By Herp News

The Endangered great hammerhead shark (Sphyrna mokarran) is restricted to continental shelves and highly valued for its fins. It only reproduces once every two years. Photo by Jake Mohan licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license [dropcap]O[/dropcap]n July 19, 2011, officers from the Galapagos National Park Service and the Ecuadorian Navy stopped the Fer Mary I, a long line fishing vessel out of the bustling Ecuadorian port of Manta as it sailed within the Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR). They found more than just the crew on board; they also found 379 shark carcasses. Shark capture inside the GMR is an environmental crime under Ecuadoran law. The case made international headlines not only because of the illegal cargo; but also because of the initially outrageous response it received from the local judiciary, which annulled the case. That local judge was later suspended by the Ecuadorian federal government and the case taken up for review. This year, after a tumultuous four-year legal battle, the captain of the Fer Mary I was sentenced to two years in prison and each of the 12-member crew received a one-year sentence. Their example demonstrates both the growing legal tide against illegal fishing in the GMR, and Ecuador’s toughening stance against wildlife trafficking. A wake up call for Galapagos enforcers The Galapagos Marine Reserve is one of the world’s largest protected marine areas, covering nearly 133,000 square kilometers (50,000 square miles). It’s recognition as a global biodiversity hotspot is well earned,…

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Photo: AUREAPTERUS/ISTOCKPHOTO
A new study shows that the prehistoric amphibians were not all that different from their modern day relatives. Limb regeneration was found in animals estimated to be 290 million years old.

The findings suggest that some salamander ancestors had the ability to regenerate body parts nearly 80 million years before the first salamander existed.
The results “show that salamander-like regeneration is not something that is salamander specific, but was instead widespread in the evolutionary past,” says study coauthor Nadia Fröbisch, a paleontologist at the Museum of Natural History in Berlin.

To read the full article, visit Science News. …read more
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By Herp News

Several new species of amphibians and a reptile that lived in what’s now Brazil from 278 million years ago have just been discovered and described by a team of scientists from around the world, including Chicago’s Field Museum. Their paper helps fill in gaps in our knowledge about fauna in the southern tropics of Pangaea.

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On Tuesday, an overwhelming majority of Washington voters — around 71 percent — passed an anti-wildlife trafficking initiative called Initiative 1401 (I-1401) that bans trade in wildlife parts and products. Initiative 1401, backed by Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Paul Allen, makes it a crime to sell, purchase, trade, or distribute parts and products of any wildlife species covered under the initiative. The animals included under this initiative are elephants, lions, tigers, rhinos, leopards, cheetahs, marine turtles, pangolins, sharks and ray species listed in Appendix I or II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Treaty, or listed as as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN’s) red list. “This is an enormous momentum-builder for the movement in the United States to shut down the commerce in trinkets, powders and pelts that are driving some of the world’s most iconic creatures to the precipice of extinction,” Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, said in a statement. “The animals need their tusks, horns, heads and hides more than we do, and Washington voters have given our movement a shot in the arm with this resounding vote.” Initiative 1401 bans sale, purchase and distribution of parts and products of endangered species like elephants, rhinos, tigers, leopards, lions, cheetahs, pangolins, marine turtles, sharks and rays. Photos courtesy of Mongabay. Violations are punishable either as a gross misdemeanor, or a class C felony, which…

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This Wood Frog in our herp photo of the day brings back memories of summertime herping. Uploaded by kingsnake.com user casichelydia . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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This is a normally colored and patterned dusky pygmy rattler.
Dusky pygmy rattlers, Sistrurus miliarius barbouri, are among the most abundant snakes, including both nonvenomous and venomous—in Florida. I can remember finding these in such numbers beneath the Australian pines that lined the old Tamiami Canal west of Dade County that it was far easier to ignore them than to count them. They were nearly as plentiful in Broward, Lee, Collier, Charlotte, and Brevard counties. And they remain one of the snakes that we can be almost assured of seeing when weather conditions are reasonable in Union, Baker, and Liberty counties. Simply stated, although they can be absent from some locales dusky pygmy rattlesnakes are almost everywhere in Florida.

In keeping with the common name dusky pygs are usually just that, dusky in color and “dusty” in appearance. The dusty appearance is created by a varying overlay of melanin that may obscure the precise outlines of the dark dorsal and lateral spots. This nervous (even twitchy) little rattlesnake usually has a prominent but broken orange vertebral stripe between the dark blotches and often brightest anteriorly. Some examples, these often termed “anerythristic” by hobbyists, may lack the orange. Rarely—very rarely—the pattern of the dusky pyg may be lineate rather than blotched. On these examples the lateral blotches are usually entirely lacking and the orange vertebral stripe may be unbroken, bisecting both the gray ground color and the dark dorsal blotches. And now to the photos of this interesting little crotaline, click below…
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The Endangered Lear’s Macaw (Anodorhynchus leari). Birds, loved for their plumage and their songs, are among the most trafficked of all animal species in Latin America. Photo by Joao Quental licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. [dropcap]W[/dropcap]ith its spectacularly diverse ecosystems, rare and endemic species, remote terrain, often loophole-riddled laws, and sketchy enforcement, Latin America is a haven for a booming illegal wildlife trade. South and Central America’s diversity is a magnet for wildlife traffickers dealing in the rare and unusual. Brazil alone holds 15-20 percent of the planet’s biological diversity and reportedly supplies 5-15 percent of the global illegal wildlife trade. What is most notable about this unlawful trade is the range of species involved. Birds — particularly parrots, macaws and songbirds — are among the most trafficked. Reptiles, including iguanas and snakes are popular in the pet trade. Turtles are harvested for their eggs, meat, and shells; caimans for their skins. Also striking is the immense volume and high prices obtained for illegally taken seafood delicacies — ranging from shark fins, totoaba swim bladders, sea cucumbers, and queen conch meat. A remarkable variety of other animals are also trafficked, including jaguars, armadillos, monkeys, frogs, scorpions and spiders. A close-up of a seizure of tropical birds hidden within a car seat at the U.S. border in San Diego. Photo courtesy of USFWS. The breadth and complexity of the black market trade in wildlife complicates analysis of both its…

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Photo: Cuba HeadlinesScientists have announced the discovery of a new species of small frog only about 14 mm long, near Guantanamo, Cuba.

First found in 2014, scientists have now officially named the newly discovered amphibian Eleutherodactylus beguei.

“This vertebrate has close to brown coloration. Its natural habitat is the soil moist, hence its survival in this area of eastern Cuba where rainfall is abundant throughout the year” – Gerardo Begue-Quiala

To read the full article, visit Cuba Headlines. …read more
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This Nuu Ana Leachianus seems so very curious in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user MikeRusso . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Scientists have for the first time determined the ratio of males to females in a wild foraging group of green turtles in the Eastern Pacific, which suggests that sea turtles may be vulnerable to feminization from the temperature rises expected with climate change.

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Photo by Dan England @greeleytribune.com
He doesn’t even have a name, but over the years a Bullsnake (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in a Greeley Colorado nature center has helped thousands of kids and adults overcome their apprehension and fear of snakes. The snake was given a permanent home at the center four years ago after repeatedly becoming ensnared in live traps the nature center puts out to monitor wildlife along it’s trails. Since then he has become a reptilian ambassador, seemingly as curious about these humans as they are of it. And to staff it seems the snake enjoys the interaction with both the staff and the public.

“If you interact with it,” “you realize you don’t have to kill it.” – Ray Tschillard – Poudre Learning Center

The snake did escape once, a couple of years ago, when a volunteer left his cage open after feeding him and was gone most of the winter, until he poked his head out from under a bookshelf. He had many chances to leave and simply didn’t take them.

Read the whole article at the Greeley Tribune. …read more
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How gorgeous is this Coastal Carpet Python in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user AJ01 ? Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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By Herp News

The U.S. government has stepped up its fight against wildlife trafficking. On Monday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Global Anti-Poaching Act, which aims to “support global anti-poaching efforts, strengthen the capacity of partner countries to counter wildlife trafficking, and designate major wildlife trafficking countries.” The anti-poaching bill was co-sponsored by 43 Republicans and 64 Democrats. “This legislation is a significant step forward in the fight against wildlife crime and demonstrates the continued leadership that the US Congress is taking on this issue,” Ginette Hemley, Senior Vice President of Wildlife Conservation at World Wildlife Fund (WWF), said in a statement. “Wildlife crime has traditionally been extremely high profit and very low risk. By officially designating wildlife trafficking as a serious crime, the risk may finally outweigh the potential reward. This could be a real game changer for the conservation of elephants, rhinos, and countless species illegally killed and traded around the world,” she added. Baby elephant in South Africa. Photo by Rhett Butler. The legislation notes that the same international gangs and criminals that smuggle weapons and drugs are involved in poaching and trafficking wildlife. So it puts wildlife trafficking in the same category as weapons and drug-trafficking, “making it a liable offense for money laundering and racketeering.” To support global anti-poaching efforts, the legislation aims to label countries that are found to be a “major source, transit point or consumer of wildlife trafficking products”. It also calls for a special designation for countries that have…

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It took a few tries but Lady Luck was finally with us: Brazos water snake.
It has been many years now since Kenny and I decided to look for, and actually did find, the two Texas water snakes that were then considered subspecies of the Harter’s water snake. These, then, were the Brazos water snake, N. harteri harteri, and the Concho water snake, N. harteri paucimaculata. Although of questionable validity studies have since elevated the 2 one time subspecies to full species.

At the time we sought these snakes we both lived in Florida so the initial distance between home and Palo Pinto County, TX was, shall we say, significant. Kenny is great at ferreting out valid locales for the taxa that we hope to photograph, but on the first attempt the water snakes did not cooperate. We searched upstream and downstream from a number of the riffles where they had formerly been seen. No water snakes—not even the rather common diamond-backed water snakes. We did find dozens of taxa to photograph on that trip but the target species was not among them.

But some months later, on the second trip, Kenny’s diligence paid off. On that occasion one of the rock-edged riffles disclosed its serpentine treasure and photos of the Brazos water snake were added to our library.

Next try would be for the Concho water snake.

More photos under the jump.
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By Herp News

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n the waters off Madagascar, scientists have at last encountered living members of a species of whale known only from old, dead specimens. Shaped like a sleek torpedo, with unusual asymmetrical markings, the elusive Omura’s whale has for the first time been documented in photos, videos, and audio recordings. In the 1970s, scientists initially classified eimadaght whales killed by Japanese whalers in the eastern Indian and western Pacific oceans as Bryde’s whales (Balaenoptera edeni). Measuring between 33 and 38 feet long, the animals were considered smaller “pygmy” Bryde’s whales, which usually measure around 45 feet long. It wasn’t until 2003 that another team of researchers, examining DNA evidence from the eight whaling specimens and a stranded animal, concluded that the whales actually belonged to a new-to-science species that came to be called Omura’s whale (B. omurai). Subsequent studies have identified other stranded or hunted animals as members of the same species based on DNA and skeletal evidence. Up to now, however, there have been no first-hand observations of living Omura’s whales described in the scientific literature that could shed light on the animals’ behavior, biology, or ecology; only a handful of unconfirmed sightings. A never-before photographed Omura’s whale. Photo reproduced from Cerchio et al. 2015, courtesy of New England Aquarium. In 2007 a team led by Salvatore Cerchio, a marine mammal biologist then with the Wildlife Conservation Society, began studying cetaceans off the northwestern coast of Madagascar. Starting in 2011, they began spotting a few small rorqual…

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“I don’t know much about art, but I know what I like.”

Bill Flowers, an Australian artist based in Tasmania, knows what we like too. Thankfully he has taken it upon himself to edit some of the worlds greatest masterpieces and add the snakes that really should have been a part of the original work.

“I love snakes, and a few other humans on this planet also love snakes. Sadly there are so many humans that do not. I painted this series to make people smile.
Smiling is a positive thing. If I can get humans to have a nice fun feeling while looking at snakes, my job is done. – Bill Flowers”

To see more of Bill’s amazing work, check out his post on BoredPanda

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By Herp News

An up-close look at the baited remove underwater video (BRUV) camera. Copyright Global FinPrint. Out of the 100 million sharks caught each year, scientists estimate that up to 73 million have their fins sliced off (often while still alive) to make shark fin soup — a Chinese delicacy eaten as a luxury dish at weddings and other special occasions. A growing appetite for shark fins and meat is considered the leading cause of sharply declining shark populations. An ambitious project to conduct a global survey of sharks aims to find out how much is left of these top marine predators. Launched in July with $4 million in funding from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Global FinPrint is an international initiative that will assess the health of populations of sharks and rays — aka elasmobranchs — in 400 different locations over a period of three years. The project’s mission is “to produce the first globally standard survey of elasmobranch density and diversity across the world’s continental and insular shelves” in order to improve the understanding of the animals’ status and inform conservation efforts, according to the Global FinPrint website. “Because of a lack of consistent surveys, it is difficult to determine what pristine densities and diversities ‘should’ be to set restoration targets,” the website states. Coral reefs teem with an abundance of beautiful underwater life. Copyright Global Finprint. “This exciting three-year project began a few months ago and we look forward to…

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A Black-faced Spoonbill spreads its wings. Photo courtesy of the BFSA [dropcap]A[/dropcap]s autumn descends on the Korean Peninsula, Black-faced Spoonbills depart from nesting sites sheltered within one of the world’s most heavily armed borders. The Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea is off-limits to human incursion — and has been since the end of the Korean War in 1953. In turn, that 4 kilometer (2.5 mile) wide no man’s land has become a safe haven for the Endangered bird. Korea’s lingering Cold War stalemate at the DMZ has prevented coastal development from encroaching on crucial Black-faced Spoonbill nesting sites. Spoonbill population data from North Korea is limited — not surprising considering the two belligerent armies facing off across the DMZ, or considering North Korea’s closed society. But experts say that the DMZ remains the bird’s biggest breeding ground. Meanwhile, other important nesting habitat in northeast China — rocky outcrops from Bohai Bay to the Bay of Liaoning — are threatened, as are other wetlands critical to these transient birds in South Korea, mainland China and elsewhere in Southeast Asia — all areas under tremendous development pressures. A bird beloved in the midst of geopolitical conflict Black-faced Spoonbills (Platalea minor) wavered on the brink of extinction as recently as the 1980s. Scientists estimated that the population then had dropped as low as 288 birds. Today, the species remains Endangered. But their numbers have climbed steadily over the years. The results of the 2015 International Black-faced Spoonbill…

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Rainforests are full of bats, and with over 1,300 known species around the world bats really do come in all shapes and sizes. Each species has its own range of what ecologists call “functional traits,” which are an animal’s unique biochemical, physiological, or behavioral characteristics. Yet, like other rainforest-dwelling animals, bats are under great pressure as the landscape changes around them and their homes become more and more fragmented. Natural habitat perturbations play a role in these changes, but the greatest pressures often come from human activities, such as livestock production, agriculture, logging, mining, and dam construction. A recent study, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, looked into how important functional traits are in enabling bats in the Amazon to survive in a human-modified landscape. It found that not all bat species cope with habitat fragmentation equally and that bats that are small, mobile, and vegetarian adapt better to fragmentation. Researchers handling a bat to photographing the wing to measure aspect ratio and relative wing loading (two components of the wing morphology trait). Photo by Madalena Boto. The study was led by a team from the Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes at the University of Lisbon, and conducted at the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project in the Brazilian Amazon. Over a period of two years, the team used mist nets to capture almost 5,000 bats from 59 different species in eight forest fragments. Focusing on the 26 most common species that could be…

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This Sulawesi Forest Turtle looks as thrilled as we all are with a Monday morning in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user andystorts reminds us of the variety in the most basic of “morphs”, the normal! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Laurie Marker’s passion for cheetahs was kindled far from the grasslands of Africa. In 1974, she got a job working for a new wildlife park in Oregon, and as she worked with the park’s captive cheetahs, her interest grew to their wild cousins back in Namibia. When Marker reached out to biologists and researchers, she quickly realized just how little people knew about the species, and decided to do something about it. As the founder and executive director of the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in Namibia, Marker has essentially written the book on cheetahs, developing methods to re-introduce captive-bred animals, studying cheetahs’ habitat and movement patterns in the wild and discovering the species’ lack of genetic variation. She is now distilling the knowledge and insights gleaned in the past 25 years, developing strategies to solve the growing conflict between farmers and wildlife. WildTech sat down with Marker to learn about how she got her start, CCF’s work with cheetah and human communities in Namibia, her views on the future of conservation and tips for aspiring field biologists. Dr. Laurie Marker with Cheetah Conservation Fund’s famous late ambassador cheetah Chewbaaka. Photo courtesy of the Cheetah Conservation Fund. You pioneered a lot of the research to understand cheetahs and the factors at play in their conservation. Can you tell us about how you got your start working in the field? Well I had been running a wildlife park and breeding cheetahs in captivity, but nobody really knew much about…

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A fishy ghost story in time for Halloween [Nature] Ghost fishing, as it’s known, is when marine life is drawn into nets and traps by the dead and decomposing bodies of marine animals already caught in these fishing devices. This problem goes largely unnoticed yet the ‘dead’ gear is often responsible for more sea creature deaths than kills during active use. The inevitable climate fact no one wants to recognize [New Scientist] The UN’s analysis finds that our world’s nations have fallen short of what’s required to effectively limit greenhouse gases. It seems now that time would be better spent on preparing for a world that will become two degrees warmer than it is now. Universally cherished treat faces impending shortage [Christian Science Monitor] National chocolate day was October 28, but this treat, that is appreciated throughout the world, may become much harder to come by. Due to unsustainable supply chain models and climate change, chocolate is facing an impending shortage crisis. Cacao pods in Nosy Komba, Madagascar. Photo by Rhett Butler. Biased climate change reports aren’t beneficial for anyone [Mongabay] We’re all affected by climate change, so shouldn’t we all be informed about it? Especially people in places being affected the most? A recent study shows the opposite to be the case – scientific knowledge about climate change is geographically imbalanced and biased. These species were named after monsters [Treehugger] Halloween is right around the corner, making it a perfect time to check out the…

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[dropcap]M[/dropcap]urilo Reis was guiding a group of tourists on his private nature reserve in a remote part of northeastern Peru two months ago when he came across more than a dozen people who were digging up turtle nests on the riverbank to steal the eggs. When they refused to leave, he called in the police, but the law-enforcement officer sided with the poachers, and Reis told Mongabay he was powerless to stop the pillaging. He worries that illegal logging, hunting, and fishing not only jeopardize his tourism business, but also threaten an area that he is preserving as a refuge for animals fleeing illegal human activity in the forest. He is not alone. Although news reports have highlighted illegal logging and mining, drug crops, squatters, building of unauthorized roads, and poaching in government protected areas and on indigenous lands in the Peruvian Amazon, owners of private conservation areas face similar problems, but get less attention. “Much of the problem has to do with a lack of land-use planning,” Bruno Monteferri, director of the private conservation program of the non-profit Peruvian Environmental Law Society (Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental, SPDA), told Mongabay. That is often aggravated by conflicting land claims and lack of law enforcement. A Monk Saki (Pithecia milleri), one of numerous species of wildlife living on the Tapiche Reserve. Photo by Deborah Chen. Peru has more than 80 legally recognized private and communal conservation areas, covering some 250,000 hectares, Monteferri said. In addition, some landowners,…

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Reptiles are becoming increasingly popular as pets. The number of reptile pets, such as lizards, turtles and snakes, has doubled in the past ten years. Researchers recently showed that grasshoppers used as reptile food can be a source of allergies.

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Money brings many things. It can bring great happiness and it can cause great suffering. It depends on how it is used. Ethics are important. New prosperity following Vietnam’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2007 has improved life for many in the country, but unfortunately Vietnam’s new wealth has brought great suffering for South Africa’s rhinos and the people who manage them. Consumption of rhino horn (sung te giac) follows new pockets of wealth. Vietnam’s rising tiger economy put more money in the pockets of the growing middle class who have become the world’s biggest consumers of rhino horn. Having lived in Vietnam for four years, my experience of the Vietnamese is as a deeply conservative and respectful people with a great appreciation for natural beauty. However, some interesting contradictions and tensions arise as a result of the utilitarian attitude toward wildlife that prevails in the country. A southern white rhinoceros in South Africa. The country is the last remaining stronghold of rhinoceroses, but is facing an unprecedented poaching crisis fueled by Vietnamese demand for the animals’ horns. Photo by Rhett Butler. Whereas people had traditionally used rhino horn to reduce fevers and to treat poisoning, today’s consumers use it as a general health tonic, a hangover cure, a status symbol, or an expensive gift. Governments generally also have a fairly utilitarian attitude toward wildlife. They aren’t very good at protecting the environment. It just doesn’t fit into their main concerns of preserving power and…

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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! We caught a tiger by it’s tail with this (Crotalus tigris) in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user kevinjudd ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Onya Tega, a proud member of the Waorani culture, maintains many age-old hunting traditions in the face of innumerable modern pressures. Oil companies in Ecuador often provide “gifts” to indigenous people, including high powered hunting rifles and ammo that dramatically increases pressure on wildlife. Photo courtesy of Kelly Swing [dropcap]E[/dropcap]cuador’s troubled relationship with oil began in 1964, when Texaco first discovered ‘black gold’ in the Eastern Amazon. That discovery led to some times violent cultural clashes between modern society and indigenous people, who were forcibly removed from isolation, and uprooted from their homes and traditional ways of life. Today, the Ecuadorian Amazon makes up 80% of the country’s remaining forest cover, but oil exploitation, which depends heavily on new road construction, continues to threaten previously untouched rainforest. New roads continue to impact indigenous culture as well, making sustainable hunting practices unsustainable and gravely threatening endemic wildlife. The slow degradation of Yasuni National Park, established in July 1979, is a case in point. Located in far eastern Ecuador, Yasuni was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1989, and when combined with the adjacent Waorani Ethnic Reserve covers about 6,500 square miles. It is a treasure house of global biodiversity; researchers have counted nearly as many tree species on just 2.5 acres inside the preserve, as are found in the entire U.S. and Canada combined. The region also happens to be underlain by an estimated 850 million barrels of crude oil, some 20% of Ecuador’s reserve. In 1992,…

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‘Warm-bloodedness’, a characteristic of mammals, is a trait encompassing a suite of physiological processes that helps to maintain a relatively high, constant body temperature. A new study shows that this character may have shown up in the ancestors of modern mammals far earlier than was previously thought.

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In the end it was probably the sign.

There is a right way to run a reptile education program, and then there are other ways.

The first thing any reptile educator needs to do is check to make sure they are not violating either state and local laws, unless they want to get a rather unpleasant education of their own.

Erstwhile reptile educator Jeremy Phillips in Louisville, KY learned this lesson the hard way, when on Tuesday, Louisville Metro Animal Services came and took his four venomous snakes away. Animal Services says that while Kentucky law allows those snakes, a Metro Louisville ordinance does not and the local ordinance supersedes the state law. Phillips says someone snaked him out and reported it to authorities, but he now wants a change in the Metro Louisville ordinance. Phillips will face a judge for his arraignment next month and his case is the first of its kind in Louisville.

He had been putting on free snake shows, but recently was asking for five dollars to cover costs of snake food and electricity to keep them warm. No one has paid for the shows. Phillips said he just put up a sign advertising his $5 snake shows, which he thinks may have gotten him in trouble.

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By Herp News

Clouded leopards are being increasingly traded for commercial purposes, and their skins and other body parts are flooding illegal wildlife markets, according to a recent study published in Biodiversity and Conservation. In fact, in some illegal wildlife markets in southeast Asia, clouded leopards are more commonly traded than tigers, researchers have found. Fewer than 10,000 mature individuals remain of each of the two clouded leopard species found in Southeast Asia — the mainland species (Neofelis nebulosa) and the Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi), which occurs only on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. These attractive big cats with distinctive cloud-like markings on their coats, and thick and plush tails, are gaining popularity in commercial markets, authors write. To investigate the extent of the clouded leopard trade, researchers, Neil D’Cruze and David Macdonald, from University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, scanned through reports filed with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), published scientific literature, and interviewed experts who study clouded leopards. Clouded leopards are in danger. They are the most traded big cats in some illegal wildlife markets, according to study. Photo by Charles Barilleaux, Wikimedia Commons. They found that between 1975 and 2013, CITES received 316 records of clouded leopard trades. Of these over 70 percent records referred to trade in live clouded leopards, while the rest included trade in skins, bones, skulls, and other body parts. Japan is the most active importer of live clouded leopards for commercial purposes,…

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Air quality in Indonesia was slightly improved in most areas on Thursday following rain on Tuesday night as President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo landed in South Sumatra to monitor the archipelago’s firefighting and humanitarian response. But in East Kalimantan, fires continue to threaten the Sungai Wain Protected Forest, a 9,852-hectare expanse of ancient virgin forest near the provincial capital, Balikpapan. “We don’t know how the fires started or the extent of the forest that has been burned,” Nunuk Kasiyanto, who is coordianting volunteers in an effort to stave off the flames, told Indonesia’s state-owned Antara news agency. In 1997, Sungai Wain forest was saved from destruction after a massive fire fight. It burns again. Please help. https://t.co/DzAEMchbW4 — Erik Meijaard (@emeijaard) October 26, 2015 Sungai Wain is home to several protected species, including the sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) and Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). It serves as an important water catchment area for Balikpapan residents. It also supplies the city’s oil industry. “This water is used for power generation, pumping of oil, cooling of the refineries and for drinking water,” according to the Pro Natura Foundation, which is raising money to aid the firefighting. An orphaned baby orangutan in Kalimantan. Photo by Rhett A. Butler In the wake of Tuesday’s rain, only Siak, a regency in Riau province, registered “dangerous” air quality at 5 a.m. on Thursday, with a pollutant index of 336. Air in Pekanbaru, home earlier this month to a small-scale anti-haze protest group dubbed Blue…

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A gorgeous field shot of a very dark Black Rat Snake brings memories of summer back in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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By Herp News

Deep in the mountains of eastern Bali sits a traditional Aga village, whose inhabtants – legendarily the island’s first – still reside and abide by ancient ways. Long before Indonesian independence, and even before the 11th century, when the fleeing courtiers of Java’s Hindu Majapahit dynasty landed in Bali, the village of Tenganan Pegringsingan had written forestry regulations. The edicts defined the forest as the 225-square-mile area of trees in these steep, 40-percent-grade hills. According to the ancestral notes, the woods must be communally owned and managed, and cannot be sold or transferred to anyone outside the Aga community. There are even oral and written regulations on hunting and woodcutting. Only dead branches can be collected, and no woodcutting is permitted, except with permission from customary leaders. And today, residents old and young still honor these edicts, choosing to follow the written instructions of their ancestors instead of pushing forest resources to the brink. Thirty-three-year-old Durpa Adnyana, for instance, makes a living collecting wild honey in self-designed, homemade bee houses he fashions from short lengths of bamboo. He collects sweet mango flower honey six times a year, and the tiny kele bees’ sour honey, favored by local shamans, twice a year. In tune with the ancient conservation statutes, Durpa sets personal limits. “If six hives are ready for harvest, I will only take honey from two,” he explained. “To take more would be heartless to the bees.” Thirty-three-year-old farmer Durpa Adnyana with his beehives. Photo by…

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Vertically elliptical during the daylight hours, the pupils of the Great Basin spadefoot are almost round on dark nights.
It has always amazed me how some relatively common—or even abundant—species can evade all efforts to find them. Or at least they evade almost all efforts. I encountered such difficulty when I was trying to photo the Great Basin spadefoot, Spea intermontana. Of course the fact that I lived in Florida, a couple of thousand miles east of the range of this taxon added significantly to the difficulty I had in encountering it.

Without going into a lot of the painful details, I’ll just say that on my first 3 attempts (about 13,000 miles of travel), I failed. Then on another trip, after Gary and I returned to the mainland from the Channel Islands (CA), I decided I REALLY wanted to succeed in finding this anuran. Gary knew a couple of locals only a couple of hundred miles away, so we got in the car, drove to the areas—and failed–again! Then Gary mentioned that he knew of a place in Washington, very near the Canadian border, where these critters would be calling—guaranteed. Lets see now. We were south of Los Angeles and the toads were east of Seattle—that was only about 1500 miles. So off we went. The good part for Gary was that he lived in Seattle. The bad part for me was that from Seattle I would have to drive another 3,000 miles diagonally across the USA. Awwww, what the heck. It was only gasoline, time—and as Patti later reminded me, money.

But as it turned out the spadefoots were out and calling in a vast sandy area that was still holding many pools of rainwater. And I finally—after 14,500 miles of trying—actually photographed them. But now I can’t remember why it was so very important to me(LOL).

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By Herp News

Fairs and small markets scattered throughout the country are one of the main venues where animals are trafficked. Between 60% and 70% of the trafficked animals in Brazil are purchased by Brazilians. Photo by Juliana M Ferreira [dropcap]J[/dropcap]uliana Machado Ferreira moves quickly through the chaotic sprawl of tables and stalls at Vila Mara, one of São Paulo’s busiest street markets. The vendors hawk shoes, clothing, piles of ripe tomatoes, mangoes and other produce, household items made from cheap plastic, and various sundries. At least that’s what is immediately obvious. Machado Ferreira is tailing a small group of men who move towards the interior of the market, each of them hefting a large, bulky duffle. Suddenly the men take off running, and she jogs after them. She brings down the nearest one, though he’s a big guy and the slim woman is a fraction of his size. Plainclothes cops swarm in and handcuff the men while more police storm into the center of the market. There, they target and arrest others. Some perpetrators bolt down the streets that radiate out from the market, tossing their goods into garbage cans or under vehicles, but nearly a dozen police cars block the roads and there’s nowhere to run. They’re captured, and officers search the area to retrieve what they’ve tossed away. The Vila Mara market has a notorious reputation for selling a wide range of stolen goods and assorted contraband, including illegally captured wildlife. Tips from informants prove effective:…

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How cute is this baby Abronia graminia in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user uggleedog ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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By Herp News

At a time when U.S. and China have pledged to take steps to end ivory trade in their countries, Hong Kong — one of the largest hubs for illegal ivory — has refrained from making such commitments, and continues to insist that their “legal” ivory markets are strictly controlled. But according to a recent investigation by WildAid and African Wildlife Foundation, and an undercover video by independent investigators, Hong Kong’s “legal” ivory stockpiles in markets are regularly replenished with illegal ivory obtained from recently poached African elephants. The report and video shows how the system of keeping track of “legal” ivory is full of loopholes. For example, one ivory trader in Hong Kong revealed in the video how Hong Kong government officials “only record the weight of raw materials and finished products.” “So I can simply exchange with anything. After I sell an [ivory] item, I can use illegal ivory to make another item to top off my stock again. The government officials have no idea on how to govern,” the trader said in the undercover video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkUcmlc5TA0&feature=youtu.be International ivory trading was banned in 1989. But Hong Kong has allowed domestic sale of ivory of its pre-1989 ivory stocks. At the time of the 1989 ban, Hong Kong had 670 tonnes of commercial ivory, according to the report, which should have run out by 2004. However, ivory stocks continue to flood the markets. In 2014, for example, over 111 tonnes of ivory remain, the report notes. Hong Kong government’s…

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This pile of noodles in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user hermanbronsgeest reminds us of the variety in the most basic of “morphs”, the normal! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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This Peruvian example, an adult Phrynonax polylepis, has assumed a defensive posture.
Phrynonax polylepis? What in the world is that?

Actually it is a snake that you might know well. Think the Peruvian and Brazilian lineage of Pseustes poecilonotus, the common bird snake, aka the common puffing snake. As mentioned in an earlier blog this month, there has been a “shake up”—a reclassification of the genus once called Pseustes. The big yellow-bellied bird snake, once Pseustes sulphureus, is now Spilotes sulphureus. With this change the remaining 2 (now elevated to 3) taxa are in the genus Phrynonax. P. poecilonotus, once ranging from Central America to South America, has now been restricted to Central America. P. shropshirei, a yellow flecked black species, ranges from Panama to Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela and the species P. polylepis has been resurrected for the southernmost of the 2 South American forms. Based on current knowledge it is likely that at least 2 additional species will be erected.
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Photo: Allmusic, Facebook/Kevin Fowler
Country Musician Kevin Fowler recently took to facebook to criticize people he feels are “rattlesnake sympathizers”.

“All of you people who cry about folks killing rattlesnakes have probably never seen what it looks like when you get bit by one,” wrote Fowler. “All of you rattlesnake sympathizers will change your tune when your kid gets bit playing in your backyard.”

The article does point out the obvious, that rattlesnakes prefer to be left alone and are often hiding for their safety thankfully.
To read the full article, visit Wide Open Country. …read more
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