What does the evolution of the tortoise shell have to do with breathing?

From Phys.org:

Lead author Dr Tyler Lyson of Wits University’s Evolutionary Studies Institute, the Smithsonian Institution and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science said: “Tortoises have a bizarre body plan and one of the more puzzling aspects to this body plan is the fact that tortoises have locked their ribs up into the iconic tortoise shell. No other animal does this and the likely reason is that ribs play such an important role in breathing in most animals including mammals, birds, crocodilians, and lizards.”

Instead tortoises have developed a unique abdominal muscular sling that wraps around their lungs and organs to help them breathe. When and how this mechanism evolved has been unknown.

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The rare reptile has been in the Bhitarkanika National Park for the past 39 years

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

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This ain’t your granddaddy’s South Georgia gopher. What we have here is a Sulcata African land tortoise, one of 11 that belong to Randy Gallager of North Carolina.

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Recent two-week field tests in Nebraska of the Hybrid Public Safety Microphone–or Turtle Mike–allowed law enforcement, medical, fire and rescue and public works personnel to test a merge of land mobile radio (LMR) and broadband systems to enable first responders to communicate with each other. Funded by S&T's First Responders Group (FRG) at the request of DHS's U.S. Customs and Border …

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Heppell spoke to nearly 200 scientists, government officials and environmentalists at the Second International Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle Symposium, convened to call attention to the sudden reversal of fortunes for the world's most endangered sea turtle. Andre Landry Jr., former director of the Sea Turtle & Fisheries Ecology Research Laboratory at Texas A&M University at Galveston, helped organize …

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For a long time, this rare white spotted bush frog lived a secretive life: the Critically Endangered Chalazodes bubble-nest frog (Raorchestes chalazodes) was last seen in 1874 and presumed to be extinct. That is until 2010 when a year-long expedition to try and locate ‘lost’ amphibians in India found the elusive frog in the wet evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, after more than 130 years.

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Technology is helping researchers better predict when sea turtles will hatch.

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New research explains why snakes have two penises instead of one.

From the Washington Post:

In snakes and lizards, the external genitals get a little funkier. These reptiles have paired external genitals, even though they only use one at a time during mating.

But all of these genitals spring out of the same embryonic structure, called the cloaca. This structure sends out signals to the cells around it in the embryo, telling them to turn into genitals.

Scientists have wondered why these structures — which are triggered to grow by the same genetic mechanisms during embryonic development, and have the same function in adulthood — develop so differently.

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While a life in the slow lane may be easier, will it be any longer? It will if you're a reptile. A new study finds that reduced reproductive rates and a plant-rich diet are responsible for the increased lifespan of reptiles.

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SEABROOK ISLAND – The gathering caught David Weintraub's eye at first, all those people circling around on something on the beach. Then he saw the tiny creatures wriggling toward the ocean.

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If you are what you eat, then just as true, you are what you buy. From organic, fair-trade, responsible palm oil, Wildlife Friendly, and most recently deforestation-free, consumers can cast their lot with a variety of eco-friendly labels and define who they are by what they buy. It gives someone in New York City the chance to contribute to forest protection in Indonesia by using their wallets to influence the sustainability of the supply chain that serves them with goods.

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Biologists long assumed that one-way air flow was a special adaptation in birds driven by the intense energy demands of flight. But now scientists have shown that bird-like breathing also developed in green iguanas – reptiles not known for high-capacity aerobic fitness. The finding bolsters the case that unidirectional bird-like flow evolved long before the first birds.

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Today, 22,413 species are threatened with extinction, according to the most recent update of the IUCN Red List. This is a rise of 310 species from the last update in the summer. The update includes the Pacific bluefin tuna, the Chinese pufferfish, and Chapman’s pygmy chameleon, among others.

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Julie Larsen Maher has what many wildlife photographers would consider a dream job: staff photographer for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), a non-profit that runs five zoos and aquariums in New York City as well as numerous site-based field programs in the U.S. and overseas. As staff photographer, Maher helps tell the stories behind WCS’s conservation work, which ranges from veterinary procedures with Bronx Zoo animals to working with local communities in remote parts of Zambia to protect wildlife.

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While a life in the slow lane may be easier, will it be any longer? It will if you’re a reptile. A new study finds that reduced reproductive rates and a plant-rich diet are responsible for the increased lifespan of reptiles.

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How would you like to come across a 57 pound venomous snake?

From Live Science:

Laophis crotaloides measured between 10 and 13 feet (3 and 4 meters) long and weighed a whopping 57 lbs. (26 kilograms). Today’s longest venomous snakes, king cobras (Ophiophagus hannah), can grow to be about 18 feet (5.5 m) long. But at typical weights between 15 and 20 lbs. (6.8 to 9 kg), king cobras are scrawny compared to Laophis.

What makes Laophis even stranger was that it achieved this bulk not in the tropics, where most large reptiles live today, but in seasonal grasslands where winters were cool.

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AN EXHIBITION of sculptures by a North Yorkshire artist will take place in Haxby this week.

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Turtle Beach's Elite 800 headphones are out not for £249 from Amazon. Key Features: DTS Headphone: x 7.1 surround sound Custom FTS Surround Sound presets Active noise cancellation Two noise-cancelling mics built in Magnetic charging cradle 15 hour battery PS4/PS3/mobile The Verdict: In the hyped-up future of ' Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare' , more tech is aways better tech. Whether you're …

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Turtle Beach's Elite 800 headphones are out not for £249 from Amazon. Key Features: DTS Headphone: x 7.1 surround sound Custom FTS Surround Sound presets Active noise cancellation Two noise-cancelling mics built in Magnetic charging cradle 15 hour battery PS4/PS3/mobile The Verdict: In the hyped-up future of ' Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare' , more tech is aways better tech. Whether you're …

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The adult human body is made up of about 37 trillion cells. Microbes, mainly bacteria, outnumber body cells by 10 to 1. Increasingly, scientists recognize that this huge community of microbes affects the health, development and evolution of all multicellular organisms, including humans. A fundamental gap in disease ecology and microbiome research has now been addressed by new research, with a study focus on a fungal pathogen of amphibians.

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Check out this video “Got an Itch?,” submitted by kingsnake.com user PH FasDog.
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SAN DIEGO, Nov. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Turtle Beach Corporation (NASDAQ: HEAR) today announced that the company will be presenting at the Southwest IDEAS Investor Conference on Wednesday, November 19, …

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A reader sent me the following question: “How does a lizard grow a new tail?” This was a very timely question as new research has shed light on this very phenomenon. A team of experts at Arizona State University led by Dr. Kenro Kusumi and colleagues have been studying limb regeneration in lizards.   The…

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Nearly a year ago, scientists announced an incredible discovery: a new tapir species from the western Amazon in Brazil and Colombia. The announcement was remarkable for a number of reasons: this was the biggest new land mammal discovered in more than 20 years and was only the fifth tapir known to the world. But within months other researchers expressed doubt over the veracity of the new species.

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Flying Lizard Motorsports will kick off the new year with a two-car entry for the first race of the TUDOR United Sportscar Championship series, the Rolex 24 at Daytona. In just under two months, the team will again find itself at Daytona International Speedway for the 3-day Roar Before the Rolex 24 test from January 9th to 11th, then return just 10 days later for TUDOR's flagship and … Keep …

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Artists and activists held a satirical wake to raise awareness of Pancho, a Florida croc killed resisting capture, and other wildlife killed by humans.

From the Miami Herald:

Cortada said his goal was to have a dynamic service to honor the fallen croc, but at the same time to bring ecological awareness to community members, and teach them how to coexist with nature.

Florida International University biology students said the death of a South Florida animal is not rare. They cited the manatee, the sawfish, the Key Largo mouse and the indigo snake.

“Why are we here lamenting Pancho when we have killed so many Panchos in the last 100 years?” Cortada said, adding that humans are at fault for the reptile’s death after invading his natural habitat. “I just wanted to cry real tears and have a real conversation about our reptilian friend. We love you, Pancho.”

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A disgruntled lizard is being used by Telstra to front a campaign to promote its new bundle packages, created by The Monkeys. The ads show the pet lizard getting peeved when family members turn the channel while it is watching a TV show featuring a fellow reptile. After it happens a third time the lizard takes control of the […] The post Telstra promotes its bundles with a lizard looking for …

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A new paper confirms what ecologists have long feared: hunting birds and mammals drastically raises the risk of extinction for tropical trees. Following the long-lifespan of a single canopy tree, Miliusa horsfieldii, researchers discovered that overhunting of animals could increase the chances of extinction for the species fourteen times over a century, from 0.5 percent to seven percent.

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Asia’s high demand for turtle meat is motivating the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to request greater protections for several types of exported turtles.

From Phys.org:

Faced with growing concerns about the hunting of freshwater turtles in the United States for Asian food markets, federal officials this week proposed adding four species to an international list of plants and animals designed to manage commercial trade in the reptiles.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday said that listing the common snapping turtle, Florida softshell turtle, smooth softshell turtle and spiny softshell turtle would allow it to better monitor exportation of these species, particularly to Asian nations, where turtle populations have been wiped out due to high demand for their meat.

Bringing the species under the protection of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora would require exporters to obtain a permit before shipping turtles overseas. That would help the federal agency determine the extent of legal and illegal exportation and decide whether additional conservation efforts were needed.

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Conservationists are successfully developing mobile apps that enable authorities to identify illegal wildlife products, making it more difficult for traffickers to smuggle animals and animal parts, reports a paper published in the journal Biological Conservation.

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Have you ever been offered the job of your dreams without knowing you were being interviewed? Have you ever communicated with a 5-year-old about the wonders of Salmonella? Have you ever been disappointed not to have larvae hatching from your skin? If you answered yes to all three questions, then you are either Emily Graslie herself or you should subscribe to her YouTube channel. Immediately.

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The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission faces tough questions about its barbaric rules for killing reptiles and amphibians.

From the Pocono Record:

You ask, “shouldn’t they be equipped with fishing poles and nets instead of intimidating weapons?” If you are after fish, then the answer is yes. However, if your desire is to legally kill a timber rattlesnake, northern copperhead, snapping turtle or any other unlucky native reptile and amphibian then, these uncharacteristic slaying instruments were recommended to me by Thomas Burrell, Waterways Conservation Office Manager of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

Immediately, several questions come to mind, like:

Are you serious? Can you kill reptiles and amphibians, especially with machetes and clubs in this day and age? Can someone be guilty of cruelty to animals? Isn’t the timber rattlesnake protected and is the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s goal to ensure that it stays off of its endangered species list?

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The closed-end funds managed by Tortoise Capital Advisors declared the following distributions today:

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SAN DIEGO, Nov. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ – Turtle Beach Corporation (NASDAQ: HEAR) today announced financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2014. Highlights & Developments Third quarter …

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On Friday, Jonathan Hiew from Singapore took a photo of several insects and uploaded them on the citizen scientist site, iNaturalist. Little did he know that one of the photos, of a butterfly, would prove a record breaker: it was the millionth observation recorded on iNaturalist.

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A loggerhead sea turtle rescued off New Jersey and cared for in South Carolina is heading to California.

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The first settlers of New Zealand killed off nine species of giant birds, known as moas, with a population no bigger than a few thousand people, according to new research published in Nature Communications. The biggest moas stood up to 3.6 meters (12 feet) tall, making these mega-birds the largest animals in the country and contenders for the biggest birds ever.

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DNA testing may hold the key to identifying the right antidote to use for snake bite victims.

From New Scientist:

Chappuis and his colleagues collected samples from the fang wounds of 749 people at three health centres in Nepal, amplified the DNA and sequenced it. They then looked for matches in a publicly available reference bank of DNA sequences.

They managed to identify the snake species responsible for 194 bites, 87 of which were from species whose venom is harmful to people – most commonly the spectacled cobra and the common krait.

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A year after a ride on a private plane to the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston, Jersey will hop on a Delta flight to sunny California on Nov. 19.

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