(University of Notre Dame biologist Michael) Pfrender and colleagues found species of snakes in North, Central and South Americas and Asia that are able to feed on amphibians that secrete a deadly neurotoxic poison, tetrodotoxin or TTX. These snakes have similar mutations in a key sodium-channel gene that makes them highly resistant to TTX. These mutations prevent TTX from blocking the sodium channels in muscle, which would otherwise immobilize the snakes by paralyzing nervous and muscle tissue.

"The key finding is that adaptive evolution is constrained by the functional properties of the genes involved in these evolutionary responses," Pfrender said. "While there are many possible mutations that can improve fitness, in this case resistance to the neurotoxin TTX, many of these mutations have a cost because they change the normal function of the genes. So, when we look at multiple species that have independently adapted to TTX, we see a very similar, and limited, set of mutations involved. The story is one of repeated evolutionary change that occurs through a limited set of changes at the molecular level."

The most exciting moment of the day occurred behind closed doors.

Overturf and EnCon officer Todd Chemacki recalled it in the back of the room.

The other Burmese python was about 13 feet -- and deemed too dangerous to show the public.

When Ralbovsky tried putting it into one of his bins, it struck its head at him several times, reaching waist-high. He had to pin it with a catch pole; then it took two people to get it in the bin.

Of course, the animal isn't poisonous, Overturf granted.

"But when a snake with the head of a small dog hits you, and bites, you'll feel it," he said.

"And then when it wraps around you ..." Chemacki said.

Smuggling dried cobra venom has its challenges. First there’s the difficulty of milking these highly venomous snakes; it takes time, patience and skill. (It took the legendary snake wrangler Bill Haast three years and 69,000 milkings to produce one pint of coral snake venom, for example.)

Then the smugglers have to furtively transport the stuff and find a buyer with deep pockets. Trepidation is warranted: the authorities in Kerala, India, have made a number of arrests in recent years for venom trafficking, an activity they say is on the rise. It’s illegal to trade in venom from any snake species protected under the country’s Wildlife Act, including the Indian cobra. But how to prove that the substance came from an endangered cobra?

Now scientists have a way. After a recent raid on a hotel room in Kerala, the local magistrate sent venom samples to the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad. For the first time, scientists were able to analyze DNA within the venom to prove that it came from the Indian cobra, or Naja naja.

The smugglers were charged with illegal hunting and trafficking of a protected animal, both of which are punishable by a prison sentence up to three years and/or a fine of 25,000 rupees (about $500). The case is still pending

Delhi Police on Monday night seized half-a-litre of venom extracted from cobras and other reptiles, which are classified as highly endangered species under the Wildlife Act.

The raid, at Anand Vihar inter-state bus terminus in east Delhi, was conducted following a tip-off from People for Animals (PFA), an animal welfare organisation.

"Police seized five cobras just two days before Valentine's Day," Sourabh Gupta, a wildlife activist with PFA, said.
"Similar seizures were conducted before Diwali and New Year. The drugs are commonly used in Delhi and NCR; many are commonly called K-72 and K-76."

He added that half-a-litre of venom costs millions of rupees in the international market.

Courtney Russo studies the lustrous black-colored snake loosely coiled in a glass enclosure at a new reptile-conservation facility in northeast Lake County. The rare 5-pound reptile soon will require more food and nutrients, like any expectant mother.

"We'll probably start to see changes come April. She'll start eating more," said Russo, a herpetology technician. "She'll need some kind of calcium supplement. And she'll start gaining weight like any good pregnant mama."

The nonvenomous snake is playing an important role in saving her species, the endangered Eastern indigo snake. Once commonly found throughout Florida and the Southeast but quietly disappearing for years because of development, the Eastern indigo is considered important to the region's ecosystem as it feasts on rattlesnakes and other venomous serpents.

7:00 PM Ben Siegel - Burmese Python Initiative
7:15 PM Andrew Wyatt – USARK President
7:45 PM Mike Canning – PIJAC President
Panel Discussion
Mike Canning – PIJAC President
Bill Brant – PIJAC Board Member
Jeff Barringer – Founde,r Kingsnake.com
Ben Siegel – Burmese Python Initiative
Andrew Wyatt – USARK President
Joan Galvin – USARK Board Member
Gary Bagnall – USARK Board Member
Mike Wilbanks – Constrictors Unlimited
Kevin McCurley – Author, "The Complete Ball Python," and CEO of NERD

Long-term population studies of the snake -- in Illinois and elsewhere -- had never turned up evidence of debilitating fungal infections. But in 2008, biologists studying the snake reported to Allender that they had found three sick snakes in a park in southern Illinois, all with disfiguring lesions on their heads. The snakes died within three weeks of their discovery. A fourth snake with a similar syndrome was discovered in the same park in the spring of 2010.

Allender conducted necropsies on the snakes and identified the pathogen that had killed them: C hrysosporium, a fungus that plagues portions of the pet reptile industry but is not normally seen in the wild, he said.

"Chrysosporium causes disease in bearded dragons and in other snakes and it's a bad bug," Allender said. "We see it in captive animals worldwide, but we don't typically find it in free-ranging animals."

Chrysosporium also is emerging as a dangerous infection in humans with weakened immune systems, he said.
Shortly after he first presented his findings at a meeting of the Fish and Wildlife Service, Allender heard from other biologists about similar infections in snakes in the northeast United States.

As part of their annual Rattlesnake Roundup — which kicks off today and runs throughout the weekend — the Sweetwater Jaycees have posted a bounty of $10 per pound of rattlesnake rustled up and hauled in. That's double the average bounty paid for the past decade.

Why the premium? Last year's haul was low (roughly 1,500 pounds, compared to the average of 4,000), and pervasive drought conditions have left the regional rattlesnake population in question, Sweetwater Jaycee David Sager said.

The workers thought the problem was clogged leaves or other debris so they used a jet spray that delivers about 2,000 pounds of pressure to force loose whatever was blocking the sewer.

“Once it hits an obstruction, it starts pulsating,” Williams said.

When the men pulled the reel and hose back out, the turtle came with it, Williams said. It was the size of a car tire.

“I don’t know how he could have gotten stuck in a 12-inch storm sewer,” he said.

Williams said city workers did some sleuthing on the Internet to determine how to properly handle the turtle and ensure it could survive being released back into the wild.

The first order of business, Williams said, was to hoist the heavy turtle out of the sewer and onto the back of a city truck.

“He took a little bit of a beating from [our sewer clearing device],” Williams said.

“He survived, but he wasn’t very happy.”

City workers transported the turtle to a field near the Cuyahoga River at the city’s Waterworks Park, where it was released.

After several years and multiple generations of lizards, the researchers found that both natural selection — whereby traits that enhance survival get passed down from generation to generation — and random processes contributed to the animals' genetics and their physical characteristics.

"We were actually able to see these processes and document them happening in a natural environment," Jason Kolbe, a biologist at the University of Rhode Island who led the study, told LiveScience. "We know that islands are colonized by new species over time, but we are rarely there to see it happen."

When a few individuals of a species colonize a new area, their offspring undergo what is known as the founder effect, which is a change in genetics or physical characteristics. Because of the small number of founding individuals, the new population experiences a loss in genetic variability, often resulting in individuals that are physically and genetically different from their source population.

A species of chameleon small enough to easily perch on a match head has been discovered on a tiny island off Madagascar, a group of scientists has announced.

In addition to the discovery of Brookesia micra, now the tiniest chameleon ever discovered, the researchers also announced the discovery of three additional tiny chameleon species.

Adult males of the B. micra species grow to only just over a half-inch (16 millimeters) from nose to bottom, making them one of the smallest vertebrates ever found on Earth.

From nose to tail, adults of both sexes grow to only 1 inch (30 mm) in length.
Lead researcher Frank Glaw said the team already had experience finding tiny lizards in Madagascar, "but it was also good luck."

The team searched for the tiny lizards under the cover of darkness, using headlamps and flashlights to seek out the sleeping chameleons. All four species are active during the day, and at night climb up into the branches to sleep.

A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the importatiion of various injurious species of constrictor snakes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. IMPORTATION OR SHIPMENT OF INJURIOUS SPECIES.
Section 42(a)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended in the first sentence by inserting after ‘‘polymorpha;’’ the following: ‘‘of the Indian python of the species Python molurus, including the Burmese python of the species Python molurus bivittatus; of the reticulated python of the species Broghammerus reticulatus or Python reticulatus; of the Northern African python of the species Python sebae; of the Southern African python of the species Python natalensis; of the boa constrictor of the species Boa constrictor; of the yellow anaconda of the species Eunectes notaeus; of the DeSchauensee’s anaconda of the species Eunectes deschauenseei; of the green anaconda of the species Eunectes murinus; of the Beni anaconda of the species Eunectes beniensis;’’

Some blue-tongue lizards in eastern Australia can dine on the cane toads and live, though. Oddly enough, they might owe their immunity to another invasive species.

An ornamental plant native to Madagascar called mother-of-millions (Bryophyllum delagoense) is common in eastern Australia, and has also become part of the lizards' diet. The plants' flowers contain a poison similar to bufadienolide. Rick Shine at the University of Sydney, Australia, suspected that lizards which have already gained immunity to this toxin might be in a better position to withstand the toad toxin too.

His team caught 75 lizards that lived in areas containing either the toad and the ornamental plant, just one of the two, or neither of the toxic invaders. Shine injected toad poison into the lizards, administering a dose high enough to provoke a reaction, but not enough to kill the animal. His team then timed how fast the lizards could swim 50 centimetres.

Blue-tongue lizards from areas containing mother-of-millions were affected to a lesser degree than any others. This was true even for lizards that lived in regions of eastern Australia that contain no cane toads.

The snake has been given the scientific name Hydrophis donaldii to honour Associate Professor Fry's long-time boat captain David Donald.

“Quite simply we would not have found this snake without Dave's unique knowledge of the area. I told him we wanted to survey as many distinct types of habitat as possible and he guided us to the perfect spots,” Associate Professor Fry said.

The snake has been given the common-name ‘rough-scaled sea snake' to reflect the unique scalation.

“We don't know why it has been evolutionarily selected to have such unique scalation, but we will next study its ecology to learn more about it.”

These amphibians live below the soil and their discovery was after extensive research of five years. “The new family of amphibians from northeast India has ancient links to Africa,” said a study done by SD Biju of University of Delhi with co-researchers from the Natural History Museum, London and Vrije University, Brussels.

Biju said the remarkable discovery came following an unprecedented fieldwork effort of soil-digging surveys in about 250 localities spread over five years (2006-2010) in various parts of every Northeast Indian states (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim and Darjeeling district of West Bengal). “The work is the most extensive systematic program of dedicated caecilian surveys ever attempted”.

The legless amphibians lead a secretive lifestyle under soil making it extremely challenging to find them. They are reclusive and can be seen normally during rainy days.
It is believed that they separated from other species of caecilians more than 140 million years ago at the break-up of the southern continents (Gondwana). Their DNA was tested to reach this conclusion.

A new species of gecko, first found on a wall at Junagadh’s Vagheshwari Mata Temple, in the Girnar Hills, has earned Gujarat the distinction of having a lizard named after it.
But those who discovered the gecko say the state may host more new species while simultaneously warning human activity, especially tourism, could increase pressure on habitats.
The Hemidactylus Gujaratensis — which typically measures a little shorter than five-inches in length — was found in October 2007 by Raju Vyas and Sunny Patil, who are both members of one of India’s most prestigious nature organisations, the Bombay Natural History Society.

Germán Chávez and Diego Vásquez from the Centro de Ornitología y Biodiversidad (CORBIDI) in Peru have discovered a new colorful lizard which they named Potamites montanicola, or “mountain dweller”. The new species was found in Cordillera de Vilcabamba and Apurimac river valley, the Cusco Region of Peru at altitude ranging from 1,600 to 2,100 meters. Their study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

“The new discovery raises some questions”, say the authors. This is the only member of the genus known to live at such altitude. It is yet unknown what biological mechanisms help the lizard to survive in this harsh environment, much colder than what it’s relatives in the genus prefer. Scientists also believe the lizard may be nocturnal, which raises the question of how it maintains its body temperature during night time. In some cases, individuals were observed swimming in streams, which is rather unusual behavior for the members this genus.