By Herp News Fresh analysis of a reptile fossil is helping scientists solve an evolutionary puzzle — how snakes lost their limbs. The findings show snakes did not lose their limbs in order to live in the sea, as was previously suggested. Go to Source …read more Read more here: herpetofauna.com No products found. Amazon […]

Photo: Photo: Sun Sentinal The Palm Beach Zoo recently noticed Hannah, one of their Komodo Dragons (Varanus komodoensis), was showing pain symptoms. After a CT scan to better pinpoint the source of her discomfort, they brought in a new treatment, acupuncture, to comfort her without the possible side effects from medications. Although acupuncture is a […]

By Herp News Future of the Chinese white dolphins — also called pink dolphins — in Hong Kong waters could be severely imperiled. Proposed expansion of the Hong Kong airport and ongoing construction of a new bridge from Hong Kong to Macau could be a “nail in the coffin” for the dolphins, conservationists say. “We […]

Here’s to hoping this IJ Jag in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user StonedReptiles makes your monday a bit brighter!! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more Read more here: […]

Happy Rattlesnake Friday! For Black Friday, we just HAD To bring you this Black-tailed Rattlesnake for our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user bigdnutz ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read […]

By Herp News What doesn’t kill you could cure you. A growing interest in the therapeutic value of animal venom has led data scientists to create the first catalog of known animal toxins and their physiological effects on humans. Go to Source …read more Read more here: herpetofauna.com No products found. Amazon Auto Links

By Herp News Every two years, primate experts compile a report that highlights 25 primates that are in severe crisis. These are the most endangered monkeys, apes and lemurs in the world. On Tuesday, an international coalition of 63 primate conservation experts — including the Primate Specialist Group of IUCN’s Species Survival Commission (SSC), Bristol […]

We are thankful for sausages and skinks. Skinks are kinda like sausages, right? We are thankful for this Shingleback Skink in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user albinorosy ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could […]

The Delta map turtle is one of the “sawbacked” types. At the time I decided I wished to photograph the Delta map turtle in the wild, it was considered a named subspecies, Graptemys nigrinoda delticola, the darker and easternmore of the 2 forms of the. black-knobbed map turtle. Even back then, the subspecific differences, hence […]

By Herp News A smuggled and confiscated crocodile ashtray, now part of the “Buyer Beware Exhibit” at Boston’s Logan International Airport. Photo by Bill Butcher courtesy of USFWS [dropcap]L[/dropcap]ast March, a four-year manhunt finally paid off when U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) investigators teamed with Mexican officials to arrest a notorious American wildlife trafficker. […]

By Herp News Genes for important skin proteins arose in a common ancestor shared by humans and turtles 310 million years ago, a genome comparison has discovered. Go to Source …read more Read more here: herpetofauna.com No products found. Amazon Auto Links

A new snake crosses your table, although it exhibits traits of a known venomous snake, it is missing several key markers. What is it? Is it venomous? If so, just how venomous is it? The situation becomes less an exercise in academics when the unknown subject of your research bites you. That is the situation […]

Photo: Science Friday A new snake crosses your table, although it exhibits traits of a known venomous snake, it is missing several key markers. What is it? Is it venomous? If so, just how venomous is it? The situation becomes less an exercise in academics when the unknown subject of your research bites you. That […]

click to see larger image Fallout from two highly publicized cobra escapes in Florida is leading to changes in Florida venomous snake regulations in 2016. According to a memo released by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission (see above), the state is banning the use of melamine/particle board enclosures due to their tendency to be […]

This four pack of itty bitty ATBs are keeping their eyes on you in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user micahdenton ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more Read […]

By Herp News https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEgfGlsHZWw&feature=youtu.be In a rare moment, a camera trap videoed a rare Amur tigress, trailed by her three cubs. The camera belongs to a network of camera traps set up by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Russia’s Sikhote-Alin Biosphere Reserve to study Amur tigers. In the video, “the cats are using an overgrown forest road as […]

Gallery Photo by user dallashawks Currently the genomes of only 9 species of reptiles (among 10 000 species) are available to the scientific community. To change this a team at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Swit- zerland, has produced a large database including, among others, the newly-sequenced genome of the corn snake, Pantherophis guttatus, a […]

By Herp News Twenty-three days before a major earthquake in 2011 animals began disappearing from part of Yanachaga National Park in Peru. By 24 hours before the quake they had completely vacated the area. A recent study documenting the animals’ retreat with camera-trap data suggests that animals may have an uncanny ability to sense and […]

By Herp News A family of vicuñas at Apolobamba, Bolivia. Photo by Daniel Maydana [dropcap]C[/dropcap]orsino Huallata Ibarra was helping his parents round up their herd of llamas at their home in the Bolivian countryside when the sound of gunshots made him jump. Scanning the horizon, distant movement caught his eye. He could just make out […]

By Herp News Among the 5,000 existing species of mammals, more than 100 have their genome sequenced, whereas the genomes of only 9 species of reptiles (among 10,000 species) are available to the scientific community. This is the reason why a team of researchers has produced a large database including, among others, the newly-sequenced genome […]

Such a common find for most of us, but a welcome one come spring! What a great Painted Turtle field shot for our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user PATMAN ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you […]

By Herp News A crested serpent eagle was saved from being trafficked on Sunday by residents of Melung, a village on the slopes of the volcanic Mount Slamet in Indonesia’s Central Java province. Upon hearing a man identified as A arranging to sell the Spilornis cheela bido by phone, villagers intervened to try to talk […]

The entire head of some red-cheeked mud turtles is suffused with red. Whether you consider the red-cheek a full species (Kinosternon cruentatum) or a subspecies of the scorpion mud turtle (K. scorpioides cruentatum), there can be little argument that some examples are one of, if not the, prettiest of the genus. Long (and with good […]

By Herp News The climate zones boreal forests evolved in are moving north, and trees can’t keep up. Key species in North America’s boreal forests, like black spruce, are disappearing from areas where they once thrived. According to Dennis Murray, a professor of ecology at Trent University in Ontario, the impacts of this tree loss […]

By Herp News Brazilian Hyacinth Macaws. Photo by Alexander Yates licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. [dropcap]W[/dropcap]ildlife trafficking casts a toxic net of negative impacts across the entire landscape it exhausts. The nightmarish media imagery emerging from the poaching battlefield of Africa has set the horrific tone for public understanding of Earth’s […]

By Herp News Scientists are warning of the risks that seismic surveys may pose to sea turtles. Widely used in marine oil and gas exploration, seismic surveys use airguns to produce sound waves that penetrate the sea floor to map oil and gas reserves. Go to Source …read more Read more here: herpetofauna.com No products […]

Pygmy Freshwater Crocodile – Photo: Adam Britton Long time friend of kingsnake.com and famed crocodillian researcher Adam Britton is attempting to save the Pygmy Freshwater Crocodiles in Australia. Although they are considered the same species as the Freshwater Crocodiles (Crocodylus johnstoni), researchers are looking into genetic variations that may lead to their listing as a […]

Photo: Adam Britton Friend of kingsnake.com and famed croc researcher Adam Britton is attempting to save the Pygmy Freshwater Crocodiles in Australia. Although they are considered the same species as the Freshwater Crocodiles, there are genetic variations that may lead to a brand new species. The biggest threat to the group is sadly the invasive […]

By Herp News Six months ago, 80 arboreal camera traps and 40 more cameras on the ground were deployed by scientists in the Manu Biosphere Reserve in Peru, one of the world’s most biodiverse conservation areas. The researchers took the cameras down just a few weeks ago, and they provided Mongabay with a sneak peek […]

By Herp News Amphibians occupy almost every ecological niche, from the highest tropical trees to the most fetid pools of desert water. Brightly colored and cryptically camouflaged, they have evolved an astounding array of defenses – about half of all amphibians are poisonous. But despite their adaptability, these animals are in serious trouble, all over […]

By Herp News Photos captured by camera traps could seal the fate of an alleged tiger poacher in Thailand, WCS announced last Wednesday. Thailand police have confiscated tiger skin and body parts at a police checkpoint in Mae Sot District in Western Thailand. Since poaching of tigers in Thailand is illegal, proving the geographic origin […]

A shout out to the little guys! Loving this Vinales Anole in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user macraei ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more Read more here: […]

By Herp News A wildlife trafficker who was caught trying to sell three baby orangutans on Facebook was sentenced to two years imprisonment and fined 50 million rupiah ($3,653) in Indonesia’s Aceh province last week. The man, a 29-year-old university student named Rahmadani, was arrested in a sting on August 1. Besides the Sumatran orangutans […]

By Herp News Visitors to the tropics remember the bright colors. Take the blue-and-yellow macaw with its egg-yolk breast and turquoise back – “the usual gaudy colouring of the intertropical productions,” as Charles Darwin put it. But recent research in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography contests the idea that wildlife and flowers in the […]

By Herp News A recent report, published by the Biological Society of Washington, details the discovery of a new rat species, Batomys uragon, on the mountainous island of Luzon in the Philippines.A member of the research team, Lawrence Heaney of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, responded to Mongabay’s request for an interview […]

By Herp News Is the Wild West using the most up-to-date technology for managing wildlife and researching conservation issues? Kyran Kunkel, Lead Scientist at American Prairie Reserve and Affiliate Professor in the Wildlife Biology Program at the University of Montana, wants to ensure that it is. He spoke with WildTech about technologies he relies on […]

Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Here’s lookin’ at you kid! Gotta love a field find like this rattlesnake in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user sluggo781 . Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! […]

photo by Grant Adams Grant Adams will always have a little something extra to remember his time in the Peace Corp. Adams, a recent graduate in biology from Denison University was just hoping to find some scientific task to keep his resume up to date. He sent an e-mail to a mailing list for ecologists, […]

By Herp News Invasive species are great hitchhikers. They float in the ballast of ships, lurk in luggage, stick to unwashed sports gear, and cling to the soles of hiking boots. Scientists focus on stopping them from spreading because, once a new species gets rooted, it is expensive to manage and nearly impossible to remove. […]

By Herp News Juan Santamaría International Airport. Photo by Freestylerob [dropcap]E[/dropcap]ach year millions of travelers stream through the gates of Costa Rica’s Juan Santamaría airport in route to one of the country’s many natural wonders. But often when tourists leave, a piece of the country’s biodiversity goes with them. Turtle shell bracelets, reptile-skin wallets, bird […]