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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By Herp News

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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By Herp News

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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By Herp News

A ‘new’ species of lizard has been described from the cloud forests of Peru’s Manu National Park, reports SERNANP, the Peruvian National Park Service.

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By Herp News

Amazing Deal Includes Free Airfare and Upgrades (PRWeb March 12, 2014) Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/03/prweb11664988.htm

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Robin Sandusky says she found what looks like a lizard head in her kale salad. Robin Sandusky A woman in New York reportedly found what looks like the head of a lizard in her kale salad.

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NEW YORK, March 12 (UPI) — A New York woman said she was shocked and “grossed out” to discover a lizard head in the kale salad she had delivered from a restaurant.

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A Manhattan theatrical agent got a slithery surprise in her kale salad when she found a severed lizard head among the leafy greens Tuesday afternoon. Robin Sandusky, 31, said she…

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By Herp News

Conservationists have succeeded in catching a wild Sumatran rhino in the Malaysia state of Sabah in Borneo, according to local media reports. Officials are currently transferring the rhino, an unnamed female, to a rhino sanctuary in Tabin National Park where experts will attempt to mate it with the resident male, Tam. The Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) is one of the world’s most imperiled species with less than 100 individuals left.

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If a first responder is on the scene of an accident or injury, and there’s a loose reptile present, or the injured person was bitten by one, will they know what to do? They will if they’ve been taught the basics by an expert.

That’s exactly the program being offered in one Canadian community.

From Simcoe.com:

Andre Ngo, director of research and curriculum at Reptilia, a Vaughan-based reptile zoo, gave an informative presentation to almost 25 police, firefighters and bylaw officers in Stayner Friday afternoon.

“It was an excellent training opportunity for us,” Clearview fire chief Colin Shewell said. “We got some real insight in terms of what to do when we encounter a reptile or are dealing with someone harmed by one.”

Huronia West OPP officers, Clearview firefighters, representatives from Clearview bylaw and firefighters from Springwater, Adjala-Tosorontio, Mulmur/Melancthon, Blue Mountains and Oro-Medonte attended the training session, held at the Joint Emergency Services Facility on Highway 26.

“My goal with you is to teach you how to secure a scene and stay safe,” Ngo said.

He started off by reviewing the major groups of reptiles and identified commonly encountered species. He also talked about safe handling practices.

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By Herp News

A Manhattan theatrical agent got a slithery surprise in her kale salad when she found a severed lizard head among the leafy greens Tuesday afternoon. Robin Sandusky, 31, said she…

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By Herp News

A Manhattan theatrical agent got a slithery surprise in her kale salad when she found a severed lizard head among the leafy greens Tuesday afternoon. Robin Sandusky, 31, said she…

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Really, really haven’t had much to write about. Frankie’s been mad at me and when a sulcata tortoise is mad there is not much fun to write about.

February was so cold. More freezing nights. Freezing nights mean Frankie stayed inside. Staying inside in a very small gecko room means Frankie didn’t get to walk around. Frankie got desperate to walk so he would repeatedly ram the door insisting on going outside. Outside was freezing cold. Frankie outside means Frankie walks as slow as cold.

A slow-as-cold sulcata tortoise is a pitiful sight. Frankie wants to walk but he can barely lift himself off the floor. He wants to move forward but his feet just aren’t getting much of a forward lift. The back feet drag across the floor like an agonizing slow soft shoe shuffle. When a back foot drags too slow a front foot moves forward too soon and Frankie’s walk looks a bit like a drunk-on-beer wobble.

Frankie pins the blame squarely on me: I moved him here under false pretenses. Winter is supposed to be warmer in Mobile but clearly it is not. Frankie’s new yard should be full of green grass but hard freezes killed everything. There are no squirrels. There is no Petco.

There was a sun ray of hope this last weekend. Temperatures were above 80

By Herp News

Although whales are the biggest animals on the planet, scientists have found in difficult to count them. But a new study in PLOS ONE may change this: researchers tested the idea of counting whales using high resolution satellite imagery. Employing a single image from the WorldView2 satellite, scientists went about counting a pod of southern right whales in the Golfo Nuevo off the coast of Argentina.

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By Herp News

Although whales are the biggest animals on the planet, scientists have found in difficult to count them. But a new study in PLOS ONE may change this: researchers tested the idea of counting whales using high resolution satellite imagery. Employing a single image from the WorldView2 satellite, scientists went about counting a pod of southern right whales in the Golfo Nuevo off the coast of Argentina.

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Timothy N. W. Jackson

Australia is world famous for its venomous critters, including its many highly venomous snakes.

The snake that holds the popular title of “world’s most venomous” is the inland taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus), an inhabitant of Australia’s arid interior. Astonishingly, a single bite from an inland taipan is capable of delivering enough venom to kill 250,000 lab mice.

The venom of the inland taipan has attracted considerable research interest and the toxins responsible for its extreme toxicity have been identified. Effective antivenom also exists for the treatment of bites.

What we don’t know, though, is why the inland taipan needs such toxic venom. We know almost nothing about the evolutionary selection pressures that have refined and enhanced the toxins present in the venom of this iconic species of snake.

Snakes vs humans

Historically, the focus of snake venom research worldwide has been anthropocentric – examining the impact the venom has for humans. Large species of venomous snake, those that are known to be potentially dangerous to humans, have received the lion’s share of attention.

Most attention has been given to the development of antivenom and to studying the building blocks of toxic proteins found in snake venoms. This has allowed us to learn more about human physiology and to search for compounds that may be useful in drug design, such as the toxin from the venom of a pit viper from which the blood pressure medication Captopril was developed.

These are important goals for venom research, but the result of this bias toward human interest is that we still know very little about the ways in which snakes use their venom in nature. We also do not know how diet influences its composition – the ecology of venom is an almost completely neglected area of research.

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By Herp News

Indonesia’s Islamic clerics drew praise from conservation groups last week after the top clerical body in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country issued a fatwa, or religious decree, against poaching and wildlife trafficking. The Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) announced the fatwa on Tuesday, declaring the illegal wildlife trade to be haram, or forbidden under Islamic law. The fatwa forbids Indonesia’s Muslims from “all activities resulting in wildlife extinction” and is meant in part to help support existing national laws protecting endangered species, which are poorly enforced and have done little to prevent poaching.

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South African conservationists on Monday announced that they have enlisted the help of a Belgian Shepherd dog to help track the country's most endangered land-based tortoise. Two-year-old Brin is the first dog to help with animal tracking and conservation in South Africa, said Justin Lawrence of the group CapeNature. After six months of training the dog started working full time late last year …

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By Herp News

Rare Birds of North America, written by renowned birders Steve N. G. Howell, Ian Lewington, and Will Russell, is a technical tour de force. Its technical expertise is exact and passionate. Reading Rare Birds of North America will simply make you a better birder and better naturalist.

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As Eastern kingsnake numbers in the southeastern U.S. drop, copperhead populations climb, according to a new study published in the journal Herpetologica.

From the Augusta Chronicle:

The non-venomous kingsnakes, which grow to more than 5-feet long, are so-named because they have a natural immunity to pit-viper venom, which allows them to prey on other snakes. They eat copperheads, a heavy-bodied venomous snake that can grow to a little more than 3-feet long.

From 377 traps deployed in an array of habitats, the authors recorded captures of 299 kingsnakes and 2,012 copperheads. Fort Stewart was one of the study sites in Georgia, along with the Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center at Ichauway in the southwest corner of the state. The data indicates that declines in the kingsnake populations coincide with increases in the copperhead populations. Why that happens is open to interpretation.

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By Herp News

BUTUAN CITY – A green sea turtle was found dead in the sea in the town of Magsaysay in Misamis Oriental Sunday afternoon.

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Animal rights group said primates were only fed with cabbage

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FMT LETTER: From Francis Lye, via e-mail Finally! The Lizard King, or his wife in this case, has been charged in court. Correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t the Minister ban the Lizard King and his wife from trading wildlife? Why is Perhilitan charging her for a smaller possession offence when she has committed a much bigger one? Does it surprise anyone that this is like a murderer being charged …

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By Herp News

Byline: The Lizard’s Tamar class all-weather lifeboat Rose and Falmouth’s Severn class all-weather lifeboat Richard Cox Scott, launched this morning just after 7am to go to the assistance of an 87 metre (257 feet) long cargo vessel Page Content: The Barbados registered vessel Sea Breeze was on passage from Liverpool to Shoreham with a cargo of lime stone when it called Falmouth Coastguard …

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By Herp News

They’re warm outfits for your cold-blooded pets.

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Check out “Chameleon,” a video submitted by kingsnake.com user variuss11.
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By Herp News

Though historical and anthropological texts had mentioned the taste for these scaly desert snacks, the find is the first archaeological evidence confirming the lizard's presence in the Arabian diet, study co-author Hervé Monchot, a zooarchaeologist at the Université-Paris Sorbonne, wrote in an email to Live Science. In general, animals like snakes and lizards whose blood doesn't gush when …

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By Herp News

They slither, they hiss, they… fly? Don’t let their wingless bodies fool you —- some snakes can glide as far as 100 feet through the air, jumping off tree branches and rotating their ribs to flatten their bodies and move from side to side. New research investigates the workings behind the flight and whether they can be applied to mechanical issues.

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Small satellite-tracking devices attached to sea turtles swimming off Florida’s coast have delivered first-of-its-kind data that could help unlock they mystery of what endangered turtles do during the ‘lost years.’

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Baby sea turtles, like kids everywhere, don’t always do what we expect them to do. University of Central Florida researcher Kate Mansfield and her team found a way to keep an eye on their movements — and what they discovered surprised them.

From LiveScience.com:

Marine biologists track seagoing creatures, including adult loggerheads, with satellite tags that transmit information such as location, depth and temperature. But hatchlings are too small to tag — affix a tag with heavy batteries to these turtles, and they’ll sink, Mansfield said.

Advances in tag technology have started to change all that. New tags are smaller and solar-powered (no heavy batteries needed), Mansfield said. They’re still too large to affix to a newborn loggerhead, but they fit on young turtles. Mansfield and her colleagues lab-reared 17 loggerhead turtles to the age of 3.5 to 9 months, waiting until the turtles had reached between 4 inches and 7 inches (11 to 18 cm) in length before tagging them and releasing them into the Atlantic Ocean.

The long-standing expectation was that baby turtles hatch off the East Coast of the United States, launch into the Gulf Stream that carries them north up the coast and then ride into the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre. This system of currents takes the turtles past the Azores off the coast of Western Europe and down the coast of Africa, before the animals pop back out on the East Coast again.

While the turtles do use the Gulf Stream and the Gyre, they don’t always complete this ring around the Atlantic, the researchers report today (March 4) in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. In fact, the turtles completed quite diverse journeys; they traveled clockwise, but on their own, individual paths. Some even dropped out of the Gyre into the still waters within that circular current, known as the Sargasso Sea. The Sea gets its name, in part, from the floating Sargassum that gathers there.

Read the full story here…

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By Herp News

LAKEWOOD — Snakes, tarantulas and a Nile Monitor lizard are missing after an overnight burglary of a Lakewood pet store.

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Last week, visitors in Kruger National Park came on a horrifying sight of the poaching trade: a rhino, still alive, with its horn and part of its face chopped off. The gruesome photo of the young rhino went viral and sent South African authorities scrambling. Five days after the sighting, South African National Parks (SANParks) has announced they found the rhino and put it out of its misery.

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A python was caught on camera devouring a crocodile after an epic battle on the shores of an Australian lake.

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Humans battle over the dinner check, but in Australia, a python and a crocodile battled over which one of them would be dinner. Ctizen journalist Tiffany Corlis was on the scene and caught it on her camera.

From BBC News:

“It was amazing,” she told the BBC. “We saw the snake fighting with the crocodile – it would roll the crocodile around to get a better grip, and coil its body around the crocodile’s legs to hold it tight.”

“The fight began in the water – the crocodile was trying to hold its head out of the water at one time, and the snake was constricting it.”

“After the crocodile had died, the snake uncoiled itself, came around to the front, and started to eat the crocodile, face-first,” she added.

Ms Corlis said it appeared to take the snake around 15 minutes to eat the crocodile.

The snake was “definitely very full,” when it finished, she said. “I don’t know where it went after that – we all left, thinking we didn’t want to stick around!”

Read the full story, and see the rest of her photos, here. …read more
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