By Herp News

Often touted as low-impact, remote oil roads in the Amazon are, in fact, having a large impact on frogs living in flowers in the upper canopy, according to a new paper published in PLOS ONE. In Ecuador’s Yasuni National Park, massive bromeliads grow on tall tropical trees high in the canopy and may contain up to four liters of standing water. Lounging inside this micro-pools, researchers find a wide diversity of life, including various species of frogs. However, despite these frogs living as high as 50 meters above the forest floor, a new study finds that proximity to oil roads actually decreases the populations of high-living frogs.

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By Herp News

Parametric Sound Corporation , a leading innovator of audio products and solutions, today announced that Juergen Stark, CEO of Turtle Beach, will present at the 16th Annual Needham Growth Conference on …

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By Herp News

2K and Turtle Rock Studios, creators of the cooperative shooter classic Left 4 Dead, today officially announced Evolve™, an all-new multiplayer shooter experience. First revealed e

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It’s hard to know how we missed this froggy story from last fall, but we did.

From the Atlantic:

NASA’s Minotaur V rocket blasted off from its launchpad at a spaceport in Virginia, carrying the LADEE spacecraft on the first leg of its trip from Earth to the moon. The scene that resulted was beautiful. It was inspiring. It was epic.

It was also not without its casualties.

The picture above, snapped on Friday by one of the remote cameras NASA had set up for the big launch, captured a creature that found itself, alas, caught in the crossfire of humanity’s drive to explore: a frog. A possibly very large, and certainly very surprised, frog. The launch setting, NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, is located on an island that is essentially a six-mile-long salt marsh; this little guy, it seems, happened to be in the wrong place at the wrongest possible time.

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By Herp News

A tortoise beat a rabbit in a skiing competition held for pets and their owners in China, a report said on Tuesday. Cats and dogs faced off against a menagerie including a rooster and a yellow duck in a race to the finish line on snowy slopes in Henan province, the state-run China News Service said. Pictures showed a yellow duck taking to the slopes in a fetching red neck tie, attracting curious …

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By Herp News

A tortoise has beaten a rabbit in a skiing competition held for pets and their owners in northern China.

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By Herp News

Can a tortoise actually “run” away? Whatever the velocity, a 100 pound tortoise lumbered 30 miles before he was found and taken in by a foster family. It took the reptile six months to cover the distance. Earlier this month the animal was reunited with…

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By Herp News

The Dallas Safari Club has auctioned off a permit to shoot-and-kill a Critically Endangered black rhino in Namibia for $350,000. The club says the proceeds from the auction will aid rhino conservation, but the move has upset many wildlife organizations and attracted protestors outside the closed-door auction. In fact the issue has become so contentious that the FBI is currently investigating purported death threats against the Dallas Safari Club members over the issue. Currently, less than 5,000 black rhinos survive in the wild today, a drop of 90 percent since 1960 as the species has been decimated by poaching and habitat loss.

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By Herp News

By Investing Caffeine. Read more » » Check out Ron Baron Stock Picks » Download GuruFolio Report of Ron Baron (Updated on 01/12/2014)

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Texas is considering banning the gassing of rattlesnakes and other animals in the state, but the Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept. doesn’t think a ban will impact the barbaric “rattslesnake round-ups,” which torture and kill rattlesnakes, but rarely use gas.

From NPR:

Pouring gasoline or other noxious chemicals into the earth to force rattlesnakes and other animals from their underground homes has been a tactic of some hunters and snake wranglers for years. But it has a harmful effect on the environment and wildlife. Now, Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) is considering following in the path of 30 other states and banning the practice in most circumstances.

The technique, known as “gassing” is used to capture and/or kill many different types of animals, including prairie dogs. But its greatest defenders appear to be those involved in “rattlesnake roundups” that are a tradition in parts of the state.

[….]

As far as the prospect that banning the practice will end the “rattlesnake roundup” tradition in Texas, TPWD says that’s overblown.

“Many rattlesnake events currently discourage the collection of snakes by gassing,” says the Department.

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By Herp News

A 100-pound tortoise featured in the Maricopa Monitor's “pet of the week” section has been reunited with his original owners, a full year after the reptile wandered off into the desert.

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By Herp News

CASA GRANDE — A 100-pound tortoise featured in the Maricopa Monitor's “pet of the week” section has been reunited with his original owners, a full year after the reptile wandered off into the desert. Rewind to April 2013.

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By Herp News

Police in Indonesia’s Aceh province have arrested two wildlife trafficking suspects allegedly behind five tiger poaching rings operating in the forests of northern Sumatra. The arrests followed a months-long investigation and an undercover sting operation in which police seized thousands of dollars worth of illegal animal parts.

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By Herp News

A Wizard's Lizard, the action RPG from Lost Decade Games about a wizard's pet reptile seeking to save his master from the clutches of Death, will launch on January 22 on Desura and Gamersgate. If you've ever played Gauntlet or The Binding of Isaac, …

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By Herp News

Council approves first reading of land sale ordinance

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By Herp News

Licensed headsets due in 2014 as Turtle Beach pens deals with Sony, Microsoft, Respawn and EA. Expected to debut in Q3, the PS4 and Vita range will feature “tournament grade” headsets, along with traditional gaming and entertainment orientated devices on the way, too. “Turtle Beach is excited to work with Sony to create headsets for the PS4,” said Juergen Stark, Chief Executive Officer at Turtle …

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By Herp News

A Palm Beach County man, who previously served a federal prison sentence for poaching sea turtle eggs, is facing new charges that he stole 316 sea turtle eggs from nests in Juno Beach.        

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By Herp News

The cold-stunned green sea turtle brought near death to the South Carolina Aquarium on Wednesday is one plucky little reptile, it turns out.

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By Herp News

The cold-stunned green sea turtle brought near death to the South Carolina Aquarium on Wednesday is one plucky little reptile, it turns out.

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By Herp News

Biologists have found that island lizards are “tame” compared to their mainland relatives, confirming Charles Darwin’s observations of island tameness. Darwin had noted that island animals often acted tame, and presumed that they had evolved to be so after coming to inhabit islands that lacked most predators. The researchers found island lizards were more accessible the farther the islands were from the mainland.

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By Herp News

Rove beetles are among the most diverse animals on the planet, with around 56,000 species currently described. Amongst this multitude of species is a dazzling array of adaptations perhaps best illustrated by the genus Stenus. These beetles, with their bulbous eyes and slender bodies are often found near water running swiftly over the wet ground and clambering among the vegetation.

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Check out this video “Field Herping in Colorado” submitted by kingsnake.com user jfarah.
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
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Mobile Bound in the back of a Toyota Prius.


Dreaming of sun, a big yard, grass, carrots and Rosie.


Hello, Mobile! I have arrived!


What type of sorcery is this? This is not my yard!


Better take me on a walk.


Can you keep up with me?


Fence building that couldn’t happen sooner.


Is this my yard?


Yard taste really good.


All mine.


Giving out the Frankie Rules.


I think I’m gonna like it here.

Note: Frankie managed to take off into the neighborhood twice, alone, so I put blue painter’s tape on his shell that says “Please get me home” and my phone number. As soon as the fence is completed I will consider taking it off.

Dedicated to Brown Eyes who we left behind in Birmingham. We hope you found a good home.
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By Herp News

In a precedent-setting case, an Indonesian court has found a palm oil company guilty of violating environmental laws and ordered it to pay $30 million in fines and reparations for clearing an area of protected peat forest that is a stronghold for endangered orangutans in Indonesia’s Aceh Province. In a ruling handed down Wednesday, the Meulaboh district court concluded that PT Kallista Alam illegally cleared and burned forest within the the protected Tripa peat swamp in northwestern Sumatra.

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By Herp News

Hard wired into the survival mechanisms of all animals is the perception of pain. Different stimuli, such as heat or cold, foul odors, chemicals or a blunt blow can trigger pain receptors in the body that, in the blink of an eye, jolt the body into classic fight or flight responses. Researcher Shigeru Saito, et. al. have performed the first evolutionary analysis of pain response in chickens by isolating the genes for pain receptors called TRPA1.

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By Herp News

The world’s top carnivores are in big trouble: this is the take-away message from a new review paper published today in Science. Looking at 31 large-bodied carnivore species (i.e those over 15 kilograms or 33 pounds), the researchers found that 77 percent are in decline and more than half have seen their historical ranges decline by over 50 percent. In fact, the major study comes just days after new research found that the genetically-unique West African lion is down to just 250 breeding adults.

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By Herp News

The world’s top carnivores are in big trouble: this is the take-away message from a new review paper published today in Science. Looking at 31 large-bodied carnivore species (i.e those over 15 kilograms or 33 pounds), the researchers found that 77 percent are in decline and more than half have seen their historical ranges decline by over 50 percent. In fact, the major study comes just days after new research found that the genetically-unique West African lion is down to just 250 breeding adults.

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By Herp News

The world’s top carnivores are in big trouble: this is the take-away message from a new review paper published today in Science. Looking at 31 large-bodied carnivore species (i.e those over 15 kilograms or 33 pounds), the researchers found that 77 percent are in decline and more than half have seen their historical ranges decline by over 50 percent. In fact, the major study comes just days after new research found that the genetically-unique West African lion is down to just 250 breeding adults.

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By Herp News

Experts predict that 2014 will be a big year for reptiles. Reptiles, which include snakes, lizards, turtles, crocodiles, tuataras and amphisbaenians, are projected to become the most diverse vertebrate group in the world. As it stands now, there are approximately 10,000 bird species – the most of any vertebrates – but reptiles are forecast to reach and surpass that milestone in 2014.

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The LA Times has the scoop on a new study from Nature on the coloration of ancient reptiles:

Ancient leatherback turtles, ichthyosaurs and mosasaurs were a rather staid and formal black, maybe with some gray, according to a study published online Wednesday in the journal Nature.

The study offers the first direct chemical evidence of pigmentation in the three species, and illustrates an example of convergent evolution, when animals separately develop the same adaptive features.

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Artist’s rendering: Stefan Solberg/LA Times
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By Herp News

The Reptile Guy has already outgrown his year-old space in Abbotsford.

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By Herp News

The lions of West Africa, which may represent a distinct subspecies, are on the precipice of extinction. A sober new study in PLOS ONE reports that less than 250 mature lions survive in the region. Scientists have long known that West Africa’s lions were in trouble, but no one expected the situation to be as dire as it was. In fact, in 2012 scientists estimated the population at over 500. But looking at 21 parks, scientists were shocked to find lions persisted in just four with only one population containing more than 50 individuals.

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By Herp News

The lions of West Africa, which may represent a distinct subspecies, are on the precipice of extinction. A sober new study in PLOS ONE reports that less than 250 mature lions survive in the region. Scientists have long known that West Africa’s lions were in trouble, but no one expected the situation to be as dire as it was. In fact, in 2012 scientists estimated the population at over 500. But looking at 21 parks, scientists were shocked to find lions persisted in just four with only one population containing more than 50 individuals.

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By Herp News

King Krule roped in an impressive guest star for his latest music video: the late Sir Alfred Hitchcock. Young Archy Marshall has shared the official clip for “A Lizard State” — a taut, foul-mouthed number from the 19-year-old's debut studio album, the jazz-inclined

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By Herp News

King Krule roped in an impressive guest star for his latest music video: the late Sir Alfred Hitchcock. Young Archy Marshall has shared the official clip for “A Lizard State” — a taut, foul-mouthed number from the 19-year-old's debut studio album, the jazz-inclined

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By Herp News

The public is increasingly wary of the government recording them, but there's little thought about surveillance by private citizens. NYT reports.

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By Herp News

It goes without saying that the annual Computer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is quite the spectacle.

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The intrepid researchers at the University of Oklahoma tested the old adage about how if you put a frog in boiling water he’ll jump right out, but if you put him in cold water and slowly warm it, he’ll be lulled into a false sense of security until it’s too late. What did they find out?

From io9.com:

Dr. Victor Hutchison, at the University of Oklahoma, dispelled the myth when he studied frogs’ reaction to temperature changes in water. He followed the procedure outlined for a proper frog-boiling; put a frog in cold water, and gradually warmed the water up. (He stopped well before the boiling point.) The frogs most definitely did jump out when the water got too warm for them.

Read the rest here. (And no, no frogs were boiled to test the other part of the adage.)

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By Herp News

Tiny cameras are recording the actions of people, animals and police departments.

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By Herp News

Tiny cameras are recording the actions of people, animals and police departments.

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