By Herp News
Turtle conservationist Kevin Muhammed, left, of the Grande Riviere Nature Tour Guides Association (GRNTGA) with Nigel Darlow, CEO, Atlantic. Atlantic has partnered with the Turtle Village Trust since 2008, and is the sole sponsor of the National Sea Turtle Tagging and Monitoring Programme.
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The two-day camp held four times yearly is for American Indian children.
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Reptile Day at Panola Mountain Snake Park
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WHITEVILLE – The woman who once exhibited a definite soft spot for an alligator was at it again last week.
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KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia – An academic studying the economic behaviour of Sabah's northern communities stumbled upon 60 decomposing turtle carcasses on a remote island. Universiti Malaysia Sabah's Dr James Alin, an economist, said he was carrying out research at Pulau Tiga – an island under the proposed Tun Mustapha marine park in Northern Sabah when he smelt a stench. “The smell was so strong …
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By Herp News
Mangalore Mar 21: In a stomach-churning incident, a patient who was admitted to Wenlock Hospital found a dead lizard in the food provided by the hospital.
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On Friday's FOX19 Morning News, we'll get an inside view of the new turtle exhibit at Newport Aquarium. Kelly Rippin will be live there from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
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Check out our Herp Video of the Week, submitted by kingsnake.com user Minuet.
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By Herp News
One of the world’s biggest populations of greater bamboo lemurs (Prolemur simus)—sometimes known as the panda lemur—has doubled in just three years, giving conservationists new hope that the species can be kept from extinction. With the recent arrival of twenty babies, a community conservation project run by the Aspinall Foundation has boosted the local population to over 100 individuals in Andriantantely, one of Madagascar’s only surviving lowland rainforests. Greater bamboo lemurs are currently categorized as Critically Endangered, though they were once believed extinct until hidden populations were uncovered in the 1980s.
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By Herp News
Scientists have found the oldest definitive fossil evidence of modern, venomous snakes in Africa. The newly discovered fossils demonstrate that elapid snakes — such as cobras, kraits and sea snakes — were present in Africa as early as 25 million years ago. Elapids belong to a larger group of snakes known as colubroids, active foragers that use a variety of methods, including venom, to capture and kill prey.
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Way back in the 50s — the 1850s, that is — a scientist named discovered fossils of an Australian lizard he dubbed Megalania prisca. Measuring around 20 feet long, and suspected of living at the same time as early humans arrived on Australia, he was one big scary lizard.
Or not.
From the NatGeo blog of self-described “fossil killjoy” Brian Switek:
…Megalania ain’t what it used to be. For one thing, the lizard’s bones are so similar to those of other monitor species – belonging to the genus Varanus – that paleontologists have taken to calling it Varanus priscus. And while it seems likely that the big lizard was venomous, recent size estimates have shrunk this “dragon in the dust.”
Let’s have a look at the traditional baseline first. In 2004, working with the relationship between vertebrae size and body length, paleontologist Ralph Molnar proposed that mature Varanus priscus could have been between 23 and 26 feet long, depending on the anatomy of the tail. But other researchers think such sizes are major overestimates. In a 2002 study that critiqued “the myth of reptilian domination” in prehistoric Australia, anatomist Stephen Wroe reanalyzed old body size data and calculated that the lizard probably averaged about 11 feet in total length and, citing earlier estimates from Molnar, wouldn’t have grown much longer than 15 feet.
Size estimates in a 2012 paper by paleontologist Jack Conrad and colleagues came out in between the extremes. While describing a new, large Varanus species that once lived in Greece, the researchers also took a look back at Australia’s ever-contentious lizard. Without the tail, the Varanus priscus specimen in their study had an estimated body length of almost seven feet, meaning that this individuals total length was almost certainly longer than the 11 foot average Wroe suggested. Especially large specimens, Conrad and coauthors noted, could have had bodies almost 10 feet long with the tails trailing behind, although these animals still would have been smaller than the monstrous lizards paleontologists used to reconstruct.
Photo: Cas Liber/NatGeo
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By Herp News
Repticon Reptile and Exotic Animal Conventions happen all over the U.S., and the organization called Savannah home in the early 2000s. Now, Repticon is returning to Savannah for 2014, and event coordinator Skip Peel gives us the dirt behind the show.
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A new turtle exhibit is coming to the Newport Aquarium. The cameras were rolling on Wednesday afternoon as FOX19 got a sneak peak at the new exhibit.
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Most satellite tagging studies of leatherbacks have focused on adult females on their tropical nesting beaches, so little is known worldwide about males and subadults, the researcher point out. But now, tagging and satellite tracking in locations where leatherbacks forage has allowed the scientists to get a much richer picture of the leatherback’s behavior and dispersal patterns on the open ocean.
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By Herp News
The 5th Mai Khao Turtle Release is scheduled for April 13, 2014 on Phuket’s beautiful Mai Khao Beach.
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By Herp News
Despite their pacific name, praying mantises are ferocious top predators with powerful, grasping forelimbs; spiked legs; and mechanistic jaws. In fact, imagine a tiger that can rotate its head 180 degrees or a great white that blends into the waves and you’ll have a sense of why praying mantises have developed a reputation. Yet, many praying mantis species remain little known to scientists, according to a new paper in ZooKeys that identifies an astounding 19 new species from the tropical forests of Central and South America.
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Seven sea turtles, named Hook, Jack, Emerald, Chris, Augustus, Jared and Pe’e, suffering from blindness caused by fibropapilloma tumors around their eyes, can see again, thanks toa Florida veterinarian Dr. Lorraine Karpinski.
From the Miami Herald:
The turtles didn’t know it, but their lives were in the hands of the sandal-wearing vet who has worked for 42 years on animals’ eyes — including those of Lolita the killer whale and thoroughbred Seattle Slew before he won the Triple Crown.
Bette Zirkelbach, manager of the nonprofit Turtle Hospital in the Middle Keys’ island town of Marathon, had contacted Karpinski a few months earlier “in desperation” to find a new treatment to help Hook and Jack avoid euthanization. As in the case of many turtles with the same condition, their eye tumors grew back about six weeks after being removed, a process that kept repeating itself.
“We can’t release turtles back into the wild if they don’t have vision in at least one eye,” Zirkelbach said.
Karpinski came up with the idea of trying Fluorouracil, an anti-cancer medication used in humans. Karpinski already had found success using it on horses with skin cancer and on a Malayan tapir at Zoo Miami with eye tumors. Maybe, she thought, it would work on the endangered sea creatures.
“Dr. Karpinski got creative,” Zirkelbach said. “And honestly, the turtles had nothing to lose.”
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By Herp News
ATHENS—Do you want to learn to camp? Kayak? Fish? Cook gourmet campfire meals? Learn more about snakes and fish and birds? Outdoor Fools Day March 29 at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens will help you develop skills and increase your knowledge in all those areas by doing them yourself under the direction of a skilled expert. Outdoor Fools Day will run from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
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By Herp News
THERE was nothing slow and steady about Harry the hawksbill turtle’s return to the ocean.
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The Reptile House is under renovations at the Abilene Zoo.
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By Herp News
We have always been intrigued by the Amazon rainforest with its abundant species richness and untraversed expanses. Despite our extended study of its wildlife, new species such as the olinguito (Bassaricyon neblina), a bear-like carnivore hiding out in the Ecuadorian rainforest, are being identified as recently as last year. In fact, the advent of efficient DNA sequencing and genomic analysis has revolutionized how we think about species diversity. Today, scientists can examine known diversity in a different way, revealing multiple ‘cryptic’ species that have evaded discovery by being mistakenly classified as a single species based on external appearance alone.
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By Herp News
ROSEMONT, Ill., March 18, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Cartilage is the connective tissue found throughout the body. As a result of injury or disease, cartilage can become damaged or even wear away causing pain and discomfort. Unlike muscle, human cartilage does not have the ability to heal itself. As a result, millions of people suffer from pain and stiffness caused by damaged cartilage …
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A pair of Kihanga reed frogs has been discovered in Eastern Tanzania.
From the Western Morning News:
The Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust, which runs Paignton Zoo, Living Coasts in Torquay and Newquay Zoo in Cornwall, helped fund the fieldwork with rare amphibians in the mountains of Eastern Tanzania.
It has led to the discovery of two Kihanga reed frogs, a male and female, by Elena Tonelli, a PhD student at Manchester Metropolitan University whose work is part-funded by the trust.
The frogs are officially endangered and the two photographed by Ms Tonelli were recorded in the northern part of the Uzungwa Scarp Forest Reserve, some distance from their only previously known site – a small swamp in the centre of the reserve.
The student has since also found the species, which hadn’t been seen at all for a decade, at the original site.
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By Herp News
Coachella, CA — After 10 months of construction, the eagerly awaited Tortoise Rock Casino in Twentynine Palms, California will celebrate its grand opening with a private reception on March 31st, 2014 …
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By Herp News
COACHELLA, California — (PRESS RELEASE) — After 10 months of construction, the eagerly awaited Tortoise Rock Casino in Twentynine Palms, California will celebrate its grand opening with a private reception on March 31st, 2014 from 3pm to 5pm.
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Moas were a diverse group of flightless birds that ruled over New Zealand up to the arrival of humans, the biggest of these mega-birds stood around 3.5 meters (12 feet) with outstretched neck. While the whole moa family—comprised of nine species—vanished shortly after the arrival of people on New Zealand in the 13th Century, scientists have long debated why the big birds went extinct. Some theories contend that the birds were already in decline due to environmental changes or volcanic activity before humans first stepped on New Zealand’s beaches. But a study released today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) finds no evidence of said decline, instead pointing the finger squarely at us.
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Reproduction, for one critically endangered leatherback turtle, was a crowd-pleasing act Monday morning at Red Reef Park.
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By Herp News
Reproduction, for one critically endangered leatherback turtle, was a crowd-pleasing act Monday morning at Red Reef Park.
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Not yet 30, Paul Rosolie has already lived a life that most would only dare dream of—or have nightmares over, depending on one’s constitution. With the Western Amazon as his panorama, Rosolie has faced off jaguars, wrestled anacondas, explored a floating forest, mentored with indigenous people, been stricken by tropical disease, traveled with poachers, and hand-reared a baby anteater. It’s no wonder that at the ripe age of 26, Rosolie was already written a memoir: Mother of God.
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By Herp News
Not yet 30, Paul Rosolie has already lived a life that most would only dare dream of—or have nightmares over, depending on one’s constitution. With the Western Amazon as his panorama, Rosolie has faced off jaguars, wrestled anacondas, explored a floating forest, mentored with indigenous people, been stricken by tropical disease, traveled with poachers, and hand-reared a baby anteater. It’s no wonder that at the ripe age of 26, Rosolie was already written a memoir: Mother of God.
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By Herp News
A HIBERNATING tortoise feared to be missing since October was dug up by its owner’s dog.
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Tyrannosaurus rex didn’t just have tiny arms. He had a tiny cousin, too, say paleontologists Anthony Fiorillo and Ronald Tykoski of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas.
From CNN:
Researchers discovered the dinosaur’s remains in 2006 in the Prince Creek Formation on Alaska’s North Slope. At the same quarry, Fiorillo and Tykoski have previously uncovered other important finds, such as remnants of the horned dinosaur species Pachyrhinosaurs perotorum, whose discovery was announced in 2011.
“I find it absolutely thrilling that there is another new dinosaur found in the polar region,” Fiorillo said in a statement from the Perot Museum. “It tells us that the ecosystem of ancient Arctic was a very different place, and it challenges everything we know about dinosaurs.”
[…]
A Tyrannosaurus rex would have weighed between 7 and 8 tons, with a length of about 40 feet. By comparison, an adult Nanuqsaurus might have been only 25 feet long, with a weight of 1,000 pounds. The head was probably about 2 feet long, CNN affiliate WFAA reported.
“There were features in these specimens that were unique; you didn’t see them in other tyrannosaurs,” Tykoski told WFAA.
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By Herp News
The African stink ant creates large underground colonies that are home to anywhere from hundreds to thousands of ants, and occasionally a frog or two. The West African rubber frog hides in the humid nests to survive the long dry season of southern and central Africa. However, the ant colonies are armed with highly aggressive ant militias that fight off intruders with powerful, venomous jaws. So how do these frogs escape attack?
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By Herp News
Kate Mansfield, at her lab in the University of Central Florida, is holding a baby loggerhead turtle, smaller than her palm, painting manicure acrylic on its shell. When the base coat dries out, she glues on top a neoprene patch from an old wetsuit with hair extensions adhesive. Finally, she attaches a satellite tracker on top, the size of a two “party cheese” cubes, with flexible aquarium silicone, powered by a tiny solar battery. Now the little turtle is ready to be released back into the ocean.
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Animals ‘do the locomotion’ every day, whether it’s walking down the hall to get some coffee or darting up a tree to avoid a predator. And until now, scientists believed the inner workings of movement were pretty much the same. But in a first-of-its-kind study on wild green anole lizards, biologists have discovered that the link between muscle function and movement is a lot more complicated than anyone realized.
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Check out “Feeding Time,” a video submitted by kingsnake.com user variuss11.
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By Herp News
Robin Sandusky couldn't believe her eyes.
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Robin Sandusky was trying to incorporate more protein into her diet, but finding a surprise critter in her salad wasn’t exactly what she had in mind. Sandusky, who works in New York City’s theater industry, found the head and arm of a lizard in the…
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A former Turtle Creek police officer accused in 2011 of impersonating an officer to obtain blank prescriptions for pain killers has been charged with leading a prescription drug ring following an investigation by a state grand jury.
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A groundbreaking tinker frog breeding program in Australia seeks to save the species from extinction due to chytrid.
From News 7 Australia:
Two of the six species of tinker frog have already been wiped out, and researchers believe the lethal amphibian Chytrid fungus is to blame.
The one- to two-centimetre-long frog, which is native only to Queensland rainforests, gets its name from its unique call, according to Professor Jean-Marc Hero from Griffith University.
“The thing that really makes them stand out is their tinker, the sound they make is like the tinker of a glass jar with a metal pen or something,” he said.
Professor Hero says a new program on the Gold Coast has managed to breed the tinker frog for the first time.
“There are only six species – they are an ancient Gondwana group – and at least three of those are already gone,” he said.
“We are looking to recover and support the species that are remaining.”
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