By Herp News

Beijing, Dec 18 (IANS) A new species of short-necked marine reptile called Hupehsuchia from the Triassic period has been discovered in China.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

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

Bush Viper, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Gregg_M_Madden” />

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

By Herp News

A new species of short-necked marine reptile from the Triassic period has been discovered in China.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

( PLOS ) A new species of short-necked marine reptile from the Triassic period has been discovered in China.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

A group of women is fighting to protect the habitat of Blanding’s turtles from development.

From keysnet.com:

“We started out with as six little old ladies,” laughs Cheryl Anderson. “Now we’ve got eight little old ladies.”

But, she adds quickly, they’ve managed to rally support from across the county — and the country — to chip in with donations toward the estimated $220,000 legal cost of the case.

They’re trying to protect the point — a former military exercise area that for decades has been left to the birds, bees, bats, butterflies and reptiles.

Read more here. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

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

Anaconda, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Hwal” />

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

By Herp News

Marking the first pilot order from network president Kevin Reilly

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

The Florida panhandle is one of our favorite places. Even in months like December when much of the rest of the country is feeling the icy grip of winter, the panhandle experiences much milder conditions and on warmer days we’re even able to see a few snakes and other reptiles.

So there we were, December 23, two days before Christmas hiking through palmetto and thick scrub when a glossy,red, black and yellow snake crawls into full view right in front of us.

North Florida has three tricolored snakes, the scarlet kingsnake (Lampropeltis elapsoides) , the northern scarlet snake (Cemophora coccinea cope) and the venomous eastern coral snake (Micrurus fulvius) . This particular snake was a coral snake.

The eastern coral snake is a primarily fossorial elapid that uses its powerful neurotoxic venom and small fangs to subdue its’ prey which consists chiefly of smaller snakes, skinks and glass lizards.

The warm,humid weather must have brought this eighteen inch long female to the surface to poke around for a meal.

By the end of the afternoon we had also uncovered (quite literally) the other two species of tricolors found in the region, both under artificial cover. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

The Florida panhandle is one of our favorite places. Even in months like December when much of the rest of the country is feeling the icy grip of winter, the panhandle experiences much milder conditions and on warmer days we’re even able to see a few snakes and other reptiles.

So there we were, December 23, two days before Christmas hiking through palmetto and thick scrub when a glossy,red, black and yellow snake crawls into full view right in front of us.

North Florida has three tricolored snakes, the scarlet kingsnake (Lampropeltis elapsoides) , the northern scarlet snake (Cemophora coccinea cope) and the venomous eastern coral snake (Micrurus fulvius) . This particular snake was a coral snake.

The eastern coral snake is a primarily fossorial elapid that uses its powerful neurotoxic venom and small fangs to subdue its’ prey which consists chiefly of smaller snakes, skinks and glass lizards.

The warm,humid weather must have brought this eighteen inch long female to the surface to poke around for a meal.

By the end of the afternoon we had also uncovered (quite literally) the other two species of tricolors found in the region, both under artificial cover. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

The Florida panhandle is one of our favorite places. Even in months like December when much of the rest of the country is feeling the icy grip of winter, the panhandle experiences much milder conditions and on warmer days we’re even able to see a few snakes and other reptiles.

So there we were, December 23, two days before Christmas hiking through palmetto and thick scrub when a glossy,red, black and yellow snake crawls into full view right in front of us.

North Florida has three tricolored snakes, the scarlet kingsnake (Lampropeltis elapsoides) , the northern scarlet snake (Cemophora coccinea cope) and the venomous eastern coral snake (Micrurus fulvius) . This particular snake was a coral snake.

The eastern coral snake is a primarily fossorial elapid that uses its powerful neurotoxic venom and small fangs to subdue its’ prey which consists chiefly of smaller snakes, skinks and glass lizards.

The warm,humid weather must have brought this eighteen inch long female to the surface to poke around for a meal.

By the end of the afternoon we had also uncovered (quite literally) the other two species of tricolors found in the region, both under artificial cover. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

By Herp News

At the start of December, a notorious hacker gang named “Lizard Squad” issued a threat: it would take down over Christmas the PlayStation and Xbox Live networks, the online services that some video games need in order run from a home console. Despite most hackers being “in it for the lulz” — a hacker term meaning “doing it for fun” — some did not take kindly to threats of disruption to their …

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Universal PicturesA hacker group known as Lizard Squad almost ruined Christmas for video game players. At the start of December, a notorious hacker gang named “Lizard Squad” issued a threat: it would take down over Christmas the PlayStation and Xbox Live networks, the online services that some video games need in order run from a home console.  Despite most hackers being “in it for the lulz” — a …

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Persistence is the key factor in the two most common human stressors on tropical wildlife. In Malaysian Borneo, hunting continually diminishes wildlife populations, whereas the negative impacts from selective logging are more transient, according to a recent study in Conservation Biology.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Turtle power has been on display up the Queensland coast as shelled reptiles young and old entered or re-entered the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

CHICAGO, Dec. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ – While most of America was snapping “selfies” this summer, car enthusiasts from coast-to-coast were all about the Turtle Wax #Reflectie – a photograph or self-portrait that's taken in the shine of a freshly waxed car.  Nearly 6,000 people submitted their Reflecties for a chance to win a 2015 Ford Mustang, but it was Michael McKinnon from Snohomish, Wash …

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

The population of Lower Keys crocodiles in Florida has rebounded enough for the animals to start to return to their native terrain.

From keysnet.com:

Reports of a Lower Keys crocodile, a species not long ago virtually unseen outside of North Key Largo, did not surprise Nancy Finley, manager of the Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges Complex.

“We have crocs documented in various places. The lowest location in the Lower Keys right now probably is in the Boca Chica area,” she said Friday. “But we have documented sightings from the Cudjoe and Saddlebuch areas, as well.”

State and federal wildlife experts estimate the American crocodile population has grown from a near-extinction level in the mid-1970s of around 300 adults (most then in North Key Largo) to more than 2,000 adults today.

Read more here. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Jim and I had been bouncing along a seldom used forest road, our destination still miles ahead. We were heading for a once flooded meadow from which, until the lengthy drought, carpenter frogs had been known to call. But our drive had been intercepted by loud toooonks coming from a woodland pond that we were passing.

Herpers, like birders, learn and respond to the sounds of nature, and there was no mistaking these sounds. The calls – toooonk, toooonk, toooonk, a pause and then another series of toooonks – were those of our largest native east coast hylid, the barking treefrog, Hyla gratiosa.

I should mention that at times barking treefrogs actually do produce a sound that could be likened to a grating bark. The barks are often produced when the frogs are high above ground and are celebrating a period of high humidity or, especially, are welcoming the approach of a summer storm.

But on a night like this – a glorious, breezeless, warm, late spring night, devoid of moonlight and replete with hordes of very thirsty mosquitoes – the toooonks indicated that the frogs were all in the breeding pond. We parked, listened, and determined there were several dozen barkers in the chorus. Although loudest, they were outnumbered by pine woods and green treefrogs, as well as by cricket frogs. Cameras were readied and we edged through the brambles towards the pond…

But what about the carpenter frogs?

We’ll be making another trip. Maybe we won’t be diverted the next time.

Continue reading “Barkers in the Puddles” …read more
Read more here: King Snake

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

Argentine Black & White Tegu, uploaded by kingsnake.com user RamblinRose” />

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

By Herp News

Tortoise Capital Advisors, L.L.C., the adviser of NDP, NTG, TPZ, TTP, and TYG announced today it will host a year-end conference call on Dec. 17, 2014 at 3:30 p.m. Central, to discuss current energy industry market conditions and Tortoise closed-end funds’ 2014 year-end results.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Tortoise Capital Advisors, L.L.C., the adviser of NDP, NTG, TPZ, TTP, and TYG announced today it will host a year-end conference call on Dec. 17, 2014 at 3:30 p.m. Central, to discuss current energy industry market conditions and Tortoise closed-end funds’ 2014 year-end results.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Danielle Haynes TOWNSVILLE, Australia, Dec. 15 (UPI) — A turtle notable for the fact that it breathes through its rear-end is now considered critically endangered by the Australian government.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

As if news for rhinos couldn’t get any worse: this weekend, Angalifu, died a the San Diego Zoo. Forty four-year-old Angalifu was a male northern white rhino and his death means only five of this subspecies remains on the planet. Angalifu’s death, which keepers suspect was simply from old age, follows soon after the death of another northern white rhino, Suni, in October.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

The turtle breathes out of its butt

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Fitch Ratings assigns 'AAA' ratings to the following senior unsecured notes issued by Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund :

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

The days of the white-throated snapping turtle (Elseya albagula) appear to be numbered, according to the Australian government, which has recently declared them critically endangered.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

The days of the white-throated snapping turtle (Elseya albagula) appear to be numbered, according to the Australian government, which has recently declared them critically endangered.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ –Turtle Beach, the leading audio brand in the video games industry, today announced that Superhuman Hearing and Mic Monitoring will be featured in two new officially …

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

A captive breeding program and removal of invasive goats has helped Española Galapagos tortoises improve their numbers from 15 to 1500.

From treehugger.com:

How was the Española population of giant tortoise saved? The Galapagos Islands National Park Service began a program of captive breeding and reintroduction in 1973. Using an enclosure on another island to help some of the remaining tortoise to focus on breeding, they were successful in reintroducing more than 1500 of the captivity-raised giant tortoise offspring on the island of Española.

For this effort to be successful, the non-native goats had to be culled, and eventually exterminated. Otherwise, the life-sustaining catci could never have recovered:

“[The goats] would feast on the roots… and chew away at the bark, and eventually that would topple these cacti. And then they had an incredible buffet of maybe 500-1000 years of cactus growth, demolished in a week or two,” explained Professor Gibbs, from the College of Environmental Science and Forestry at the State University of New York.

Read more here. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

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

Blue Serong Green Tree Python, uploaded by kingsnake.com user snakemanskynard” />

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

By Herp News

Living here in the desert, you've probably seen your fair share of reptiles, like snakes and lizards, roaming around. Some people are afraid of them, but the Repticon show in the valley this weekend shows us that reptiles aren't so scary and are actually pretty cool.Thousands of exotic animals will be at the Repticon traveling reptile show at the Arizona State Fairgrounds this weekend so that …

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Fossilized remains of the kryptodrakon progenitor (“hidden dragon”), which evolved into the largest flying creatures ever to inhabit earth, were discovered in northwest China, where Ang Lee's Oscar-winning film was shot. read more

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Fossilized remains of the kryptodrakon progenitor (“hidden dragon”), which evolved into the largest flying creatures ever to inhabit earth, were discovered in northwest China, where Ang Lee's Oscar-winning film was shot. read more

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Fossilized remains of the kryptodrakon progenitor (“hidden dragon”), which evolved into the largest flying creatures ever to inhabit earth, were discovered in northwest China, where the Oscar-winning film was shot. read more

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

When you’re a critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle, any news is usually bad news. But not today.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Hacking group the 'Lizard Squad' has claimed responsibility for an outage which took down the web login page for the PSN this morning, marring a weekend of celebration and PR for PlayStation on its 20th anniversary.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Down in Baja California there crawls a beast so bizarre, so cruel, so foul, that the mere mention of it sends locals scurrying. It’s an opportunist, said to attack humans at their most vulnerable moment: potty time. The post Absurd Creature of the Week: The Adorable Mexican Mole Lizard Has a Disgusting Reputation appeared first on WIRED .

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Short of buying back logging concessions, switching from conventional logging approaches to reduced impact logging techniques across existing forestry concessions may be the best way boost biodiversity in areas earmarked for timber extraction, argues paper.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

There’s nothing like really bad science and equally bad reality TV to make problems for reptile rescuers.

Discovery Channel, in their brilliant glory, ran a farce of a documentary last weekend where a man got into a snake proof suit, slathered himself in pigs blood and then pretended like he was going to be “Eaten Alive” to boost their ratings. Unfortunately, it’s created a big headache for reptile resue groups like mine.

My first call was to find out if anacondas are able to live in Wisconsin. The answer is no. Despite the fact that we have a lot of rivers and swamps, as the caller pointed out to me, the temperatures are far too cold for an anaconda to survive. I mean seriously, it is 22 degrees outside right now.

Three emails followed that asking about anacondas. All three inquired as to if anacondas could really eat people and if they do all the time. It was about this time my head started to hurt and that is when I logged onto Facebook and realized that “Eaten Alive” had aired the previous night.

Several emails followed, all asking a variety of questions about large species of snakes and their deadliness to humans. By the end of Monday night, I had a pre-typed email as a response and was several beers into my 12-pack.

A call this morning also induced severe head pain (no, it wasn’t a hangover!), but thankfully I was able to talk the person down and into keeping their pet. The caller had a ball python and wanted to surrender it because they ate meat. Not the snake, mind you, but the pet owner!

They were concerned because the “scientist” who appeared on the show used pig’s blood, and since they eat meat, their snake would become dangerous. Thankfully, I was able to explain the reality of snake ownership and also touch on cleanliness issues relating to owning any pet. Monty still has a home tonight and the owner no longer fears her pet.

While the show claimed it was aimed at educating about conservation, it merely introduced a new level of fear for those who live among reptiles. It is time that the media on all levels let go of the hype and stick to the facts.

Photo provided with permission by Mike Pingleton …read more
Read more here: King Snake

By Herp News

Down in Baja California there crawls a beast so bizarre, so cruel, so foul, that the mere mention of it sends locals scurrying. It’s an opportunist, said to attack humans at their most vulnerable moment: potty time. The post Absurd Creature of the Week: The Adorable Mexican Mole Lizard Has a Disgusting Reputation appeared first on WIRED .

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

Check out this video “Caution, Snakes!” submitted by kingsnake.com user smetlogik.
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
Read more here: King Snake