By Herp News

Legend has it that lonely sailors mistook them for beautiful, mythical mermaids. But as it turns out, the muse behind these beguiling sea nymphs was instead the dugong – a rather ungainly, gentle and mini-bus sized marine mammal, cousin to the manatees and part of the sea cow family. However, while they may have once fuelled stories for fairytales and Disney movies, their far-from-glamorous life is currently under serious threat in many parts of the world.

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By Herp News

Most of the species on Earth we never see. In fact, we have no idea what they look like, much less how spectacular they are. In general, people can identify relatively few of their backyard species, much less those of other continents. This disconnect likely leads to an inability in the general public to relate to biodiversity and, by extension, the loss of it. One of the most remarkable books I have read is a recent release that makes serious strides to repair that disconnect and affirm the human bond with biodiversity. Animal Earth: The Amazing Diversity of Living Creatures written by Ross Piper, a zoologist with the University of Wales, opens up the door to discovery.

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By Herp News

Parametric Sound Corporation , a leading innovator of audio technology and solutions, announced today the filing of the definitive proxy statement with the SEC for the special meeting of its stockholders …

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By Herp News

Scientists have developed a method to determine where animals obtain essential amino acids. They discovered that all life forms leave traces or ‘fingerprints’ in amino acids during biosynthesis. With these fingerprints, which are based on naturally occurring isotope variations, it is possible for the first time to distinguish between algal, bacterial, fungal and plant origins of amino acids through tissue samples. This discovery makes it possible to find out what animals have been feeding on without observing them directly or examining their stomach content.

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By Herp News

Biologists who have recently sequenced the genome of the king cobra, say that their work reveals dynamic evolution and adaptation in the snake venom system, which seemingly occurs in response to an evolutionary arms race between venomous snakes and their prey.

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Malaysian authorities are pointing fingers at each other after a documentary, The Return of the Lizard King, alleged that Anson Wong was still active in the illegal wildlife trading business after a high-profile arrest and conviction in 2010.

Wong was orginally sentenced to five years for trafficking wildlife including endangered species like snow leopards, pandas, and rare reptiles, but his sentence was reduced to 17 months.

From the Star:

(Election strategist Dr.) Ong (Kian Ming) claimed that there was an obvious question of corruption within Perhilitan (Department of Wildlife and National Parks) as public records show that Wong and his wife, Cheah Bing Shee still owned companies involving in importing and exporting wildlife.

He said there was a need to see if there was anyone who was helping them obtain the permits, despite the Government’s insistence that all of Wong and Cheah’s licenses had been revoked.

“This affects Malaysia’s reputation. Anson Wong could just be the tip of the iceberg. If Malaysia is identified as a possible transshipment hub for illegal wildlife activities, this will give us a bad reputation, ” he warned.

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Photo: The Star …read more
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By Herp News

Tortoise Energy Capital Corp. today announced that as of Nov. 30, 2013, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $1.1 billion and its unaudited net asset

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By Herp News

Tortoise Power and Energy Infrastructure Fund, Inc. today announced that as of Nov. 30, 2013, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $233.8 million and

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By Herp News

Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund, Inc. today announced that as of Nov. 30, 2013, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $392.8 million and its unaud

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By Herp News

Tortoise MLP Fund, Inc. today announced that as of Nov. 30, 2013, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $2.0 billion and its unaudited net asset value

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By Herp News

Tortoise North American Energy Corp. today announced that as of Nov. 30, 2013, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $267.5 million and its unaudited

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By Herp News

Tortoise Energy Independence Fund, Inc. today announced that as of Nov. 30, 2013, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $442.7 million and its unaudit

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By Herp News

Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp. today announced that as of Nov. 30, 2013, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $2.2 billion and its unaudited ne

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By Herp News

Delta is a 15-month-old loggerhead sea turtle that has found its home at the Tybee Island Marine Science Center for the past year.

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By Herp News

The Burmese python’s ability to ramp up its metabolism and enlarge its organs to swallow and digest prey whole can be traced to unusually rapid evolution and specialized adaptations of its genes and the way they work, an international team of biologists says.

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By Herp News

We've written about Cloud b's Twilight Turtle before. It's an adorable plush turtle toy whose shell softly glows, helping your child get to sleep at night. read more

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By Herp News

Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo and the Canadian Raptor Conservancy gave Thunder Bay residents a chance Sunday to get a close look at some exotic animals and learn about them at the same time.

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A former Animal Planet personality admitted he sold endangered lizards in a federal court last week.

From NBC Los Angeles:

Donald Schultz, 35, the former host of “Wild Recon” on Animal Planet, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to violating the Endangered Species Act by offering to sell, and actually selling, two live desert monitor lizards (Varanus griseus) in interstate commerce, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office.

Schultz admitted that on July 29, 2010, he sold the lizards to an undercover agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who was posing as a prospective buyer, and shipped the lizards from Los Angeles to Buffalo, New York.

Schultz told NBC4 that he kept the lizards as pets, but decided to sell them because he was moving.

“Someone contacted me and asked to buy them from me,” said Schultz. “In retrospect, it was a stupid thing to do. I had no idea it was against the law.”

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By Herp News

Devils Lake Wrestling hosted Turtle Mountain and Fargo Davies in a three-team meet on Friday night at the Sports Center, and in both match ups, the Firebirds came out on the losing end.

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By Herp News

Devils Lake Wrestling hosted Turtle Mountain and Fargo Davies in a three-team meet on Friday night at the Sports Center, and in both match ups, the Firebirds came out on the losing end.

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I had just gotten a yellow belly slider 2 weeks ago. He is VERY scared of me! But he loves basking so much that he just stares at me when he’s basking. I can’t even hand feed him! When I get close to my yellow belly slider he freaks out. My other turtles aren’t as scared, but they don’t trust me.. Any advice on shy turtles, trying to be friends with your turtles, etc. would help. Thanks! …read more
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By Herp News

Repticon, Florida-based traveling reptile expo, in town Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 7-8.

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By Herp News

This notice provides stockholders of Tortoise Power and Energy Infrastructure Fund, Inc. with information regarding the distribution paid on Nov. 29, 2013 and cumulativ

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Check out this video “White Leucistic Spanish Ribbed Newt,” submitted by kingsnake.com user rhacadank.
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

Engineers from Tallinn University created U-CAT to dive to inaccessible places in shipwrecks that are too dangerous or deep for humans.

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By Herp News

“U-CAT is specifically designed to meet the end-user requirements,” said Taavi Salumäe, a researcher from the Center for Biorobotics in Tallinn University of Technology who designed the U-CAT. The robot will be on display at the Robot Safari in the London Science Museum from November 28 to December 1.

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By Herp News

Schildi the tortoise is back up and running now. (Credit: Bird Consulting International) Schildi the tortoise was found in rough shape in Germany. He was abandoned and missing part of his front leg. What was left of the leg was in such bad condition, it had to be amputated at the shoulder. German veterinary clinic Bird Consulting International took care of Schildi, but had to figure out how to …

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By Herp News

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — It's going to be a tasty Thanksgiving meal of herring for one very lucky loggerhead sea turtle.        

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By Herp News

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The lizard that was hanging out under an elderly man's backyard shed for weeks is now back home.

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By Herp News

NEXT time you complain about the weekly dog food bill, think of Josh Ryan.

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By Herp News

As a family, cats are some of the most well-studied animals on Earth, but that doesn’t mean these adept carnivores don’t continue to surprise us. Scientists have announced today the stunning discovery of a new species of cat, long-confused with another. Looking at the molecular data of small cats in Brazil, researchers found that the tigrina—also known as the oncilla in Central America—is actually two separate species. The new species has been dubbed Leopardus guttulus and is found in the Atlantic Forest of southern Brazil, while the other Leopardus tigrinus is found in the cerrado and Caatinga ecosystems in northeastern Brazil.

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By Herp News

Only 28 percent of bonobo habitat remains suitable for the African great ape, according to the most comprehensive study of species’ range yet appearing in Biodiversity Conservation. The paper, involving over 30 scientists, analyzes the world’s bonobo population using nest counts, remote sensing imagery, and computer modeling. The researchers found that bonobo presence was mostly correlated with human absence.

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The skeleton of a drowned baby dinosaur was discovered in Canada.

From NBC News:

The toddler was just 3 years old and 5 feet (1.5 meters) long when it wandered into a river near Alberta, Canada, and drowned about 70 million years ago. The beast was so well-preserved that some of its skin left impressions in the nearby rock.

The fossil is the smallest intact skeleton ever found from a group of horned, plant-eating dinosaurs known as ceratopsids, a group that includes the iconic Triceratops.

Finding intact baby dinosaurs is incredibly rare.

“The big ones just preserve better: They don’t get eaten, they don’t get destroyed by animals,” said study co-author Philip Currie, a paleobiologist at the University of Alberta. “You always hope you’re going to find something small and that it will turn out to be a dinosaur.”

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Photo: Philip J. Currie, Robert Holmes, Michael Ryan Clive Coy, Eva B. Koppelhus/LiveScience …read more
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I got a new turtle but instead of a Mississippi map turtle, I got something else, but I have no idea of what type it is! But, I am just as happy to have any turtle! Please tell me everything about this type of turtle,( including the type), any info will be accepted. Thank you very much if you answered, I appreciate it! …read more
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By Herp News

The juvenile turtle was found washed ashore in Jacksonville Beach in April.

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By Herp News

Good news today about one of the world’s rarest mammals today: camera traps in China’s Wangqing Nature Reserve have captured the first proof of breeding Amur leopards in the country, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The photos show a mother Amur leopard with two cubs. A recent survey by WWF-Russia estimated the total wild population of Amur leopards at just 50 individuals, but that’s a population on the rise (from a possible nadir of 25) and expanding into long-unused territory.

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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.

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