By Herp News

It was 15 feet long, with a snout shaped like a dolphin's. This newly identified meat-eater swam the seas near the Isle of Skye in the time of dinosaurs.

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Scotland has its very own prehistoric marine reptile—and, no, we're not talking about Nessie, the mythic Loch Ness monster.

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By Will Dunham (Reuters) – Scotland has its very own prehistoric marine reptile – and, no, we're not talking about Nessie, the mythic Loch Ness monster. Scientists have announced the discovery of the fossil remains of a dolphin-like seagoing reptile on Scotland's Isle of Skye that lived about 170 million years ago and was about 14 feet (4.3 meters) long. The creature, named Dearcmhara shawcrossi …

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By Herp News

By Will Dunham (Reuters) – Scotland has its very own prehistoric marine reptile – and, no, we're not talking about Nessie, the mythic Loch Ness monster. Scientists have announced the discovery of the fossil remains of a dolphin-like seagoing reptile on Scotland's Isle of Skye that lived about 170 million years ago and was about 14 feet (4.3 meters) long. The creature, named Dearcmhara shawcrossi …

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By Herp News

Thor Benson ISLE OF SKYE, Scotland, Jan. 11 (UPI) — An amateur collector named Brian Shawcross has discovered fossils of Scotland's first known ichthyosaur.

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By Herp News

Thor Benson ISLE OF SKYE, Scotland, Jan. 11 (UPI) — An amateur collector named Brian Shawcross has discovered fossils of Scotland's first known ichthyosaur.

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By Herp News

John Hopton for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online A lizard's penis evolves six times faster than any of its other parts, according to a new study. Nobody is quite sure why, but it could involve a fairly predictable contest between males, or a more intriguing battle for domination between the lizard sexes. Researchers have long suspected that male genitalia in various species evolve faster than …

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By Herp News

A beach robot creates large-scale sand drawings autonomously, sent to it wirelessly via an app.

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By Herp News

It was 15 feet long, with a snout shaped like a dolphin's. This newly identified meat-eater swam the seas near the Isle of Skye in the time of dinosaurs.

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Legendary Texas herpetologist and naturalist James R. (Jim) Dixon passed away yesterday, January 10, 2015, leaving a legacy in Texas herpetology and herpetoculture that will be hard to match.

Dr. Dixon never met a snake he didn’t like. Professor Emeritus and Curator Emeritus of amphibians and reptiles at the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection at Texas A&M University, in his long, distinguished career Dr. Dixon described hundreds of new species of reptiles and amphibians worldwide, with a special emphasis on the herpetofauna of Texas, Mexico, Central America, and South America.

Born in 1928 in Houston, Dr. Dixon first obtained his bachelor of science from Howard Payne University in 1950 before serving in the Korean War. Working as Curator of Reptiles at the Ross Allen Reptile Institute before earning his masters degree (1957) and PhD in (1961) from Texas A&M University, he was an Associate Professor of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M from 1959 until 1961.

As an Associate Professor of Wildlife Management at New Mexico State University from 1961 until 1965, he served as a consultant to the New Mexico Game and Fisheries department until leaving for the University of Southern California, where from 1965 until 1967 he was Curator of Herpetology at the Los Angeles County Museum.

In 1971 he returned to his Texas roots, becoming a professor at Texas A&M University, where he taught Wildlife and Fisheries Science and became Curator of the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection. Dr. Dixon also served as president of several herpetological and naturalist societies including The Herpetologist League, Texas Herpetological Society, Texas Academy of Science, Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Southwestern Association of Naturalists. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Texas Systems of Natural Laboratories and the faculty of Stephen F. Austin State University.

Author and co-author of numerous books, book chapters, and hundreds of peer reviewed notes and articles, Dr. Dixon was one of the most prominent herpetologists of the latter 20th century, and over the years numerous species have been named in his honor by some of his thousands of students and admirers.
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By Herp News

The study is the first to directly measure the evolution rate of the penis of any species, though researchers have long suspected that the male genitalia evolve faster than other body parts, said study researcher Julia Klaczko, a biologist at the University of Campinas in Brazil. “What we see is, sometimes, very close species have very different hemipenes or genitalia,” Klaczko told Live Science …

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By Herp News

© Provided by Quartz Change that default password, pronto. Lizard Squad, the online group that claimed responsibility for the attacks on PlayStation’s and Xbox’s networks last month, is using thousands of hacked Internet routers to run a new attack service it’s selling to consumers.

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By Herp News

Experts are still stumped how the reptile found its way into the toilet

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By Herp News

Turtle Rock completes development on much-anticipated 4v1 shooter ahead of launch next month; intro cinematic released.

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It may sound like an urban legend, but one woman got the surprise of her life after finding a boa in her bathroom.

From the L.A. Times:

“I thought my eyes were deceiving me,” Lasca said. When she saw the flicker of the snake’s tongue, she knew it was a snake.

She screamed and ran from the bathroom, slamming the door and calling the county Department of Animal Services.

The snake, identified as a Colombian rainbow boa, was curled up behind the toilet when an animal services employee arrived at the office in a building at 5th and G in downtown San Diego, which was once city hall.

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It may sound like an urban legend, but one woman got the surprise of her life after finding a boa in her bathroom.

From the L.A. Times:

“I thought my eyes were deceiving me,” Lasca said. When she saw the flicker of the snake’s tongue, she knew it was a snake.

She screamed and ran from the bathroom, slamming the door and calling the county Department of Animal Services.

The snake, identified as a Colombian rainbow boa, was curled up behind the toilet when an animal services employee arrived at the office in a building at 5th and G in downtown San Diego, which was once city hall.

Read more here.

Related links:

Boa Forum
Boa Classifieds …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Check out this video “B & W Argentine Tegus Nap Time in Bed” submitted by kingsnake.com user reptilemomof3.
Submit your own reptile & amphibian videos at http://www.kingsnake.com/video/ and you could see them featured here or check out all the videos submitted by other users! …read more
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It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user amazonreptile!

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By Herp News

California congresswoman, Toni G. Atkins, introduced a bill yesterday (AB 96) that would close a major loophole allowing ivory to be sold all over the state. Thousands of miles away, across Africa, poachers are decimating elephants for their ivory tusks. A recent study estimated that one fifth of the continent’s elephants have been slaughtered in just three years.

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By Herp News

8chan founder says “there is no way to know” who really attacked imageboard site.

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Kevin Murphy
7025 Aetna ct
Wauwatosa, WI
53213 US
414-412-1034
Kmurphy2233@gmail.com

Fraud Alert: Kevin Murphy – Wauwatosa, WI
Fraudulent Use of Credit Card; Theft of Service

On January 8, 2015, kingsnake.com received a chargeback notice from our credit card processor that the classified account purchase made on September 27, 2014, by the individual listed above was made with a stolen or unauthorized credit card.

If you were defrauded by this or any other individual through our classified advertising system, please file a formal complaint with our classified advertising department. For more information please visit; http://market.kingsnake.com/complaint.php. …read more
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By Herp News

Venom from an eastern diamondback rattlesnake in the Everglades is distinct from the cocktail of toxins delivered by the same species in the Florida panhandle area, some 500 miles away. But no matter where you go in the Southeastern United States, the venom of the eastern coral snake is always the same. The results challenge common assumptions in venom evolution research, provide crucial information for rattlesnake conservation, and will help coral snake antivenom development.

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By Herp News

What big teeth you have, my dear! The better to eat insects with—and make one’s own ecological niche. Scientists have uncovered a new bat with stupendous canines in the rainforests of Lao PDR and Vietnam, aptly naming it Hypsugo dolichodon, or the long-toothed pipistrelle.

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Dan and I had been dipping for dwarf siren and then road hunting for several hours. At 4:00PM, we found ourselves on a sand road south of the “Big Lake” (Lake Okeechobee) and we were about ready to call it a day. Dan had to drive back to Miami and I to Gainesville. Fair distances, both.

We were on what we decided would be our last drive of the day along the long dirt road. The drive northward had been uneventful and we were almost to the end of our southward return.

Snake!

A fair-sized, heavy-bodied snake was crawling slowly onto the road. From a distance we had thought it to be a cottonmouth. No great prize, but when herping is slow any and all herps are a welcome sighting. As we neared and the snake crawled farther on to the road it became apparent that it wasn’t a cottonmouth – it was an eastern hog-nose.

This made what had been a rather blah day a really nice one. But it was about to get even better. As we photographed the female that was now almost across the road, an adult male crawled out of the edging grasses about 6 inches from where we first saw the female.

Bingo. Breeding time! And then from about 20 feet farther down road a second male was sighted. Dan and I spent considerable time taking photos and when we left we were both smiling.
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The Orianne Society knows that herpetological conservation is just as important as other wildlife efforts, and plans to step up for herps.

From Online Athens:

“We are trying to develop a university-based nonprofit that’s a global leader for reptilian and amphibian conservation and herpetology,” said Chris Jenkins, chief executive officer of The Orianne Society and an adjunct faculty member at The Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. “If you look at different types of mammals and birds you’ll find that the entities working to provide conservation and manage those populations is numerous, but there’s nowhere near as many working for reptiles and amphibians.”

The Orianne Society approaches conservation in three ways — research, conservation and boots-on-the-ground work such as purchasing land, managing and restoring habitats, conducting inventories of animals and reintroducing rare reptiles and amphibians into habitats where they have become extinct.

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The Orianne Society knows that herpetological conservation is just as important as other wildlife efforts, and plans to step up for herps.

From Online Athens:

“We are trying to develop a university-based nonprofit that’s a global leader for reptilian and amphibian conservation and herpetology,” said Chris Jenkins, chief executive officer of The Orianne Society and an adjunct faculty member at The Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. “If you look at different types of mammals and birds you’ll find that the entities working to provide conservation and manage those populations is numerous, but there’s nowhere near as many working for reptiles and amphibians.”

The Orianne Society approaches conservation in three ways — research, conservation and boots-on-the-ground work such as purchasing land, managing and restoring habitats, conducting inventories of animals and reintroducing rare reptiles and amphibians into habitats where they have become extinct.

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It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user mizzy!

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By Herp News

A Queensland reptile park owner is recovering in hospital after a crocodile bit off his thumb in front of horrified families during a daily feeding show.

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By Herp News

Africa’s rhinos are in a state of crisis. Poaching for their horn has resulted in the deaths of thousands of animals and pushed the continent’s two species—the white and black rhino—against the wall. Yet, despite the crisis, there are pockets of rhino territory where poaching remains rare and rhinos live comparatively unmolested. Indeed, one of the brightest spots for rhinos is in Namibia.

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By Herp News

Tortoise Capital Advisors today announced Brian Kessens and Connie Savage have been promoted to the role of managing director.

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This year will be a defining year for British reptile keepers.

This year the UK will see the publication of the list of species to be banned from private ownership under the EU Invasive Alien Species Regulations. This is a defining moment in history. Never before has the UK banned the private ownership of any animal. The number of species affected is initially likely to very small, but there will be the inevitably push from the “antis” have more and more species added.

The EU is also the source of a debate to implement a positive list of approved reptile species. Keepers in Belgium and the Netherlands are very much at the forefront of this insidious push by the antis to ban keeping of non-approved species. There’s nothing positive about a positive list.

2015 will also finally answer a argument that has been raging for more than 20 years – are UK reptile shows are legal or not. The question will finally be answered this year by the British High Court.

Despite these threats, our hobby continues to grow. 2014 saw more reptiles and amphibians kept in the UK than ever before. There was also an increase in the number of pet shops licensed to sell reptiles, and this growth is set to continue and 2015. Although business has been tough, we’re bucking the trend of many other sectors. Growth was strongest in the frozen food sector (rodents) with an increase of about 11 percent, and live foods by about 7 percent.

A belated happy New Year to everyone and I hope it is a prosperous time for everyone.

Photo: 1999 International Herp Society Fall Expo, Walsall, U.K. – courtesy Jeff Barringer
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Several lizards who survived illegal shipment to the U.S. have found a permanent new home with the Detroit Zoo.

From mlive.com:

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 200 of the lizards died within a few weeks of being seized due to the “inhumane methods used to ship the animals and the conditions they were held in prior to their arrival in the United States…”

The Detroit Zoological society said in a statement that the lizards are representations of a global wildlife trafficking crisis.

“Many individual animals die in situations like this, and the impacts on wild populations can be catastrophic,” Scott Carter, Detroit Zoological Society chief life sciences officer, said in a release. “We are happy to be able to provide great care and permanent sanctuary for these lizards, and to help bring attention to this important wildlife issue.”

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It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user charlescory!

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By Herp News

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ – Turtle Beach, the leading audio brand in the video games industry, today announced new gaming products and partnerships at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Turtle Beach will also be showcasing Turtle Beach Corporation's HyperSound virtual reality audio solutions at CES from January 6 to 9 in the South Hall, Booth 21030. Turtle Beach is the …

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Last spring, while hiking, birding and herping, we had the pleasure of observing an extremely large dusky pygmy rattlesnake basking just under the edge of a cement slab.

Now, this in and of itself isn’t exactly an unusual observation, because dusky pygmy rattlesnakes are extremely common in the area. What amazed us is that the animal had chosen a nice sunny spot where literally dozens of people were constantly walking right past, and yet the animal remained unbothered by all of the human activity and seemed to be completely unnoticed by everyone else but us.

The dusky pygmy rattlesnake, Sistrurus miliarius barbouri, known as the “ground rattler” by some Southerners, can be found in most habitat types in north Florida, from pine flat woods to hammocks to swamp margins and sandhills and even neighborhoods. It feeds on lizards, amphibians, small mice and even centipedes and other invertebrates.

These small rattlesnakes can be irascible when disturbed and will not hesitate to defend themselves if provoked. They also have a fairly potent venom, so caution is advised!

As we prepared to take a few photographs of our find, an elderly woman with a strong Irish accent decided to take a break from her birding and sat down near the slab about eight feet from the hidden rattlesnake. She asked us what we were taking pictures of. We hesitantly explained to her that we were taking pictures of a rattlesnake. Her reply was simply, “Oh how interesting, I’ll be sure not to disturb it.” …read more
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A new type of pit viper has been identified.

From the Epoch Times:

“It’s a surprising finding,” Dr. Vogel told mongabay.com, “as [the new species] is a large viper, very colorful and superficially different.” It inhabits forested areas between 1,500 and 2,000 meters (5,000 to 6,500 feet) in elevation. This is an important difference from T. sumatranus, which lives on lower, hilly areas rarely above 950 meters (3,000 feet).The difficulty in accessing these high mountain areas, as well as lack of economic interest in developing them, has preserved them from deforestation, according to a 2011 study in Global Change Biology.

“This is a highland species and in Sumatra there is little infrastructure in the higher mountain areas, so I feel it might be safe in the near future,” Vogel said. However, he cautioned its safety is far from secure, saying that its distribution should be more thoroughly studied to help further understanding of the species and its long-term prognosis. He added the region itself deserves more attention, with more endemics possibly awaiting scientific discovery. Vogel, who has discovered other reptile species, is a freelance herpetologist as well as a chemist whose research is self-funded and not tied to any particular institution. For their study, the researchers inspected 53 specimens of T. sumatranus and Trimeresurus hageni, with the primary objective of establishing the differences between them and amend the historical confusion of these two species.

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Letters (remember the days when correspondence was via written letters?) were zipping back and forth from Tampa to Karachi. Jerry mentioned having just collected a “nice” half grown whiskered viper (also known as the McMahon’s or leaf-nosed viper), Eristicophis mcmahoni from Balochistan.

Since he was going to ship me a couple of hundred leopard geckos in a week, he was wondering whether I might want the snake as well. My answer was “yes, you bet I want it.” About two weeks later, I was settling a whiskered viper into a sandy terrarium. And to say I was enamored with the beast would be a monumental understatement.

Whiskered vipers are not colorful but what they lack in that respect is more than made up for by their impressively defensive attitude. Until recently, when I decided to not keep “hots” any longer, whenever possible I had an Eristicophis or two in the collection. Although I have never succeeded in breeding this taxon, I have found them hardy and very responsive – the kind of snake that will meet you at the top of its terrarium to accept food from long forceps.

If startled this snake will inflate its body and exhale loudly and/or assume an “S” position and rub the scales together producing a very audible rasping sound.

Like many desert or savannah snakes, the whiskered viper is an ambush hunter that sinks all but its eyes and nostrils just below the surface of loose sand. From this position they are able to strike and envenomate their prey of unwary lizards or rodents .

Males, the smaller sex, are adult at less than a foot and a half. Females may near thirty inches in length but are usually only about two feet long.
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It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user mesozoic!

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By Herp News

The Seaside Aquarium has recovered another sea turtle after it washed ashore on the Long Beach Peninsula, the second recovery in the last two weeks.

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By Herp News

For the second time in a month, an endangered sea turtle washed up on a Northwest beach north of the normal range for the species.

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