all without the benefit of limbs, fins or wings. Rather than fear them, we should be in awe of their beauty, mystique and diversity.
There are over 3,400 snake species in the world, ranging from the semi-frozen tundra of northern Canada to the steamy jungles of the equator and most of the world’s oceans. As highly effective predators, snakes play a vital role in maintaining the balance of nature in each of these realms.
Snakes have a prehistoric lineage, giving us a glimpse back to a prehistoric time when the earth was ruled by reptiles; modern reptiles are literally the living, breathing cousins of dinosaurs.
Why stop with one, when a pile of Drymarchs are so much nicer! Check out the great variety of these snakes in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user alanB!
After suffering from habitat loss, the Blanding's turtle may move from "threatened" to "endangered."
From the Pioneer Press:
The sand dunes, marshes and backwaters of the upper Mississippi River, including the Weaver Dunes of southeastern Minnesota, hold one of the largest remaining populations of the Blanding's turtle, which the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources already classifies as threatened. A population in Valentine National Wildlife Refuge in northern Nebraska, where the species is classified as at-risk, is more secure but still vulnerable.
In response to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental advocacy group, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last week began a formal assessment of whether 20 amphibians or reptiles found in various parts of the country, including the Blanding's turtle, and one plant species should be listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Such listings would give them greater protection.
The center says the fragmented, remnant populations of Blanding's turtles across their historic range aren't enough to sustain what's left of the species.
Tick Tock. The week passes quickly but today is easier starting with the smile of a Nile Croc in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user CDieter!
Trunk-ground anoles removed from their trees find their way back home, but now one knows how they do it.
From the New York Times:
Several years ago, Dr. Leal was studying competition between two species. If he removed all of the trunk-ground anoles, he wondered, would the trunk-crown lizards extend their territory farther down the tree? He ran into a problem, however. He would take the trunk-ground lizards far from their home territory to make room for their upstairs neighbors, and then release them. But in a reptilian version of the children’s song, “The Cat Came Back,” the lizards wouldn’t stay away. “Lizards kept showing up in the territory that had just been scoured for lizards,” he said.
Dr. Leal wondered whether new anoles were appearing in empty territory or the old ones were returning. But how could a lizard that had never left home find its way back through 25 yards or so of dense rain forest?
First, he established that they do find their way back. A graduate student would take one, put it in a box, shake it to disorient the anole, walk about 80 yards or more away in a randomly chosen direction, shake the box again and let the lizard out. “The graduate students got lost,” Dr. Leal said, but not the lizards. It took them a few hours or a few days, but about 80 percent of them found their way back.
Staten Island University Hospital started an anti-venom sharing program to make sure anti-venom can reach people who need it, from zoo keepers to owners of exotic pets.
From NBC New York:
The anti-venom comes from a sharing program launched at Staten Island University Hospital by Dr. Nima Majlesi at Staten Island University Hospital, which unites the zoo, the hospital and toxicologists.
"We understand poisoning, we understand the treatment with anti-venom," said Majlesi.
The hospital understands the importance of having anti-venom stocked on the shelf, ready to help not just vulnerable zoo keepers but anyone in the tri-state region -- like those who keep venomous snakes as pets.
In our Herp Video of the Week we visit the wild deserts of Canada in search of reptiles. Wait! What? Deserts in Canada! You Betcha!
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