Reptile & Amphibian News Blog
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.
Tuesday, December 26 2023
Being dubbed "The world's bravest golfer", in reality, he is just an Australian playing golf. While teeing off, a golfer had some visitors at the tee pad.
The serpents have been identified as coastal carpet pythons, which don’t have fangs or venom, but are known for their “100 small, sharp teeth which have the ability to cause substantial needle-like lacerations.” No matter what, they use constriction to kill their prey, so perhaps stay away. Just in case
Now we know that it is two males in combat and the Golfer was never in danger. To see the whole story with video, visit Golf Digest here.
Tuesday, December 19 2023
The snake that was found in a bag carried by one of the guests at Immigration offices in Kampala recently. PHOTO/KARIM MUYOBO
When a man recently showed up at the immigration offices looking for services in Naguru, Kampala, security was stunned to find a large black snake in his bag. They were even more shocked to learn this large black snake was in fact a Cobra.
Mr Simon Peter Mundeyi, the spokesperson of the Internal Affairs ministry, said when the strange man was asked why he had carried such a dangerous reptile (a cobra), he said it is his "brother" and that he moves around with it wherever he goes
Remember, leave you snake at home when visiting government offices! To read the rest of the story, click here!
Monday, December 18 2023
Garter snakes come together in communities led by older females, new research shows.ALL CANADA PHOTOS/ALAMY
The general belief is that snakes are solitary animals, but as more research into these animals happens we are learning that many have very developed social communities. In a first of it's kind study of thousands of wild snakes, we learn that Garter snakes have a very complex community with social structures and a female based hierarchy.
Ecologists had long assumed snakes are antisocial loners that hang out together only for core functions such as mating and hibernation. However, in 2020, Morgan Skinner, a behavioral ecologist at Wilfrid Laurier University, and collaborators showed in laboratory experiments that captive garter snakes have “friends”—specific snakes whose company they prefer over others. Still, studies of wild snakes were lacking “because they’re so secretive and difficult to find,” Skinner says.
Then he learned that the Ontario Ministry of Transportation had funded an unprecedented long-term study of a huge population of Butler’s garter snakes (Thamnophis butleri) in Windsor, Canada. Ecologists began to monitor the flute-size slitherers in 2009 to keep them safe from nearby road construction. They regularly captured snakes in the 250-hectare study area, using identifying markings to track more than 3000 individuals over a 12-year span—about the lifetime of a garter snake.
The study goes into much more detail and deserves a look! To read more on this incredibly interesting study, visit Science.org here.
Friday, December 15 2023
In the hottest and wryest region of Vietnam, deep in the dry lowland forest of Nui Chua National Park, researchers discovered a new species of blind skink. Searching around the leaf litter around the yellow-bellied termite mounds that these skinks preferred to dine on, the found 7 specimens. When they looked closer, they realized they had a new species, the Ninh Thuận blind skink ( )
Ninh Thuan blind skinks have a “worm-like” body that can reach about 4.6 inches in length, the study said. Their eyes are “rudimentary” and “completely covered by scales.” They are also “limbless” with only males having “rudimentary” hind limbs that form “flap-like structures” near their tails.
To read more about this cool discovery click here.
Tuesday, December 12 2023
photo courtesy - Missouri Department of Conservation The male hellbender found in the Gasconade River
An Eastern Hellbender, reared in the St. Louis Zoo and then re-released as an adult in the wild was found to have been the first zoo reared animal to have reproduced in the wild having fathered 86 "well-developed" eggs in the Gasconade River.
Justin Elden, curator of herpetology and aquatics at the Zoo, said hellbenders are cryptic, secretive creatures. Numbers might be rising faster than known.
“If there’s one there’s likely many more,” said Elden. “It’s exciting stuff, and my hope and thought is that this is the first of many that we will find.”
This means awesome things for the future of hellbenders! Go check out the full story here!
Monday, December 11 2023
A Nanorana laojunshanensis, or Laojunshan slow frog, seen from the top and underside. Photo from Tang, Liu and Yu (2023)
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article282426903.html#storylink=cpy
While studying the mountain range of Yunnan in China, biologists ran across 6 different frog species, and one of them turned out to be a brand new one!
Laojunshan slow frogs are considered “small,” reaching about 1.4 inches in size, researchers said. They have “robust” limbs, “oval” tongues and “rough” skin. Photos show the multicolored Laojunshan slow frog. The frog’s back is chestnut brown with dark brown-black splotches. Underneath, its belly is creamy white with “yolk-yellow” groin and armpits, the study said.
To read more visit here.
Saturday, December 9 2023
The Snapping turtle in the aquarium at the scene, photo by author
When I saw the message pop up from the director of the shelter, I figured she wanted to let me know I might have a few animals to prepare for. My local news was filled with the story of a large confiscation of dogs in my city. I was not expecting what came next.
"Cindy, are you available to help us tomorrow? We aren't done. Today was just the dogs and there are a lot of exotics and we need you to look at things. There are alligators."
I was still under some restrictions from my shoulder surgery and they knew I was limited in what I could do, but they needed my eyes and knowledge more than my arm. I said the only thing I could. "What time and where do you need me"
Continue reading "Rescuer Struggles as Animal Abuser Gets off with Slap on the Wrist"
Wednesday, December 6 2023
Sea turtle tracks coming up the beach and zig-zagging through the sand. Photo by CHNS.
A Green Sea Turtle nest found December 3 on Hatteras Island, NC is a record for the latest nest ever laid! The previous record was October 31! This year also marked the return of the Leatherbacks for the first time in 11 years!
The new nest also means that 2023 now boasts the second-highest number of turtle nests reported on Ocracoke, Hatteras, and Bodie Islands since data collection began.
The top three years for sea turtle nesting activity within CHNS have all occurred within the past five years, and are as follows:
2019 – 473 nests
2023 – 380 nests
2022 – 379 nests
Of these 380 nests in 2023, 324 were Loggerhead sea turtles, 52 were Green sea turtles, 3 were Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles, and one was a Leatherback sea turtle.
To read more about the track at Cape Hatteras National Seashore click here.
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