While all other amphibians wither and are unable to survive in salt water environments, crab-eating frogs (Fejervarya cancrivora) in Indonesia have evolved to survive and thrive in it.

From Biodiversity Science:

Thin permeable skin is both the cornerstone and the millstone of amphibian evolution. On the one hand skin provides a useful site for gas exchange; on the other, free water movement across skin confines amphibians to freshwater. Indeed, of the 6,500 recognised amphibians, only the crab-eating frog can enter the sea.

Unlike other amphibians, which rapidly dehydrate in seawater, crab-eating frogs absorb urea across their urinary bladder in order to eliminate the osmotic gap between body fluids and seawater. Seawater acclimation requires several days, leaving the frogs with two equally disagreeable options — they can take up salt and lose water to the sea, or face desiccation on land.

This gave scientists the option to to study very unique amphibian. To read the rest of the article, click here.

For an endangered species of frog, the regurgitation of 10 babies is exciting news. Add to it that the male is handling the initial rearing, and ow the story gets even more interesting.

From MSNBC.com:

The vulnerable species is one of two members of the only genus on Earth that rears its young inside of its vocal sac, a job taken on by the males.

"They have a small opening below their tongue. … After [the eggs] hatch, he takes the tadpoles into his mouth and manipulates them through that opening and into his vocal sac," Danté Fenolio, a conservation scientist with the Atlanta Botanical Garden, explained to me today.

"For about 60 days, they go all the way through to development inside his vocal sac. At that point when they are ready, fully developed, he coughs up fully formed miniatures of the adult."
Fenolio is working on a captive breeding project with the National Zoo and Universidad Catolica in Santiago to build a so-called assurance population of the frogs that can be released into the wild once, or if, environmental threats to their natural habitat are thwarted.

These frogs are being captive bred and working toward an assurance colony. But as Fenolio points out, assurance colonies just buy time, not save the species.

To read the full article, click here.

The devastation caused by Chytridiomycosis in amphibian species is well known, but recently a link was found between the strength of the disease and pristine environments.

From Mongabay.com:

Examining tropical frog populations in Costa Rica, Australia, and Brazil's Atlantic Forest, the researchers found "that paradoxically, habitat loss is negatively associated with occurrence, prevalence, and infection intensity of [chytridiomycosis] in amphibian populations in the tropics." The finding goes against research of other animal diseases, which usually find that risk of disease increases in disturbed habitats.

In this case the researchers suspect that either the lethal disease depends on the ecosystem having an undisturbed microclimate, or that a decline in amphibian diversity and abundance—due to habitat loss—slows the spread of the disease.

The finding also explains why the presence of chytridiomycosis is often seen in higher altitudes where forest is less disturbed.

For the full article, click here. To see the study published in PNAS, click here.

A recent study at the University of Massachusetts compares snake venom to -- of all things -- catsup.

The study actually focused on delivery methods, because the minority of venomous snakes have hollow, hypodermic needle-like fangs. From Discovery News:

The interaction of the fangs and flesh of the bitten animal form a channel along which the venom flows. The flesh acts like blotter paper to wick the venom in. The suction created by the blotting effect helps the venom keep flowing. The wicking of venom into flesh also means that the snake doesn't need to expend energy to pump the venom in.

J. Leo von Hemmen, a biophysicist at the Technical University of Munich, Germany and Bruce Young, a biologist at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell, started their research after noticing that only a seventh of venomous snakes, such as rattlesnakes, have hypodermic needle-like fangs.

Many venomous snakes and lizards have much simpler set-ups, often only grooves in the fangs, and yet are effective hunters. The fangs of the mangrove snake and banded snake were both examined by the researchers to understand how venom flows.

The physical properties of the venom itself allow venom to get past even bird feathers, which usually deflect liquid. Snakes that regularly eat birds were found to have deeper channels in their fangs, which increased the ability of the venom to evade feathers.

Something to ponder at your next summer barbecue. After the bump, a video showing the hemotoxic changes of venom to meat.

The tragic death of a volunteer in Grand Cayman has left the conservation community shattered.

Daniel Hamilton, a student at Purdue University, was passionate about reptiles, conservation, and the effort to restore the Blue Iguana in Grand Cayman. His life was cut short on Friday, June 3, 2011, while in Grand Cayman volunteering for the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme.

Our hearts are heavy at kingsnake.com today and our thoughts are with the Hamilton family and Daniel's friends, fellow students, and colleagues at the Programme. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked for donations to the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme here.

His hometown paper, The Exponent wrote:

Rod Williams, an associate professor of wildlife science, helped Hamilton share his love for reptiles through one of Williams' classes called nature of service learning. Hamilton was able to go to a local elementary school and present to children a lesson on wildlife and the environment.

"In my interactions with Daniel, he had two passions. He had a passion for herpetology (study of reptiles and amphibians) and a passion for teaching people about natural resources and the environment, especially if it involved amphibians and reptiles," Williams said.

Hamilton's brother and a Purdue alumnus, John Hamilton, said his brother, even from a young age, would indulge in his love for animals, especially reptiles.

"I don't remember a time when he didn’t like dinosaurs or reptiles," John said. "He always had a way with them, it was nice to see someone so in tune with those creatures."

[...]

"He was a very fair and genuine person,” John said. “He lived life honestly."

His exuberance for life made an impression on a family friend and roommate, Christina Morse, a recent graduate from the College of Liberal Arts. She said Hamilton was always positive and he made sure a situation never got boring by cracking jokes.

"He was very much about making jokes and making people laugh,” Morse said. “He always wanted the best for people."

Hamilton died around the creatures he loved the most. Morse said he was doing what he truly loved and believed in.

"He was one of the few students that went to Purdue to do something he absolutely loved instead of doing something to get a job one day," Morse said.

From the official press release from the International Reptile Conservation Foundation and the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme:

As reported by authorities recently in local media, a young international volunteer with the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme passed away suddenly last Friday, 3rd June.

Daniel Hamilton was 21 years old. He was pursuing a Bachelor of Science Degree in Wildlife at Purdue University, Indiana. He spoke of a lifelong fascination with reptiles, and how when first saw Blue Iguanas at an exhibit in the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, he knew he wanted to play some part in their rescue.

Daniel’s volunteer application was outstanding – he had done fieldwork with salamanders in state forests in Indiana, had learned techniques like radio tracking, tagging and navigation, and his enthusiasm sparkled in his communications as he prepared to come to Grand Cayman.

In his short time with us, Daniel launched himself wholeheartedly into the work of the Programme, first at the captive breeding facility in the QE II Botanic Park, then in the Salina Reserve inland from the Queen’s Highway, and finally in the new Reserve in Colliers, East End. There, he and two other international volunteers were preparing for this year’s release of Blue Iguanas, scheduled to take place in July.

The staff and current volunteers with the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme, and the Council and staff of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands are deeply shocked and saddened by Daniel’s unexpected passing, and extend their heart-felt sympathy and condolences to his family and friends. Thanks and recognition are also extended to the emergency services who did everything possible to save Daniel.

The community’s expressions of sympathy are sincerely appreciated. We invite anyone who wishes to send condolences to email birpvols@gmail.com or post on the Blue Iguana Recovery Program’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blue-Iguana-Recovery-Programme/183865225017 , and the BIRP will arrange for these thoughts to reach Daniel’s family

More about Daniel after the jump.

Geneticists have been trying to create any new species of anything for many years, and have finally succeeded with the Whiptail Lizard.

From Physorg.com:

Scientists have known for years that some species exist due to interspecies mating, the whiptail lizards have provided proof of that; they’ve been creating new species themselves for at least several hundred thousand years. What’s new is the process being manipulated by another species, us, Homo sapiens. Geneticists have been trying for years to create a new breed of pretty much anything by urging lab “volunteers” of differing species to mate with one another, not exactly earth shaking science when you consider a dog that tries to mate with a human leg. Efforts such as these are, not surprisingly, more often successful than not; the problem is, the offspring are usually infertile, such as mules, or too weak to survive. The trick has been to create a new species that is able to both survive and reproduce, because otherwise, it can’t really be called a new species if it only exists for the duration of one generation.

In a paper published in PNAS, lead researcher Peter Baumann of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, describes how he and his team paired an A.inornata male with an A.exsanguis female resulting in six eggs; all of which hatched, resulting in young lizards that were more similar to the female than the male, save a bit of blue tint on the tails. Each also had four copies of their parental genes (normally there’s just two), three from their mother, the other from their father. They were also all female and all able to reproduce by cloning themselves.

Not only have the initial lizards survived and reproduced, so too have their offspring; the lizards are currently in their fourth generation, leading to the inevitable question of whether they should be given a name. Baumann is hesitant to do so as it’s likely to court controversy from the biology/genetics community as the new species hasn’t yet been given the opportunity to show that it can exist outside of a lab, though the team members certainly believe it’s capable of doing so.

I have mixed feelings about this, both the cloning and the full elevation of species. To read the full article and decide for yourself, click here.

Ever wonder what those herps think when you pick them up in the wild? So does my favorite columnist at The Hindu.

I woke with a rude shock and was petrified by what was happening around me. My whole world was rushing by so fast that I hung on with all the stickiness that my toes allowed. My eyes just saw a blur and it was so disconcerting that I shut them tight.

The air stank, particles of black muck settled on me clogging the pores of my skin, it became so hot that my toes were on the verge of frying, and my eardrums just couldn't handle the noise.

Finally, when the world came to a standstill, I was so numb that I very nearly fell down from dizziness. I was just gathering my wits when she yelled: “Hey Rom, there's a tree frog here. What to do?” The man called Rom answered: “Just put him over there by the bushes.” She was mortified: “Here! At the mechanic's? He'll die.” Rom tried to reassure her: “No, no. He'll be fine.” Was he nuts? How could I survive in this hot tinderbox of a concrete jungle? She hissed: “Give me that plastic bag.” “What are you going to do?”

Just as I was about to make good my escape from their evil clutches, she caught me with the bag. She sprinkled some water from her bottle, threw some green leaves and knotted it tight. She bit a small hole in the bag and tucked me into her knapsack. That was how I came to be frognapped!

To finish the story, click here.

Scientists think a study of tree frogs can help us understand the mysteries of the tropics, and the vast number of species that reside there.

From Science Daily:

"Treefrogs are a particularly important group to study for understanding amphibian diversity, because they can make up nearly half of all amphibian species in some rainforest sites," says lead author John J. Wiens, an Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University. "Treefrogs also offer a striking example of the high local-scale biodiversity in the Amazon. At some sites in the Amazon rainforest, there are more treefrog species in a small area than there are across all of North America or Europe."

The researchers compiled data on the number of treefrog species at 123 sites around the world and analyzed the data with a new evolutionary tree (based on DNA sequence data) for 360 treefrog species. They discovered that the richness of treefrog species in the Amazon rainforest sites is not explained by wet, tropical climatic conditions alone.

"In fact, we found that many tropical rainforest sites that are outside the Amazon Basin have no more species than do some sites in temperate North America," explains Dr. Wiens.

To read the full article, click here.

Along with people, many animals were displaced in the recent tsunamis that ripped through Asia. The unlikely duo of Mzee the Aldabra tortoise and Owen the baby hippo were among the survivors.

From NPR:

Just before Christmas the unseasonably heavy rains near Malindi town washed a family of hippopotamuses down the Sabaki River and out to sea. The residents of the town tried in vain to urge the family back up the estuary. When the Tsunami hit Malindi, the sea turned angry, the sky clouded over and for a moment the hippos disappeared and were forgotten as all efforts went to rescuing the stranded fishermen.

The next day only one hippo could be seen. It was the baby and he was stranded on the reef. Hundreds of people came to watch the efforts to rescue the hippo. It took ropes, boats, nets and cars —though the hippo was tired he was still fast and slippery. It took a brave rugby tackle to finally capture him, and the cheering of the crowd could be heard over a kilometer away.

Lafarge Eco Systems agreed to provide a home for the baby hippo and I rushed to Malindi to collect him. Tangled in fishing ropes, angry and tired, the hippo did not seem to appreciate our rescue at all. As we left for Mombasa, the crowd unanimously agreed to name him 'Owen' in honor of the volunteer who tackled him to the ground.

Exhausted, confused and extremely frightened, Owen immediately ran to the safety of a giant tortoise when we released him in Haller Park. Mzee, our 130 year old tortoise, just happened to be nearby and he was very surprised by Owen's odd behavior cowering behind him as a baby hippo does to its mother. Mzee quickly came to terms with his new friend and even returned signs of affection. The unusual relationship between this baby hippo and the ancient tortoise amazed people the world over and has featured in most countries on television and in news papers.

There is also a lovely photo journal and very detailed account of this story here.

The first discovery on record from a Cambodian national is a cryptic species of legless lizards that was originally mistaken for a snake.

From Fauna and Flora International:

“At first I thought it was a common species”, said Thy, who works as a herpetologist with the Ministry of Environment and Fauna & Flora International (FFI), “but looking closer I realised it was something I didn’t recognise.”

These cryptic species of reptile are easily overlooked and previous to this discovery there are no records for blind lizards occurring in Cambodia. The species was finally named the Dalai Mountain blind lizard Dibamus dalaiensis, after the mountain on which it was found.
....
“For one of our national colleagues to discover this unusual species and make the description is particularly satisfying,” said Berry Mulligan, FFI’s Cambodia operations manager. “It shows that the capacity of Cambodian scientists is now reaching an international standard.”

To read the full article, click here.

Love the myriad of species with which we share the world? There's an iPhone app for that.

From National Geographic:

Holding up a coastal horned lizard, (Phrynosoma coronatum) Scott asks:

“If I wanted to know where this lizard survives and where it doesn’t, I’d go to a museum and look at all the specimens collected over the last 100 years or so. It used to live in most of the chaparral around here, in the Bay Area of San Francisco.”

“But this is one of those species that is rapidly disappearing. And we’re not exactly sure why. It may be climate change. It may be changes to the ants that make up its diet. It might be the urban sprawl that is isolating its habitat. “

“We need to know exactly where this species persists. And, we need more data.”

Scott’s solution is not an army of well-funded professionals with sophisticated equipment. That isn’t going to happen. He wants you — the citizen scientist and a piece of equipment you likely already own — your iPhone. And, of course the app.

The app is called iNaturalist and can be downloaded here.

The impact of the crashing economy is causing many animals to become abandoned. According to the Phoenix Herp Society, the biggest impact is the Sonoran Desert Tortoise.

From AZCentral.com:

Over the past few years, the Phoenix Herpetological Society has been keeping ever larger numbers of desert tortoises, said Wendy Cassidy, tortoise-program coordinator. As more natural desert habitat is lost to development, people find the tortoises and drop them off at the reptile sanctuary in north Scottsdale.

But lately, many people who had kept tortoises in their yards have lost their homes and are moving away or into apartments, she said.

"So many tortoises are abandoned," she said. "A lot of Realtors call and say they have them. These tortoises can't live in an apartment."

Cassidy said the society is eager to adopt out the creatures, which cannot be released into the wild once they've been in captivity. This is a good time to begin the adoption process, she said, because the animals have just come out of hibernation and will have plenty of time to adjust to a new habitat before hibernating again in October.

Because the tortoises are protected, and each is implanted with a microchip and registered with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the adoption process is lengthy, requiring an application and interview.

For the full article, click here.

In one of the worst tragedies to affect the endangered Olive Ridley Turtles, 150 were pulled up in a single net, dead.

From the Deccan Chronicle:

In one of the worst disasters, around 150 Olive Ridley turtles got trapped in a single net and found dead on Kothapeta beach under Vajrapukotturu mandal in Srikakulam district on Friday.

The village sarpanch, Mr Ambati Raju, said he never saw so many dead turtles in his life and blamed the fishermen from Visakhapatnam for not taking preventive measures.

He defended that the local fishermen never used such nets in which the turtles get trapped and dead.

The founder chairman of Visakha society for prevention and care of animals, Mr Pradeep Nath, said the disaster took place as the mechanised boats and trawlers did not using turtle excluding devices.

To read the original article, click here.

Higher than normal mortality rates are impacting the known bog turtles in the tracked habitats in the Northeast.

From ScienceDaily:

The Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo veterinarians, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program have joined forces to answer a perplexing wildlife question: Why are bog turtles getting sick?

The dilemma shines a light on North America's smallest turtle; an adult bog turtle reaches only 4.5 inches in length and as many ounces. Wildlife managers working in a few known bog turtle habitats in the Northeast have reported higher than average mortality rates for these threatened reptiles in the past few years.

To determine the cause of the increase in mortality at some sites and identify the baseline health condition at other sites, WCS's Global Health Program -- based at the Bronx Zoo -- is lending its expertise in wildlife health assessments. WCS health experts have joined federal and state wildlife managers in the field at locations in New York State and Massachusetts.

To read the full article, click here.

The first known bite of a human by an American Croc may have been recorded recently in Florida.

From MSNBC:

While state officials are trying to confirm the alleged attack, which happened Thursday morning in the Upper Keys, the couple says they have the bite and scratch marks to prove it.

Gregory, 23, and 20-year-old Poulson were kayaking at around 3:30 a.m. after a night of partying when they're vessel was flipped, they said.
As they scrambled to get back to the kayak, each was bitten on the leg. Poulson also suffered scratch marks on her side.

"I was saying how pretty it was out there and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else because I am from Ohio and then the boat just flipped," said Poulson, who moved to the Keys to study marine biology at Florida Keys Community College. "I was screaming 'Oh my God!'"

[....]

Unlike people's usually view of the croc based off the prehistoric-looking, aggressive saltwater crocodiles of Africa, American crocs are fairly shy and prefer flight over a fight, Mazzotti said.
He said Thursday's incident wasn't by a man-eating predator, but a scared reptile who was minding its own business.

"I wouldn't describe it as an attack. It was an escape attempt by the crocodile,” Mazzotti said.

"They are not grabbing you to eat you. They are giving a warning, 'Don’t mess with me.'"

A crocodilian attack story with the attacked parties mentioned "out partying" always leaves me with a bit of room for speculation. To read the full article, click here. And please don't drink and kayak in Florida.

After decades of being listed as endangered, the Morelet's crocodile is seeing a wonderful rebound in population thanks to some strong conservation efforts.

From Scientific American:

Once heavily hunted for their skin, which was heavily valued as a source of high-quality leather, the Morelet's crocodile began its slow climb toward survival back in 1970, when Mexico (where most of the animals live) banned hunting of all crocodiles and caimans. That year, it was also protected under the predecessor to the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA), which prevented any import of the animals or their parts into the country, a ban that continued after the ESA was enacted in 1973. In 1975 the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) listed the species under its Appendix I, which forbid any trading of the crocs except under special circumstances.

The years of protection did the trick. By 2000, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which maintains the Red List of Threatened Species, downgraded the crocodile from "Endangered" to "Lower risk/Conservation dependent."

Then, last year, CITES reassessed the species once again, and reported in March 2010 (pdf) that "there is currently no evidence that disease, native or alien predator species, tourism, or scientific activities represent negative factors or threats for the wild populations of the Morelet's crocodile." CITES also found that Mexico's legal protections are effective and adequately enforced, as are similar laws in Belize and Guatemala; and that there is a large enough captive population of the species to satisfy all domestic and part of the international demand for its leather. CITES thereby moved the species to its Appendix II, which allows for closely controlled trade.

To read the full arrticle, click here.

kingsnake.com BFF Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry was presented with the Fenner Medal in Australia, but he wasn't about to rest on his laurels. He quickly shifted the spotlight to the use of venoms to treat medical conditions, one in particular, high blood pressure.

He has proven the proteins in dragon venom are 10 times more potent than the human body's mechanisms for lowering blood pressure.

But the dragon proteins are not stable enough to treat high blood pressure in humans.

Associate Professor Fry says he is collaborating with chemists to try to make the predatory toxins last longer, and find a way to deliver the treatment as a pill.

"Since we already have the sequences and we already have the venoms, we don't need to worry about the wild populations," he said.

"Rather we are using this information to try to bolster conservation efforts of showing why we need to protect these magnificent creatures.

He hopes to have a working model in five years to move forward with testing in cardiac patients, but he also has a hope that discoveries like this will help to work towards conservation efforts worldwide.

To read the full article from ABCNews, click here.

A family dispute turn tragic for their pet corn snake when Barry Laverick came into the home in a drunken rage and proceeded to bite the head of his children's pet.

From the Darlington & Stockton Times:

Jacqui Edwards, prosecuting, said Laverick had been drinking when he came into Ms West’s home, in Linfield Ash, Coulby Newham, on April 6.

Laverick told Ms West she would not be able to move her snake or the family dog in a planned house move, adding: “That dog’s only going if it’s stuffed.”

He became increasingly aggressive and called the family to the foot of the stairs where he held the snake. Ms Edwards said Laverick threatened to bite the snake’s head off and added: “His 12-year-old son was screaming for him not to do it, but the appellant bit the snake’s head from the body and two-year-old started to scream."

“Victoria West describes herself as being in shock and found herself placing the two parts of the snake into the tank.

“She effectively told him to get out of the house, but he began pulling her hair. The eldest son took the youngest into his arms.

“She was in fear and struck Laverick twice in the face but was too frightened to call the police.

“He called to the dog and said, ‘if you think that’s bad wait ‘til I cut the dog’s head off’.”

Laverick is currently jailed for 16 months for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. He attempted to appeal it, however, his motion was denied. He was also charged with assualting Ms. West.

As the battle of reptile keepers heats up with US Fish and Wildlife, history shows that when it comes to their own agenda, USFW will do whatever they want, even if it means going against court orders.

From AxcessNews:

In 2008, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) enacted a ruling that shut down the pumps controlling irrigation of the San Joaquin River Valley (California) in an attempt to protect an endangered native fish. It is estimated that this ruling cost the local economy thousands of jobs and nearly wiped out the region’s farming industry. When several state and local entities challenged this decision in 2009, a US District Court judge overruled the FWS’s “arbitrary and capricious” decision, citing their use of “sloppy science” and stating that the “best available science” had been ignored. The judge also criticized the FWS for their failure to consider the cost this decision would, and did have on the general public and economy (see: Decision). This was only the second time in history that a FWS decision was overturned.
Rather than take and implement the constructive criticism doled out by the US District Court, however, the FWS has chosen to ignore it and continue to arrogantly pursue its own agenda yet again.
The FWS is now seeking to make the interstate trade and transport of Boa constrictors, Burmese and Indian pythons, and several other large constricting snakes a felony based entirely on a pair of highly criticized reports published in 2008 and 2009 by Gordon Rodda and Robert Reed of the US Geological Service (USGS). (It bears mentioning that the FWS and the USGS are sister organizations under the Department of the Interior).

To read the full article, click here. We herpers are in for quite the struggle.

Pinpointing the number of deaths caused by venomous snakes world wide is nearly impossible. Recent studies in India show that these numbers are often victim of faulty data collection.

From The Hindu:

In 1954, Swaroop and Grab put together the World Health Organization's first global snake bite estimates but they lacked real data from India; they quoted a mere 20,000 deaths. Were they simply using the 1889 figures? In 1972, two Japanese researchers, Sawai and Homma, took a crack at the problem. They visited numerous hospitals around the country and did some extrapolation and came up with 10,000 deaths per year with the caveat that 90 per cent of the victims never approached a hospital.

Then in 1998, Chippaux estimated that snakes killed between 9,900 and 21,600 people annually — this was when our population was on the threshold of hitting one billion. In 2005, WHO estimated 50,000 Indians died of snake bite, but in a study it funded in 2008, the fatality was pegged at 11,000. The same year, the government of India jumped into the number-crunching fray and came up with, ahem, 1,400 mortalities! Apparently, six of the worst-affected states never sent their figures.

These estimates don't tell us much about the nature of the problem — has it worsened or become better? So far there has been a little bit of science, but in the face of a huge logistical challenge, numbers were extrapolated to arrive at wildly unstable numbers. Sort of like our wildlife census data.

A part of the problem is that snake bite is not a “notifiable disease”, that is, the Health Ministry has not issued a data-collection directive to the states as it has done in the case with AIDS. The other problem is, of course, the obdurate belief in country medicine and quacks rather than anti-venom serum.

To read the full article, click here.

BioVeteria Life Sciences, LLC, will be moving into Prescott, Ariz., and working to expand the health care field's ability to better treat with anti-venom, primarily in veterinary medicine.

From PrescottNews.com:

Dr. Craig Woods, a research veterinarian and BioVeteria’s General Manager, stated “BioVeteria chose to establish their headquarters in Arizona for several reasons, including Arizona’s strong comparative antivenom research programs such as University of Arizona’s Viper Institute. In addition, Arizona represents the epicenter for venomous snakebites in pets, therefore giving our team the ability to directly assist in treating dogs.”

BioVeteria Life Sciences, LLC conducts a significant portion of their R&D in Arizona at various labs and veterinary specialty hospitals. Dr. Woods stated, “Veterinarians treat about 25 times more venomous snakebites compared to physicians, so the veterinary market need for antivenom is substantial. I have seen first hand the significant benefit of this new antivenom for dogs, and am excited to be part of such a needed program from veterinary medicine.” It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of dogs are bitten by rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, and other pit vipers in the United States each year. Many of these dogs require antivenom to avoid severe complications or death. Currently, there is only one approved antivenom for veterinary medicine so the market opportunity for additional antivenoms is substantial.

For the full article, click here.

Conservation groups are done waiting for the government to protect sea turtles, and are instead forcing them to do it -- with a lawsuit.

From The Seattle Times:

Conservation groups are suing the federal government over its failure to finalize a protection zone for endangered leatherback sea turtles off the Pacific coast of the United States.

The groups filed suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court, saying the National Marine Fisheries Service missed a deadline to designate 70,600 square miles off the Pacific Coast as a turtle safety zone.

Leatherbacks can grow up to 1,200 pounds and an immense range, swimming from Indonesia to the U.S. West Coast to lay eggs.

The Center for Biological Diversity and other groups' complaint says the government agreed in January 2010 to create the safety zone rules within a year.

To read more, click here.

A discovery in the long jump sand pit last year inspired a group of kids to work hard to restore the natural wetlands where their school was built, and re-establish the painted turtle population there as well.

From Castanet.net:

"Around this time last year, we were practicing long jump and triple jump in these pits and some students found some turtles and turtle eggs," says Fiona Lockhart, who along with classmate Kolby Zinger-Harris, are documenting the entire project.

"We rescued some of the turtles and put them in an aquarium, nurtured them and took care of them until they were big enough and we released them back into Fascieux Creek," says Lockhart.

The little reptiles are Western Painted Turtles and they're struggling for survival.

"I've had kids in tears because of this and this should be all protected," says KLO teacher Michelle Hamilton. "The turtles are also considered an at risk species. They're blue listed, a special concern with the species at risk act, so it has to be protected."

"This area (the schoolyard) was originally a wetland before it was developed," says Zinger-Harris. "Since the turtles have come back we're trying to recreate the wetland and build it again so that they have somewhere to come to every year."

The long jump pit was moved to the opposite end of the schoolyard since the discovery, and on Friday a large number of KLO grade seven students began the work of rebuilding the area and protecting the habitat.

It's a project that will become a learning tool at the school for years to come. The lessons learned won't simply include learning about the environment and habitats, but also how students can bring about effective change and learn to deal with real world politics.

To read the full article, click here.

A recently discovered carnivore fossil leads to a bit of history on the evolution of the mighty T-Rex.

From FoxNews.com:

It would seem that Daemonosaurus represents a lineage that did not extend into the later Mesozoic," said researcher Hans-Dieter Sues, a vertebrate paleontologist at the National Museum of Natural History.

The newfound dinosaur's fearsome name comes from the Greek "daimon" for "evil spirit," "sauros" for "reptile," and "chauliodus" for "outstanding teeth." The name alludes to legends of evil spirits at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, where the remains of this species were discovered, and to the large, serrated front teeth found in its upper jaw.

"The huge front teeth of Daemonosaurus would have been useful for seizing and killing prey," Sues told LiveScience. Moreover, its short, deep snout "suggests powerful biting."

Based off the size of this skull and the bodily proportions of other early dinosaurs, "I would estimate an overall length of 5 feet, as most of these animals have really long tails, and Daemonosaurus would have stood as tall as a large dog," Sues said

For the full article, click here.

The staff at Governor Mike Huckabee Delta Rivers Nature Center in Pine Bluff, AK, recently found their male alligator is missing. Apparently he's on walkabout, searching out his spring romance.

From Gather News.com:

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission spokesman Keith Stephens was quoted by MSNBC as saying he probably "crawled up on a chain link fence" and used his weight to push it down in order to make his escape. Pretty smart move by that alligator.

Finding the lovesick alligator won't be easy. The nature center is near the Arkansas river and on the edge of swamps and bayous. There are plenty of his cousins in those waters, too.

Worse, they never put a microchip into him, so any technological means of tracking him can't be used. Stephens said they wanted to keep the center "as natural as possible," thus the decision to not put any implants into him.

For the full article, click here.

Noah Randle, a native of Louisiana, was arrested for illegal alligator hunting in his new home in Mississippi.

From The Republic:

Wildlife officials said they found the alligator, which was about five feet long, dead behind the apartment. Authorities said they also found parts from other alligators and venom that had been milked from a snake.

[....]

"We just think its disregard for that animal. When the animal swallows a hook like that it's a death warrant," said Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Alligator Program Specialist Ricky Flynt.

Along with the alligator and the alligator parts, wildlife officials also found venom milked from a Copperhead snake.

"I'm a blow dart gun enthusiast. I like blow dart guns. Copperhead venom, it could help in taking down something a little bigger. (Alligator) Hide? I have no idea what I was going to do with that, just know I wanted it," Randle said.

For the full article, click here.

In a classic sneak political move, the leaders of the City of St. Francis, Wisc., have rushed through a ban that adds reptiles to their already long list of prohibited animals. The move was spurred on by the bite venomous snake owner, Jeremy Loveland received from his Gaboon Viper last week.

They have not included any form of grandfather clause, so if you own any exotic pet, you are now in violation. They have also not provided for keepers to prove they have proper housing. These are the now banned reptiles:

Non-domesticated and/or wild animals; prohibition on keeping. It shall be unlawful for any person to keep, maintain or have in their possession or under their control within the City any venomous/poisonous reptile or any other dangerous non-carnivorous or carnivorous non-domesticated and/wild animal, insect or reptile, any vicious or dangerous domesticated and wild animal or any other animal or reptile of wild, vicious or dangerous propensities. Specifically, it shall be unlawful for any person to keep, maintain or have in their possession or under their control within the City any of the following animals, reptiles or insects:

- All venomous/poisonous animals and reptiles.
-Crocodilians (Crocodilia), capable of growing to 30 inches in length or more.
-Constrictor snakes, capable of growing six feet in length or more.
-Snapping turtles.

There is also now a limit on some reptiles:

Exceptions. Section 339.23 does not apply to the following animals which are regulated elsewhere or which the Common Council believes do not pose a potential danger if limited to the number specified herein. All numerical limitations apply to the building structure in which the animal is kept. Nothing in this ordinance is intended to supersede existing regulations governing dogs, cats, and pigeons:

-Turtles weighing less than 1 pound, excluding snapping turtles.
-Non-venomous snakes capable of growing to no more than 5 feet at maturity, if not more than 2 in total. Snakes capable of growing to more than 5 feet at maturity are prohibited unless permitted under (1) above regardless of the current length of the snake.
-Frogs, toads, geckos, salamanders, not more than 10 in total.
-Such other animals as the Board of Health may from time to time determine do not pose a danger, probable health risk, or nuisance. All such animals determined by the Board of Health that do not pose a danger shall be exempt from the provisions of this ordinance on adoption of a Common Council resolution reflecting the Board’s determination.

Those in violation will be fined per animal per day. Of course St. Francis hopes to have the wording up soon, but you can download it here in word format.