On a nighttime walk in 2009, scientist Katherine Krynak spotted a well-camouflaged, marble-size amphibian that was covered in spines. But when she brought it inside, suspecting it was a new species, Krynak found a rather smooth and slimy critter.

"I was so mad at myself! I thought I had brought back the wrong frog," said Krynak, who was surveying amphibian species in the Reserva Las Gralarias.

She hadn't. When she tucked a small piece of moss in the frog's container to make it more comfortable before releasing it back into the forest, the spines slowly reappeared.

"It was shocking. Vertebrates don't do that," she said. Inspired by its spiky physique, she dubbed it the "punk rocker" frog.

Their venom could be effective in fighting cancer, researchers have discovered, and the potency of Australian cane toad's venom is stronger than those in China.

This means that potentially millions of toads could be shipped to China, so they could have their venom extracted and turned into medicine, to be sold on the multi-billion dollar traditional medicine market.

Harendra Parekh, from the University of Queensland's pharmacy department where the research took place, said this discovery could lead to a 'potentially a very lucrative export market'.

The state Department of Natural Resources is inviting people who see turtles, frogs, toads, snakes, salamanders and lizards to report the sightings.

Project coordinator Lori Sargent says information is needed on all species, no matter how common or rare.

The Herp Atlas Project is intended to document the distribution of Michigan reptiles and amphibians, collectively known as herpetofauna or "herps."

Interview Highlights: Bradley Lawrence

... on the Dallas Zoo's stockpile of antivenom: "The reptile department goes back quite a while especially in the '80s. We were pretty groundbreaking in research and learning how to take of all these exotic reptiles from around the world. Dallas was definitely groundbreaking at the time and we've continued it since then."

The Smooth Newt is the species most commonly encountered in garden ponds and we can all do our bit to help them, as Dr Wilkinson explains.

"Everyone can help by having a small, or large garden pond populated by native aquatic plants and kept free of fish which will eat young newts," he said.

Amorous amphibians are a key part of UK springtime, so this year why not forgo the frogs and instead nurture a newt by digging a wildlife pond.

But treatments are costly and inaccessible for many people. Most antivenoms are made by injecting dilute venom into a mammal, such as a horse or rabbit. This results in an immune response, and the animal’s serum is then processed so that it can be injected into snakebite victims to scavenge toxic molecules in their blood. Such treatments typically cost $100-150 (£60-100) per dose, a prohibitive price for many people in developing countries.

But a team led by Claire Komives from San Jose State University has identified a protein from the blood of opossums – animals known for their ability to survive snake bites – that can be produced in large quantities by engineered bacteria, and shows promise as an antivenom.

In studies carried out on venom-exposed mice, those that were given just the venom died within 12 hours, while those that received the same amount of venom but were treated with the opossum peptide exhibited no ill effects. ‘Basically, the venom was completely neutralised,’ explains Komives, who was speaking at the 249th ACS National Meeting & Exposition in Denver, US. The peptide could protect the mice from the venoms of western diamondback rattlesnakes and Russell’s vipers.

In a new paper published in the journal Primates, author William C. McGrew, a former professor of evolutionary primatology at the University of Cambridge, reports a high rate of venomous snake encounters by his team of primatologists seeking to observe unhabituated wild chimpanzees in Mount Assirik, Senegal, West Africa.

McGrew's snake-encounter analysis in the paper Snakes as hazards: modelling risk by chasing chimpanzees is one test of what's known as the snake-detection theory of primate origins, a set of hypotheses that suggest we (along with other primates) owe certain features of our evolution to the risks posed by death and injury from snakes.

During the 609 days that make up the core period of the analysis, McGrew and his team encountered a snake in Assirik, on average, once every 4.3 days — totaling 132 snake encounters. During the entire study period of four years, 142 snakes of 14 different species were identified. Of these, 64 percent were venomous: 33 cobras, 27 vipers and 24 rear-fanged snakes.

Don Brinkman, a paleontologist at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, has been studying turtles for three decades and had assisted with previous investigations by Environment Canada.

But this case — which involved combing through a container with 945 turtle plastrons (bottom part of the shell), 2,454 turtle shells, and 52 bags of turtle fragments within 815 cartons, followed by a second container with 224 bags of fragments in 842 cartons — was the biggest Brinkman has ever worked on.

After three days in a Vancouver warehouse sifting through piece after piece, the lone scientist in a room full of officers, Brinkman helped bring the probe to a conclusion by identifying five endangered turtle species and three endangered tortoise species.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) asks people not to get too close, shine lights on, or take flash photos of nesting sea turtles.

Spring is the beginning of sea turtle nesting season in Florida. From now through the end of October, thousands of sea turtles will land on Atlantic and Gulf coast beaches to lay their eggs. With Florida hosting one of the largest loggerhead nesting aggregations in the world, this becomes an opportunity for residents and visitors to play an important role in conserving these long-lived reptiles. People can help by taking turtle-friendly precautions on the beach.

“Take care when you’re on a Florida beach at night and do not disturb the nesting sea turtles,” said Dr. Robbin Trindell, who leads the FWC’s sea turtle management program. “People can help save threatened and endangered sea turtles by giving them enough space and privacy to safely and successfully lay their eggs. It’s as simple as keeping your distance and avoiding shining lights or taking flash photos of the nesting sea turtles.”

Madagascar has the 12th highest rate of amphibian species richness in the world, with more than 400 species, 99% of which are indigenous to the region. But this biodiversity hotspot is already under severe pressure—a quarter of its species are under threat, according to the latest Global Amphibian Assessment. It’s rightly feared that the arrival of Bd, as reported in the journal Scientific Reports, could bring about mass amphibian decline—and even extinctions—as has been seen elsewhere.

Testing of the samples of the Bd fungus found in Madagascar reveals the strain is closely related to BdGPL, the hyper-virulent lineage behind all the known outbreaks of the chytrid fungus pathogen that have decimated amphibian populations. However, what’s interesting is that the rate of infection is extremely low and there’s no clinical signs of chytridiomycosis—the frogs have the fungus, but they haven’t developed the disease.

"There are specific offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act and Animal Welfare Act in relation to releasing a python and we would urge anyone with any information as to where the python came from to contact us.

"It is a possibility that the python may have outgrown its home and owners can contact Pip Reptile Rescue if they require any help or advice about caring for or rehousing reptiles.

"Similarly, we would urge anyone thinking about getting rid of their pets, particularly those which may pose a risk to the public, to contact an animal charity for advice so that they can be rehomed safely and responsibly."

The scientist returned to the same spot the next afternoon. By that time, the corpse was bloated and had begun to rot and smell.

But even the stench did not discourage another male black-and-white tegu from attempting to have sex with the dead body—this time for nearly an hour.

During this time, the new male embraced the dead female and bit her head, another courtship behavior. He rested on her body from time to time, taking breaks from the exhausting sexual activity, before finally flicking his tongue on the corpse and leaving, according to the study, published in January in the journal Herpetology Notes.

The garter snakes had to be rescued as construction crews were scheduled to begin work on a section of the Boundary Bay dike. The students - Ben, Maya, Nic, Jude, Noah, Myles, Jasmine, Kaelyn and Lauren, who are in kindergarten through Grade 5 - were shocked when they heard about the impending construction.

All frequently visit the area to search out the snakes.

"We've all been going to the snakes since we were babies," said Kaelyn.

During the spring and summer, the snakes are active in the area and the kids often visit the beach, for class and after school, to play with them.

"The snakes, to me, are sort of like family," said Maya.

FrogWatch USA, a citizen science program, is now recruiting trained volunteers to collect data about the calls of local frogs and toads at local wetlands sites now through August and submit the data online.

“Amphibians are important species to keep an eye on because they are very sensitive to changes in their environment,” said Andy Gould, aquarium outreach coordinator. “If we see them in our area, it means that our habitats are healthy and thriving. If we notice their absence, we may want to look further into potential causes.”

No scientific background is required to volunteer, and those who want to participate will receive a free, four-hour training session that includes hands-on demonstrations and other educational activities to help them get acquainted with the native amphibian species they might encounter in Southeastern North Carolina.

By examining research on global patterns of amphibian diversification over hundreds of millions of years, De Lisle and Rowe discovered that “sexually dimorphic” species – those in which males and females differ in size, for example – are at lower risk of extinction and better able to adapt to diverse environments.

Their work suggests the ability of males and females in sexually dimorphic amphibian species to independently evolve different traits – such as size – helps them survive extinction threats that kill off others, says De Lisle.

He says classic ecological theory would not have predicted that about amphibians, a class of vertebrates that includes frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and caecilians.

The conventional school of thought believes different-sized sexes of the same species take up more resources and are less able to adapt and diversify than species where ecologically relevant traits like size are basically the same between males and females.

Venom research is a large field, especially due to the pharmaceutical potential of the venom proteins. The idea here is that venom proteins are capable of affecting the body's cells. Excessive amounts can be harmful and even lethal in some circumstances, but if the right dose is used, the venom proteins can be used to treat certain diseases. Snake proteins that normally cause prey to bleed can be used in small doses to treat blood clots, for example.

In the same way, work is currently being done to develop spider venom proteins to provide pain relief. The Aarhus researchers focused on gila lizards, and these are currently being used in pharmaceutical contexts. Gila lizards produce exendin-4, a small venom protein used in the treatment of diabetes and obesity, which is a competitor to Victoza - produced by Novo Nordisk.

To study the impact of these depressions on the reproductive success of the frogs, scientists based at the University of Vienna installed a series of plastic bowls to collect rainwater at regular intervals in a patch of rainforest in French Guiana and monitored frog populations in their test and control plots.

It was found that the frog populations expanded rapidly in both the areas with the bowls and nearby plots, from 148 frogs the season before the bowls were installed to 246 frogs two years later, while no increase was seen in plots far away from the man-made peccary wallows.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to work with the largest living reptile and largest terrestrial predator on the planet,” Robert tells me in the singsong tone of his television-ready family. “An awesome animal that roamed the primeval landscape for millions and millions of years.”

Daisy’s sawtooth tail whips the prone boy to the left. “The jaw pressure of the crocodile is incredible—3,000 pounds per square inch!”

Daisy’s tail whips him to the right. “I so admire the crocodile’s ability to kill with just its teeth. It’s quite amazing!”

Robert’s 16-year-old sister, Bindi, looks on solicitously. An actor, singer, game show host and, last year, a People cover girl, she’s confirming Daisy’s gender by inserting a finger into its cloaca and feeling around for genitalia. “It’s a girl!” she says. Her smile conveys a disarming buoyancy. “Here’s an animal that many people think is just a stupid, evil, ugly monster which kills people. That’s so not true!”

Lead author Bruno Ferronato said more than 100 animals died because the fence restricted their natural movement patterns.

"Usually they will move to other ponds, usually during springtime, looking for ponds to feed," the University of Canberra researcher told 666 ABC Canberra.

"The fence is interrupting with the migratory habits of turtles. When they're trying to move between ponds they're hitting the fence and some of the animals are dying there."

In a recent issue of GENETICS, Darin Rokyta and colleagues reported the results of a large survey of venom diversity across two snake species sharing nearly identical ranges and similar habitats in the southeastern United States. As expected, the mix in one species—the eastern diamondback rattlesnake—varied considerably from place to place. But the eastern coral snakes told a completely different story. In contrast to its rattlesnake neighbors, no matter where a coral snake came from, its venom was always the same.

Rokyta says the team was shocked by this lack of variation. “This is the first time anyone has looked at venom variation at this scale, and everybody has assumed that the co-evolutionary arms race would cause local populations to diverge quickly.”

The results not only challenge this assumption, they provide crucial information for rattlesnake conservation and coral snake antivenom development.

Clark County and the Nevada Department of Wildlife spent about five years trying to get the rare frog to thrive at a pond along the Muddy River. But nearly 2,000 frogs later, the county scuttled an agreement Feb. 3 with state wildlife officials after multiple failed efforts. It’s likely now that no frogs live at the pond, county officials say.

In a way, frogs and other amphibians are a barometer of an area’s overall environmental health. Their moist skin doesn’t take kindly to environmental hazards in the air. Nor will frogs survive if water, the lifeblood of their natural environment, disappears.

The relict leopard frog’s plight isn’t unusual in the amphibian world. Amphibians throughout the U.S. and worldwide are in decline, according to a 2013 federal report.

But don’t count out this particular frog just yet. Officials aren’t giving up on the tiny 2-inch frog, believed to be extinct in the 1950s.

The county hasn’t put all of its frogs in one pond.

No, this is no camera trick: this frog is indeed riding this rhinoceros beetle, cowboy-style.

Indonesian wildlife photographer Hendy Mp captured the scene near his house in Sambas in Kalimatan Barat in Indonesia, UK's Daily Mail reported.

The Daily Mail report said the "rodeo"—in which the Reinwardt's Flying Frog jumped on top of the woodboring beetle and put its front leg in the air—lasted no more than five minutes.

A training workshop is being held today in Midhurst in collaboration with the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust. The free raining will be provided on a number of aspects of toad conservation.

Common toads are very particular about their breeding sites, often returning to ancestral breeding ponds each year from hibernation areas. They will follow the same migratory route, often moving as an entire colony, which will inevitably lead to having to cross roads.

The discovery in Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo Leon, was the result of a joint investigation by Profepa and the Attorney General's Office.

Officers found a freezer containing 40 dead animals, among them 17 python regius snakes, two sugar gliders (Petaurus breviceps), two eastern grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), two black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus), one squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus) and one cotton-top tamarind (Saguinus Oedipus).

They also found one parrot (Psittacidae), two common kestrels (Falco tinnunculus), three water monitor lizards (Varanus salvator), two swamp crocodiles (Crocodylus moreletti), four Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus), one corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus) and red-eyed tree frogs (Agalychnis callidryas).

Meanwhile, even as it is struggling to raise the money needed for undertaking its initiatives, the facility also has to rebuild a portion of it which would be affected by the ongoing road widening work.

“The front counter and the entrance office will go. So we are planning to revamp the frontage and three exhibits near the entrance first,” said Zahida.

The MCBT and Center for Herpetology was started in 1976 by Herpetologist and reptile conservationist Romulus Earl Whitaker, and was the first crocodile breeding centre in Asia, set up to save the dwindling crocodile population and preserve snakes.

"From our perspective the most important thing is now the state is going to have to be consulted on for any development that happens within the flat-tailed horned lizard habitat," she said.

There is dispute over whether the species is in fact declining, and how many live in the dunes. A biologist with the Bureau of Land Management, Larry LePre, told the Yuma Sun in December the dunes aren't prime habitat since they don't have many of the harvester ants which are the basis of the lizards' diet, and there's no reliable data to suggest they're going up or down in numbers, mostly because they're difficult to detect.

The BLM, which maintains the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area, is part of a joint Rangewide Management Strategy for the species covering almost 500 acres in California and Arizona. The center's petition contends this is inadequate since most of the land is open to off-road vehicle use.

Skinks, geckos, frogs, pygmy pythons, and a dead death adder - one of the most venomous snakes in the world - were found in the staggering haul.

A number of invertebrates and 33 dead reptiles, which appear to have been tagged for use as specimens, were also discovered amongst more than 157 reptiles and amphibians being transported out of Western Australia.

Four men were arrested and charged - two from Russia and two from the Czech Republic - at Perth International Airport on February 6 after an investigation by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and the WA Department of Parks and Wildlife.

The government-funded study took place at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park over the past four years.

"Alligators live in a pretty inhospitable environment, “ said Barney Bishop, one of the lead researchers. “Many of them live in stagnant water where there is lots of bacteria. And while they are predators, they also eat carrion, so they must have a robust immune system to fend off infection in these situations."

The researchers were able to isolate those infection-fighting peptides in the alligator blood. The hope is to use alligator blood as battlefield medicine. Soldiers wounded in battle are vulnerable to bacteria, such as MRSA. Alligators have a natural resistance.

Typically, female poison dart (dendrobatid) frogs lay eggs on land. Once the tadpoles hatch, male frogs, their fathers, then carry them to small nursery pools.

But these pools may be short-lived, and the frogs are too tiny to dig their own.

Enter the peccary, a species of wild pig common in Central and South America.

Peccaries like to fling turf, specifically by digging out wallows – their own individual mud spas.

As they do so, they can radically transform the rainforest floor, creating pools of water that are just the right size for prospective frog parents.

“Surveys confirmed the presence of a medium-sized breeding population of great crested newt within the pond on site, and individual long-eared and common pipistrelle bats roosting in the agricultural buildings as well as the presence of grass snake on site.

“This being the case; the proposed development will result in the loss of a great crested newt breeding pond, confirmed bat roosts, amphibian/reptile suitable habitat and mature trees.”

It states that before planning permission can be granted the newts and bats must be "looked after" and that the club must "demonstrate that the favourable conservation status of the species will be maintained within the whole of the site".