By Herp News
A lizard the size of a German shepherd once roamed Myanmar, a new fossil analysis reveals.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Featured video: Rare Syrian Brown Bear caught on camera
By Herp News
New camera-trap footage from the Caucasus Wildlife Refuge in Armenia,
has captured rare footage of a Syrian Brown Bear (Ursus arctos syriacus),
a subspecies of Brown Bear native to Eurasia. This is an important
recording as there may be just one or two bears in this reserve and are
listed as vulnerable in Armenia. The exact population of this subspecies is
unknown and likely to be declining due to poaching, habitat destruction
and diminishing sources of food in the wild.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Darwin's frogs on the decline in Chile
Frogs bearing Charles Darwin’s name are at risk of extinction in Chile.
From Live Science:
Charles Darwin first discovered the frogs while traveling in Chile in 1834. Scientists who later studied the mouth-brooding animals found that there are actually two species, naming one Rhinoderma darwinii (Darwin’s frog) and the other Rhinoderma rufum (Chile Darwin’s frog).
From 2008 to 2012, a team of researchers led by zoologist Claudio Soto-Azat surveyed 223 sites in the frogs’ historical range, from the coastal city of Valparaíso south to an area just beyond Chiloé Island. R. rufum has not been seen in the wild since 1980, and despite the recent extensive search effort across every recorded location of the species, no individuals were seen or heard during the four-year survey, the researchers said. R. darwinii, meanwhile, was found in 36 sites, but only in fragmented and small populations, each with likely less than 100 individuals.
The findings suggest Darwin’s frogs have disappeared from, or at least rapidly declined in, many locations where they were recently abundant, the researchers wrote in a paper published online June 12 in the journal PLOS ONE. Habitat loss and fragmentation may be the culprits.
Read more here.
Photo: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0066957.g001
…read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Pesticides decimating dragonflies and other aquatic insects
By Herp News
While recent research (and media attention) has focused on the alleged negative impacts of pesticides on bees, the problem may be far broader according to a new study in the Proceedings of the US Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Looking at over 50 streams in Germany, France, and Australia, scientists in Europe and Australia found that pesticide contamination was capable of undercutting invertebrate biodiversity by nearly half.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Crystal Renn wears reptile skin for S Moda
By Herp News
Posted in Fashion / Fashion blog / Fashion photo shoots / Fashion pictures Top model Crystal Renn goes braless for the latest issue of S Moda. Crystal poses for a sexy cover story in an all black Gucci reptile skin ensemble as styled by Empar Prieto and while sporting messy big hair for an overall androgynous look. Article continues . To read it in full visit ‘ Crystal Renn wears reptile skin …
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Rare spiny turtle hatches at zoo
By Herp News
Keepers at Chester Zoo are “absolutely ecstatic” following the birth of a rare spiny turtle.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Snake venom may keep cancer cells from spreading
From the Reporter-Herald:
Scientists believe that a protein in (snake) venom helps snakes relocate their prey so they can continue their dinner.
This protein, called a disintegrin, enables the snake to relocate its prey, explains (University of Northern Colorado researcher Anthony) Saviola. He says scientists performed studies where a rattlesnake struck a mouse, and when a second rattlesnake of the same species was given a choice between that mouse or one that had not been injected with venom, the second rattlesnake usually always chose the one with venom.
Snakes also have an advanced olfactory system and special chemosensory organs in their mouths. Snakes will tongue-flick rapidly, says Saviola, to pick up chemical cues in the environment. But it appears to be the disintegrin that helps them find prey.
Integrins, by definition, are a large group of molecules that promote cell adhesion. “Some of these you don’t see in normal, healthy tissue,” says Saviola, “but you will see them expressed 100 fold in abnormal, cancerous tissue.”
The disintegrin protein in snake venom, when injected into cancer cells, binds the outside of the cell via these integrin receptors. Chemotherapy, used most often to help stop the spread of cancer, not only kills cancer cells but also the healthy cells. The disintegrin from snake venom acts differently. “It doesn’t kill the cell,” says Saviola. “It binds the outside and doesn’t allow the cell to communicate with surrounding cells. That’s when cancer becomes cancer … when it spreads throughout the body.”
Read more here. …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Frankie Tortoise Tails – I Turtle Sit: Camp Frankie
Prequel – I am turtle sitting Gretta’s little box turtle, LD. I promised Gretta that I would give her updates on how things are going. I also promised I would not let Frankie help.
Little Dude, Year old American Box Turtle
I Turtle Sit: Camp Frankie
Hello, Mom. LD here at Camp Frankie. Havin’ lots of fun and learnin’ lots of new things.
Frankie stayin’ in his cave. He has three camera. Must be watching me having fun. Guess that makes him Camp Frankie Supervisor.
Right off I played joke on Leann. I climbed on top of my cork bark and escaped. She looked everywhere for me. He,he. I sittin’ on the window sill looking out the window right next to my enclosure. I watch her act frantic.
Newly redecorated enclosure features cork bark in middle of box.
Started week indoors ‘cause of weather. I introduced to new toy….food…same thing for turtles. Food is toy. This toy runs around like crazy. You have to run after it and catch it. Thing called cricket and is dusted in some magic white dust that doesn’t seem to help it at all. Caught four of those crickets. Still runnin’ around box just in case there were five.
I get crickets when I am indoors. I tell Leann I want to eat out.
Leann took me to Frankie’s yard and started turning rocks over. Was a smorgasbord. There were bugs, snails, and snails escaped from shell.
There were lots of those snails escaped from shell. Leann say, “slug.” I say, “I just run them down and wrestle ‘em.”
While Leann scoop up some bugs for big turtles inside I eat all I can stuff in my face. Leann say I eat more dirt than bugs. I say I need my iron. Leann try to wipe bugs and slugs off my face and I say no ‘cause those are for snacks later.
I got to swim in Frankie’s Olympic sized swimming pool. It was clean so I got to put in the first poop. It was lonely looking poop in huge swimming pool. Leann says poop will get plenty of company later.
I ate green stuff and I like it. Leann says it’s one of Frankie’s favorite greens and she don’t know its name but she is gonna show you so I can have more. Leann say I am not dead yet so it must be good for me.
I think I make Leann sweat a lot.
After eating and harvesting and swimming and running away from Leann we went back inside. Leann put me in box with bugs and worms we collected. I can eat three slugs in 45 seconds Leann say.
I got to eat again inside with the big turtles. Turtles then got to go outside in Turtle Run but I am not allow because Leann does not want a …read more
Read more here: Turtle Times
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Fitch: Tortoise Energy Capital Corporation Series F Senior Unsecured Notes Paid In Full
By Herp News
The $34,700,000 series F senior unsecured notes previously issued by Tortoise Energy Capital Corporation have been paid in full, according to Fitch Ratings. Fitch assigned an ‘AAA’ rating to the senior unsecured notes prior to redemption.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Bullfrogs may help spread deadly amphibian fungus, but also die from it
By Herp News
Amphibian populations are declining worldwide and a major cause is a deadly fungus thought to be spread by bullfrogs, but a two-year study shows they can also die from this pathogen, contrary to suggestions that bullfrogs are a tolerant carrier host that just spreads the disease.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Herp Video of the Week: Twins and Triplets!
Check out this video “Twins and Triplets,” submitted by kingsnake.com user prehistoricpets.
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
Read more here: King Snake
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Endangered turtle rescued in VB
By Herp News
An endangered species of sea turtle was rescued along the Virginia Beach coast Friday afternoon.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Texas tortoise dealing with drought, other dangers
By Herp News
The only tortoise species native to Texas is facing various challenges, including drought conditions, disease and speeding motorists.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Texas tortoise dealing with drought, other dangers
By Herp News
The Texas tortoise _ a state-listed threatened species _ is facing various challenges, including drought conditions, disease and speeding motorists.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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San Juan Turtle Fest — Three days of celebration
By Herp News
It’s time to commune with your favorite backyard turtle and decide if it’s got the right stuff to be a racing superstar.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Former Jesus Lizard David Yow Casts Lewd, Clanging Solo Album Debut
By Herp News
David Yow is best-known as the menacing, howling frontman of ’80s and ’90s noise-punk bands Scratch Acid and the Jesus Lizard, two of the most…
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Reptile Rally scales up in Austin
By Herp News
If you’re in the market for a pet, the Reptile Rally in Austin has got you covered.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Sea Turtle Released After Getting Stuck in Between Rocks
By Herp News
The turtle was saved with the help of Palm Beach’s coastal coordinator and the Palm Beach Fire Rescue Photo Credit: Christine Perretta, DB Ecological Services, Inc.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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EXCLUSIVE: 3-foot-long reptile found in Honolulu
By Herp News
An almost 3-foot-long Iguana was captured Thursday night. The iguana somehow ended up at the Dillingham Business Center.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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3-foot-long reptile found in Honolulu
By Herp News
A rare reptile found in urban Honolulu. An almost 3-foot-long Iguana was captured Thursday night. The iguana somehow ended up at the Dillingham Business Center. A security guard on patrol said he was caught off guard when he saw what he thought was an unusual creature. It was hanging out by the stairwell before rushed it into a corner. “I was like, ‘What is this this?” This is not a local …
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Reptile Rally
By Herp News
How you can find out all about reptiles at PetCo.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Hogle Zoo reptile keeper on learning to love reptiles
Not everyone starts out liking reptiles — but that can change, as this profile of Hogle Zoo reptile keeper Emily Merola demonstrates.
From the Salt Lake Tribune:
Emily Merola can relate. The Hooper native and psychologist is Hogle Zoo’s primary reptile keeper. She takes care of 52-year-old Kronk, a huge Aldabra tortoise that sometimes follows her around like a puppy during feeding time, Bill and Hillary — the crocs, not the political couple — and an assortment of snakes, lizards, turtles, tortoises and amphibians.
“You have to work with reptiles to really appreciate the grand scale of them,” she said. “They are unlike any animal that I have ever worked with before. They are kind of a challenge. You can’t read them like an ape or a giraffe. They don’t have facial expressions. They are the most laid back animals you could ever work with, and the most difficult.”
Merola began her Hogle Zoo career volunteering and then serving an internship. She became part of the staff called Eco Explorers that took live animals or exhibits around the grounds and interacted with visitors. She took a seasonal position and, two years later, earned her way into the reptile supervisor position.
Read more here.
Photo: Tom Wharton/Salt Lake Tribune …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Reptile keeper on learning to love reptiles
Not everyone starts out liking reptiles — but that can change, as this profile of Hogle Zoo reptile keeper Emily Merola demonstrates.
From the Salt Lake Tribune:
Emily Merola can relate. The Hooper native and psychologist is Hogle Zoo’s primary reptile keeper. She takes care of 52-year-old Kronk, a huge Aldabra tortoise that sometimes follows her around like a puppy during feeding time, Bill and Hillary — the crocs, not the political couple — and an assortment of snakes, lizards, turtles, tortoises and amphibians.
“You have to work with reptiles to really appreciate the grand scale of them,” she said. “They are unlike any animal that I have ever worked with before. They are kind of a challenge. You can’t read them like an ape or a giraffe. They don’t have facial expressions. They are the most laid back animals you could ever work with, and the most difficult.”
Merola began her Hogle Zoo career volunteering and then serving an internship. She became part of the staff called Eco Explorers that took live animals or exhibits around the grounds and interacted with visitors. She took a seasonal position and, two years later, earned her way into the reptile supervisor position.
Read more here.
Photo: Tom Wharton/Salt Lake Tribune …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Why endangered species need conservation champions
By Herp News
Without heroic conservationists many of today’s most beloved species would be extinct: think of pandas, tigers, and elephants. By single-mindly focused on saving a particular species, these conservation champions bring much-needed research, publicity, and, most importantly, targeted actions to keep an imperiled animal from the brink. Through their own exuberance, these heroes also gather others to their cause. But, many of the world’s heroic conservationists are little-known to the broader public. To address this a new book, Wildlife Heroes: 40 Leading Conservationists and the Animals They Are Committed to Saving, strives to introduce the public to some of the world’s most devoted conservationists.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Laser therapy for sea turtles
A donated $24,000 laser is helping the South Carolina Aquarium rehabilitate hundreds of injured sea turtles and another mammals, fish, and wildlife.
From the Herald Online:
An endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle was fitted with a black hood and held quietly Tuesday as it received laser therapy for a joint injury that, under normal circumstances, could keep it in the South Carolina Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital for as long as two years.
The turtle, stunned by last winter’s cold, has developed a bone infection. The aquarium’s new laser will ease the creature’s pain and is expected to reduce its recovery time.
Read more here.
Photo: Bruce Smith/HeraldOnline.com …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Pa. man finds reptile near sewer, offers gator aid
By Herp News
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Philadelphia man has offered a little gator aid — calling animal control authorities to help rescue a juvenile alligator he found near a sewer grate on his street.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Belfast lizard numbers ‘devastated’
By Herp News
A newly-discovered population of lizards has been “devastated” by arsonists setting fire to Cave Hill, according to the Belfast Hills Partnership.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Pa. man finds reptile near sewer, offers gator aid
By Herp News
A Philadelphia man has offered a little gator aid — calling animal control authorities to help rescue a juvenile alligator he found near a sewer grate on his street.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Syrian bald ibis may be down to a single bird
By Herp News
The eastern population of northern bald ibises (Geronticus eremita) has likely fallen to a single breeding bird, reports conservationists monitoring the dwindling flock. The population had believed to be obliterated starting from 1989 until a small group was discovered in 2002 in Syria. However, it now appears that this last group is vanishing one-by-one despite efforts by conservation groups to sustain the distinct population.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Illegal wildlife trade flourishes in Sumatra
By Herp News
In a chilly rain on Sunday, in a town just a few kilometers beyond the edge of a protected Sumatran rainforest, a young orangutan sat perched on a piece of plywood and grabbed the metal wires of his tiny cage.
He has sat in that cage for six months and, like dozens of other species on display in this ‘zoo’ in the town of Kadang in Aceh, he has a price tag. This packed assembly is an acknowledged front for illegal trafficking in wildlife.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Flying rainbows: the scarlet macaw returns to Mexico
By Herp News
On April 21, 2013, the first flock of scarlet macaws (of many more to come) was released into the jungles of Aluxes Ecopark, nearby classified World Heritage Site Palenque National Park, as a part of a massive reintroduction project to restore the popular and culturally-significant bird to the well preserved rainforests of Palenque and the rest of its southern Mexico homeland—where the species has been extinct for close to 70 years.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Conserving the long-neglected freshwater fish of Borneo
By Herp News
Borneo is a vast tropical island known for orangutans, rhinos, elephants, sun bears, proboscis monkeys, hornbills, and ubiquitous leeches. Conservationists have championed all of these species (aside from the leeches) in one way or another, but like many tropical regions Borneo’s freshwater species have long been neglected, despite their rich biodiversity and importance to local people. But a new organization, the Kinabatangan River Spirit Initiative, is working to change that.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Ripped-off reptile reunited with relieved owner
By Herp News
Darius Dio was in town visiting when he parked to go into the Hard Rock Hotel.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Lizard left in car reunites with owner
By Herp News
A rare lizard left inside a car that was reported stolen has been reunited with its owner.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Turtles watch for, snack on gelatinous prey while swimming
By Herp News
Loggerhead turtles use visual cues to find gelatinous prey to snack on as they swim in open waters, according to new research.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Tigers, orangutans, rhinos: Sumatra’s big mammals on the edge of extinction
By Herp News
Karman Lubis’s body was found near where he had been working on a Sumatran rubber plantation. His head was found several days later a mile away and they still haven’t found his right hand. He had been mauled by a Sumatran tiger that has been living in Batang Gadis National Park and he was one of five people killed there by tigers in the last five years.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Bird extravaganza: scientists discover 15 new species of birds in the Amazon
By Herp News
From 2000-2009, scientists described on average seven new bird species worldwide every year. Discovering a new bird is one of the least common of any species group, given that birds are highly visible, mobile, and have been scrutinized for centuries by passionate ornithologists and birders. But descriptions this year already blows away the record year over the last decade (in 2001 when nine new birds were described): scientists working in the southern Amazon have recorded an incredible 15 new species of birds according to the Portuguese publication Capa Aves. In fact, this is the largest group of new birds uncovered in the Brazilian in the Amazon in 140 years.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Featured video: gorgeous golden takin caught on camera trap
By Herp News
The takin (Budorcas taxicolor) is a goat-antelope species that lives in the Himalayan Mountains. Takins are social bovines and are often spotted traveling in packs of 15 or more. Packs tend to be composed of female takins as the male takin is largely solitary outside of the summer rutting season. The takin is listed as a Vulnerable species by the IUCN Red List and is considered to be Endangered in China.
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Reward offered in brutal turtle beating in Wisconsin
The Global Conservation Group is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the fatal beating of a snapping turtle at the Delbrook Golf Course in Delavan, Wisc., on June 10 between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m.
The female turtle, looking for a place to lay her eggs, was found lying in the sand in a bunker with holes in its shell. She was also struck in the right eye, a wound which appeared to have been from a golf club. Investigators looked for her eggs but were unable to find them.
Anyone with information about this case should call the DNR hotline at 1-800-TIP-WDNR or 1-800-847-9367. Callers can remain anonymous.
If you would like to contribute to the reward fund, you can do so here.
…read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Mysterious fungus striking snakes in Tennessee
A fungus that has killed snakes in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Illinois has been identified in timber rattlesnakes in Tennessee.
From Nashville NPR:
Infected snakes have been located in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Illinois has seen multiple fatalities over the last several years in a threatened snake species – the eastern massasuaga. While the total number of deaths is small, so is the total snake population in northern states like Illinois.
“Even a few individuals can be significant,” TWRA biologist Brian Flock writes in an email.
One of the leading researchers on the topic is wildlife veterinary Matthew Allender, who says the fungus that’s being discovered is often found on captive reptiles like bearded dragons. He told the University of Illinois News Bureau that finding infections in the wild is significant.
Read more here.
Photo: smalleraperture/Flickr via Nashville NPR …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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