By Herp News

A viral YouTube video showing a tortoise pushing another back on its feet may be a case of aggressive courtship, expert says.

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By Herp News

By comparing camera trapping findings with genetic samples taken from feces, biologists have determined that the density of ocelots on Barro Colorado Island in Panama is the highest yet recorded. There are over three ocelots per every two square kilometers (0.77 square miles) on the island.

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By Herp News

Can you sing The Twelve Days of Christmas without two turtle doves? Well, that just might be the future of the holiday classic. Populations of the iconic birds have plummeted in the past few decades, falling 77 percent in Europe since 1980 and 96 percent in the United Kingdom since 1970.

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By Herp News

A strange marine reptile from the age of dinosaurs that was recently unearthed in China may shed light on how life recovered after the greatest mass extinction in Earth's history, researchers say. The creatures were odd-looking predators that grew to about 6 feet (2 meters) in size, and have so far only been found in the province of Hubei in central China. “Hupehsuchia is a group of bizarre …

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The peeps were deafening. We were standing on the edge of a rain-filled drainage ditch that paralleled a busy North Central Florida highway.

The rain, a deluge a few minutes earlier continued to fall in a fine but steady sprinkle. Rather than frightening and silencing the singers, the sounds of the streaming traffic, rubber on the wet roadway, seemed to stimulate the peeping chorus.

Jake and I, headlamps aglow, moved stealthily to the water’s edge. There were so many chorusers that we found it was almost impossible to home in on one set of peeps and follow it to the source. In fact, we soon found that it was much easier and more productive to simply scan the emergent grasses.

By doing that one after the other, we found the callers – each a tiny, one inch long toad sitting with forequarters propped above water by forefeet firmly planted on a blade or two of grass. Periodically a chorusing male would balloon a proportionately immense sausage-shaped vocal sac and voice a series of loud chick-like peeps. Between peeps, the vocal sacs would deflate a bit then re-balloon as another peep was produced.

Because of lingering drought conditions, it had been years since we had happened upon a population of oak toads, Bufo quercicus, this large. This tiny toad is North America’s smallest toad species and the only one that has an easy to identify shrill peeping voice.

The question now was, could we get photos without the still-falling rain shorting the cameras out? Before electronics, never had these potential problems ruled the world!
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A newly identified poison dart frog is already threatened.

From mongabay.com:

“Many scientists are surprised about this discovery. People thought that it was difficult to find a new species of poison frog in this region of the country,” stated Abel Batista. “In Panama almost all areas are well investigated, and finding a such bright colored frog, gives us the impression that in Panama still a lot of research is needed, principally to investigate those remote areas, that nobody is going to do research.”

“Much of the western slope of the Panamanian Caribbean has been poorly studied and is difficult to access,” Jaramillo further explained, “also, these frogs are very small, making them difficult to observe.”

The scientists celebrated the new species by naming it, Andinobates geminisae, after Marco Ponce’s wife, Geminis Vargas, due to her unwavering support of his studies in Panamanian herpetology. However, celebration surrounding the discovery of this new species was short-lived as attention immediately shifted toward determining a special conservation plan to ensure the species’ survival.

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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.

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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” />

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By Herp News

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

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By Herp News

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

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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.

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

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

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By Herp News

Marking the first pilot order from network president Kevin Reilly

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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 …

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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 …

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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.

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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.

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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 …

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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.

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

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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By Herp News

The turtle breathes out of its butt

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By Herp News

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

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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.

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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.

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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 …

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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.

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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” />

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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 …

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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

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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

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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

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By Herp News

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

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