By Herp News
Ananth Baliga Nov. 26 (UPI) — An autonomous underwater robot called U-CAT, which swims like a turtle and is designed to explore shipwrecks, will be unveiled at the London Science Museum.
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By Herp News
When a marine turtle is incidentally by-caught by a longliner, fishermen try to cut the line — without hauling it on board — and release the turtle into the sea. However, research published determines that about 40% of post-released turtles die some months later due to the impact of longline fishing.
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By Herp News
The number of threatened species on the IUCN Red List has grown by 352 since this summer, according to an update released today. Currently, 21,286 species are now listed as threatened with extinction out of the 71,576 that have been evaluated. The new update comes with both good and bad news for a number of high-profile imperiled species, but only covers about 4 percent of the world’s described species.
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Don’t let anyone tell you toxic parenting is all bad. The strawberry poison frog (Oophaga pumilio) uses to make their babies unpalatable to predators by feeding them unfertilized eggs laced with bitter alkaloids. This means of chemical defense is currently unique to the species.
That’s the word from a study headed up by researcher Ralph Saporito of Ohio’s John Carroll University. From National Geographic:
For their study, the researchers measured alkaloid content in strawberry poison frogs during different stages of development.
In one group, tadpoles were reared and fed by their mothers, and a second group was reared by the researchers and fed with eggs from another species of frog not known to harbor alkaloids.
As the tadpoles from both groups developed, the team analyzed their alkaloid contents. The results were clear-cut: Tadpoles reared by mom contained alkaloids in most stages, whereas tadpoles from the second group showed no sign of these chemicals, according to the study, published November 12 in the journal Ecology.
Read the full story here.
Photo: Robert Pickett/National Geographic …read more
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By Herp News
The leatherback sea turtle—the world’s largest turtle and the only member of the genus Dermochelys—received good news today. In an update of the IUCN Red List, the leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) has been moved from Critically Endangered to Vulnerable. However, conservationists warn that the species still remains hugely endangered—and in rapid decline—in many parts of its range.
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By Herp News
The lowland tropics were once though filled with widespread species, while moderate and higher elevations were thought to contain species with more restricted distributions. That idea is turning out to be partially incorrect. A new study describes four species once considered to be the collared treerunner, a lizard known to the scientific community as Plica plica.
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By Herp News
Turtle Beach offers a free Xbox One audio adapter upgrade for those that purchase select headsets between November 22, 2013 and January 30, 2014. The post Turtle Beach offers headset upgrade for Xbox One owners appeared first on Digital Trends .
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By Herp News
As temperatures increase worldwide due to anthropogenic climate change, scientists are scrambling to figure out if species will be able to survive rapidly warming ecosystems. A new study in Global Change Biology offers a little hope. Studying reptiles and amphibians in the Philippines, scientists say some of these species may be able to seek refuge in cooler microhabitats, such as tree holes or under the soil, in order to stay alive during intensifying heatwaves. But, the scientists’ stress, the shelter from microhabitats can only protect so far.
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By Herp News
There are many ways in which people practice conservation. The most well-known are working to save species in the field or setting up protected areas. But just as important—arguably more important for long-term conservation success—is conservation education, especially with children. Anyone who grew up watching David Attenborough documentaries, reading Gerald Durrell books, or simply exploring ecosystems on their own can tell you how important it is to encounter the wonders of wildlife at a young age. And for many of us most of our first encounters with wild animals are in illustrated books. Eric Losh’s new book, The Chorus of Kibale, not only provides an educational opportunity for children to become acquainted with the many animals in Kibale National park in Uganda—through wonderful pictures and sounds—but proceed also go directly to two conservation groups working in the region, U.N.I.T.E. for the environment and the Primate Education Network (PEN).
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By Herp News
During the Mesozoic Era, between 252m and 66m years ago, the seas were ruled by a vast and intriguing array of reptiles. The most common ones were crocodiles (adapted to swimming in oceans), plesiosaurs (Loch Ness monster wannabes) and ichthyosaurs (over-sized predatory tuna).
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A proposed port development on the Goat Islands in Jamaica threatens the re-introduction of the endangered Jamaican iguana to the two small cays located less than a mile off the coast of Jamaica.
The IUCN Iguana Specialist Group is reporting that the planned port, to be built by the China Harbour Engineering Company, will include extensive dredging and filling in the surrounding area to build a massive trans-shipment port. These small islands were a planned relocation sites for not only the Jamaican iguana, hutia, and Jamaican boa, they are also home to significant numbers of endemic plants, birds, and other species.
The planned port facilities will require development on the mainland as well, opening up the nearby Hellshire Hills, close to the core forest where the Jamaican iguana persists. With over 400 plant species in the Hellshire Hills and Goat Islands area, including 47 Jamaica endemics as well as 11 endemic birds, it is considered one of the largest and most pristine remaining examples of dry tropical forest in the Caribbean.
While the Jamaican government has launched a media campaign to promote the planned port, conservationists and herpetologists have not given up the fight to save the islands and have launched their own in response, starting with a petition at Change.org.
Conservationists are hoping to reach 5,000 signatures and deliver it to the Jamaican government as part of a larger media campaign in early January. To sign the petition, click here.
To read more about the fight against the Goat Islands port, please check out this article in the Jamaica Observer.
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After 30 years of captivity, two sea turtles named Touche and Daisy were released off the Desert Islands in Portugal. How’s that for a happy ending?
See the release in the video blow.
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By Herp News
The golfing fraternity and sorority have joined forces with Seaturtles911 to put back a little of that we have taken, in the case of hawksbills and green turtles. It’s about time that sport generally associated itself with clean water and pristine environment, without destroying any useful habitats for rare species.
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By Herp News
He might sound like something from the pages of a Spiderman comic but a Malaysian man nicknamed “The Lizard King” for his smuggling of endangered…
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By Herp News
A RARE leatherback turtle has been found washed up on Tallow Beach over the weekend, believed to be the first time in 17 years this breed of turtle has been seen on the East Coast.
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Ok this is my first blog here.
I have a Mississippi Map Turtle I’ve had him for about 2 months now (not sure if its a male or female, the lady in the pet store said it can be whatever I wanted it to be. But im pretty sure he’s a male) He’s accually very hyper. Im not sure how old he is but he’s still fairly small about the size of my plam. He is a very good turtle. I take him out of the tank almost every other day and he does enjoy it you can tell. He’ll swim back and forth in his tank untill I pay attention to him. He’s become very loyal I’d say. He recognizes my voice and his name. He was shy at first but as really opened up. I spend a great amount of time with/around him. I love him dearly. He’s become very comfortable with me, he’ll eat out of my hand, and doesn’t jump into the water when I go near him. But the last few days I think he might be becoming too comfortable with me, I was cheeking up on him before I had to leave for work, and I had my finger against the glass talking to him and he tried to bite at my finger threw the glass… he did it a few times. I really dont understand. I know everyones gunna be like oh he probally thinks you had food. But no thats not the case because he will sniff the food before it goes to bite it. Also I think he realizes my finger is there aswell because he seems to make sure he doesn’t bite my finger while he grabs for the food. Now could this be a sign of aggressive behavior? Or maybe play? Like I said hes very active for a turtle. …read more
Read more here: Turtle Times
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By Herp News
We’ve been closely following the audio features of the new console hardware, as both have their quirks . Sony is rapidly getting up to speed with the PlayStation 4 now that USB chat is active . Now Turtle Beach has announced how Xbox One gamers that own one of the company’s select products can do the same. The eligible models are the XP Seven, X42, XP400, and XP510. If you purchase one of these …
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By Herp News
Headphone manufacturer Turtle Beach announced today that it will ship free upgrade kits to customers who buy select current-generation gaming headsets, bringing purchased hardware up to speed with Xbox One compatibility. Starting today and ending on January 30, players who purchase Turtle Beach Ear Force XP SEVEN, X42, XP400, or XP510 headsets will receive an Xbox One audio adapter by mail …
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By Herp News
Deadly amphibian disease chytridiomycosis has caused the extinction of Darwin’s frogs, believe scientists.
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Check out this video “Yummy, salad,” submitted by kingsnake.com user manhattan.
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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By Herp News
The Daily Mail witnessed the animals triple-wrapped in plastic, where they slowly suffocate. Our reporter also saw soft-shelled turtles beheaded by staff.
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By Herp News
Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) (AFP) – A notorious Malaysian wildlife trafficker dubbed the “Lizard King” for his smuggling of endangered reptiles is back in business despite a 2010 conviction for illegally trafficking endangered species, according to an investigative report by Al Jazeera. Anson Wong was arrested in August 2010 at Kuala Lumpur's international airport while attempting to smuggle 95 …
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By Herp News
Fitch Ratings assigns an 'AAA' rating to the following notes issued by two closed-end funds managed by Tortoise Capital Advisors, LLC. Fitch also affirms the existing notes and man
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A new study from the University of Waterloo shows that snakes can optimize their vision by controlling the blood flow in their eyes when they perceive a threat.
Kevin van Doorn, PhD, and Professor Jacob Sivak, from the Faculty of Science, discovered that the coachwhip snake’s visual blood flow patterns change depending on what’s in its environment. The findings appear in the most recent issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology.
“Each species’ perception of the world is unique due to differences in sensory systems,” said van Doorn, from the School of Optometry & Vision Science.
Instead of eyelids, snakes have a clear scale called a spectacle. It works like a window, covering and protecting their eyes. Spectacles are the result of eyelids that fuse together and become transparent during embryonic development.
When van Doorn was examining a different part of the eye, the illumination from his instrument detected something unusual.
Surprisingly, these spectacles contained a network of blood vessels, much like a blind on a window. To see if this feature obscured the snake’s vision, van Doorn examined if the pattern of blood flow changed under different conditions.
When the snake was resting, the blood vessels in the spectacle constricted and dilated in a regular cycle. This rhythmic pattern repeated several times over the span of several minutes.
But when researchers presented the snake with stimuli it perceived as threatening, the fight-or-flight response changed the spectacle’s blood flow pattern. The blood vessel constricted, reducing blood flow for longer periods than at rest, up to several minutes. The absence of blood cells within the vasculature guarantees the best possible visual capacity in times of greatest need.
“This work shows that the blood flow pattern in the snake spectacle is not static but rather dynamic,” said van Doorn.
Next, the research team examined the blood flow pattern of the snake spectacle when the snake shed its skin. They found a third pattern. During this time, the vessels remained dilated and the blood flow stayed strong and continuous, unlike the cyclical pattern seen during resting.
Together, these experiments show the relationship between environmental stimuli and vision, as well as highlight the interesting and complex effect blood flow patterns have on visual clarity. Future research will investigate the mechanism underlying this relationship.
“This research is the perfect example of how a fortuitous discovery can redefine our understanding of the world around us,” said van Doorn.
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada supported this project.
Photo: Kevin van Doorn/ University of Waterloo …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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A new study from the University of Waterloo shows that snakes can optimize their vision by controlling the blood flow in their eyes when they perceive a threat.
Kevin van Doorn, PhD, and Professor Jacob Sivak, from the Faculty of Science, discovered that the coachwhip snake’s visual blood flow patterns change depending on what’s in its environment. The findings appear in the most recent issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology.
“Each species’ perception of the world is unique due to differences in sensory systems,” said van Doorn, from the School of Optometry & Vision Science.
Instead of eyelids, snakes have a clear scale called a spectacle. It works like a window, covering and protecting their eyes. Spectacles are the result of eyelids that fuse together and become transparent during embryonic development.
When van Doorn was examining a different part of the eye, the illumination from his instrument detected something unusual.
Surprisingly, these spectacles contained a network of blood vessels, much like a blind on a window. To see if this feature obscured the snake’s vision, van Doorn examined if the pattern of blood flow changed under different conditions.
When the snake was resting, the blood vessels in the spectacle constricted and dilated in a regular cycle. This rhythmic pattern repeated several times over the span of several minutes.
But when researchers presented the snake with stimuli it perceived as threatening, the fight-or-flight response changed the spectacle’s blood flow pattern. The blood vessel constricted, reducing blood flow for longer periods than at rest, up to several minutes. The absence of blood cells within the vasculature guarantees the best possible visual capacity in times of greatest need.
“This work shows that the blood flow pattern in the snake spectacle is not static but rather dynamic,” said van Doorn.
Next, the research team examined the blood flow pattern of the snake spectacle when the snake shed its skin. They found a third pattern. During this time, the vessels remained dilated and the blood flow stayed strong and continuous, unlike the cyclical pattern seen during resting.
Together, these experiments show the relationship between environmental stimuli and vision, as well as highlight the interesting and complex effect blood flow patterns have on visual clarity. Future research will investigate the mechanism underlying this relationship.
“This research is the perfect example of how a fortuitous discovery can redefine our understanding of the world around us,” said van Doorn.
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada supported this project.
Photo: Kevin van Doorn/ University of Waterloo …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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By Herp News
The idea for a reptile rescue came to Tonya Hinshaw when she picked up two geckos that were advertised on Craigslist. The critters were malnourished, and their little terrarium was dirty and littered with dead cockroaches.
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By Herp News
An unusual species of mouth-brooding frog was likely driven to extinction by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), making an unusual example of ‘extinction by infection’, argue scientists writing in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. Rhinoderma rufum has not been seen in the wild since 1980.
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By Herp News
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — His wildlife smuggling earned him the title “Lizard King” and led wildlife groups to dub him “public enemy number one”, but the name Anson Wong drew a blank with Natural…
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By Herp News
A 10-year study by the US Fish and Wildlife Service shows some good news for frogs and toads on national wildlife refuges. The rate of abnormalities such as shortened or missing legs was less than 2 percent overall — indicating that the malformations first reported in the mid-1990s were rarer than feared. But much higher rates were found in local “hotspots,” suggesting that where these problems occur they have local causes.
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By Herp News
India’s last dancing bear has retired. As the stars of their cruel little roadshows, sloth bears danced to the piercing sounds of the damru for hundreds of years. Orphaned by poachers and trained by the Qalandars, a nomadic Muslim community, these bears trudged through towns and villages to earn their masters a meager livelihood.
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Snake venom and other harmful substances can save lives as well as take them.
From LiveScience.com:
“Poisons can be bad for some things and good for others, including humans,” said Michael Novacek, senior vice president of the American Museum of Natural History, at an opening of a new poison-themed exhibition Tuesday (Nov. 12).
[…]
The strongest of poisons occur in evolutionary arms races, Siddall explained. For example, opossums can feed upon some venomous snakes thanks to a resistance to the snakes’ venom. In response, the snakes over generations have amped up the toxicity of their venom to keep these marsupial predators at bay. Meanwhile, the opossums continue to evolve resistance to the ever-stronger venom, he said.
Read the full story here.
Photo: kingsnake.com user cochran …read more
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By Herp News
Tortoise Energy Capital Corporation (TYY) Ex-Dividend Date Scheduled for November 20, 2013
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By Herp News
Tortoise MLP Fund, Inc. (NTG) Ex-Dividend Date Scheduled for November 20, 2013
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By Herp News
Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corporation (TYG) Ex-Dividend Date Scheduled for November 20, 2013
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Florida commercial fisher Eddie Toomer was awarded the Gladding Memorial Award by the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute for his lifetime commitment to protecting endangered sea turtles.
From KBTX.com:
Toomer is most renowned for his important contributions to the design of turtle excluder devices (TEDs) for shrimp trawlers. “TEDs maximize shrimp harvest while allowing endangered sea turtles to escape. Shrimpers’ use of TEDs has spared hundreds of thousands of endangered sea turtles around the world,” said Pamela Plotkin, director of Texas Sea Grant and author of the book, Biology and Conservation of Ridley Sea Turtles.
With his mom and dad and a dozen or so others, Toomer also is responsible for the 3 million-acre no trawling pink shrimp nursery area in the Gulf.
“I feel fortunate to be a part of the history of the TED,” said Toomer. “Finding a successful design was achieved by joining the practical experience and creativity of fishers, with the design ideas and studies of scientists.”
Read the full story here. …read more
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By Herp News
A North Carolina Man needed anti-venom for a dangerous snake bite over the weekend and officials there asked the Kentucky Reptile Zoo for help.
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By Herp News
Byline: The Lizard lifeboat has been launched to assist two yachts in difficulties off Lizard Point and has also been involved in a search over a three day period. Page Content: On Tuesday 12 November at 8:30am The Lizard lifeboat was launched to a lone sailor onboard Yacht Quintess 2 on passage from Brixham to Ireland that required assistance after the yachts sails were blown out and the …
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By Herp News
A recent study from the Biological Conservation journal brings shocking news: every year across the globe, an estimated 400,000 seabirds are killed by gillnets. Gillnets, a common term for any net used to entangle and catch fish, are used all over the world, and at any depth. These nets, whether used in subsistence or commercial fishing, trap anything that swims through them. When unintended marine wildlife, or “bycatch,” is caught in these nets, the results can be significant.
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By Herp News
A recent study from the Biological Conservation journal brings shocking news: every year across the globe, an estimated 400,000 seabirds are killed by gillnets. Gillnets, a common term for any net used to entangle and catch fish, are used all over the world, and at any depth. These nets, whether used in subsistence or commercial fishing, trap anything that swims through them. When unintended marine wildlife, or “bycatch,” is caught in these nets, the results can be significant.
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Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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By Herp News
Did you ever have one of those days that starts out good and just gets better as the day goes by?
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