Bringing you the recent scientific advancements in the field of Herpetology.
Episodes
Thursday May 23, 2019
Thursday May 23, 2019
In this milestone episode we are talking about toads - how common Asian species are coping with changes in land use and how the same changes in Europe impact the poisonous gunk of the common toad Bufo bufo. Our Species of the Bi-Week has nice tubercles.
Main Paper References:
Bókony, V., Üveges, B., Verebélyi, V., Ujhegyi, N., & Móricz, Á. M. (2019). Toads phenotypically adjust their chemical defences to anthropogenic habitat change. Scientific Reports, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-39587-3
Karraker, N. E., Fischer, S., Aowphol, A., Sheridan, J., & Poo, S. (2018). Signals of forest degradation in the demography of common Asian amphibians. PeerJ, 6, e4220. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4220
Species of the Bi-Week:
Carvalho, T. R. D., Giaretta, A. A., Angulo, A., Haddad, C. F. B., & Peloso, P. L. V. (2019). A New Amazonian Species of Adenomera (Anura: Leptodactylidae) from the Brazilian State of Pará: A Tody-Tyrant Voice in a Frog. American Museum Novitates, 3919(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1206/3919.1
Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:
Arbuckle, K., Brockhurst, M., & Speed, M. P. (2013). Does chemical defence increase niche space? A phylogenetic comparative analysis of the Musteloidea. Evolutionary Ecology, 27(5), 863–881. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-013-9629-z
Karraker, N. E., & Welsh Jr, H. H. (2006). Long-term impacts of even-aged timber management on abundance and body condition of terrestrial amphibians in Northwestern California. Biological Conservation, 131(1), 132-140.
Møller A et al. 2015 Effects of urbanization on bird phenology: a continental study of paired urban and rural populations. Climate Res. 66, 185– 199. (doi:10.3354/cr01344)
Pramuk, J. B., Robertson, T., Sites, J. W., & Noonan, B. P. (2008). Around the world in 10 million years: Biogeography of the nearly cosmopolitan true toads (Anura: Bufonidae). Global Ecology and Biogeography, 17(1), 72–83. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2007.00348.x
Other Links/Mentions:
Call of Adenomera phonotriccus:
https://soundcloud.com/museugoeldi/canto-da-nova-especie-de-ra-da-amazonia-adenomera-phonotriccus
Link from Dr Levi Gray on twitter: https://t.co/eyEe6EXxxP
Music:
Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson
Other Music – The Passion HiFi, www.thepassionhifi.com
Tuesday May 07, 2019
Tuesday May 07, 2019
It is a dangerous world for small lizards. To survive a lizard may need to pull off some pretty ingenious escape maneuvers. In this episode we look at two lizards that dodge predators using water. For the Species of the Bi-week we check out a species more likely to elicit escape behaviour than undertake it. FULL REFERENCE LIST AVAILABLE AT: herphighlights.podbean.com
Main Paper References:
Nirody, J. A., Jinn, J., Libby, T., Lee, T. J., Jusufi, A., Hu, D. L., & Full, R. J. (2018). Geckos Race Across the Water’s Surface Using Multiple Mechanisms. Current Biology, 28(24), 4046-4051.e2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.10.064
Swierk, L. (2019). ANOLIS AQUATICUS (= NOROPS AQUATICUS) (Water Anole). UNDERWATER BREATHING. Herpetological Review, 50(1), 134–135.
Species of the Bi-Week:
Carrasco, P. A., Grazziotin, F. G., Farfán, R. S. C., Koch, C., Ochoa, J. A., Scrocchi, G. J., … Chaparro, J. C. (2019). A new species of Bothrops (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalinae) from Pampas del Heath, southeastern Peru, with comments on the systematics of the Bothrops neuwiedi species group. Zootaxa, 4565(3), 301. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4565.3.1
Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:
NICHOLSON, KIRSTEN E.; BRIAN I. CROTHER, CRAIG GUYER & JAY M. SAVAGE (2012). It is time for a new classification of anoles (Squamata: Dactyloidae). Zootaxa 3477: 1–108.
NICHOLSON, KIRSTEN E.; BRIAN I. CROTHER, CRAIG GUYER & JAY M. SAVAGE (2018). Translating a clade based classification into one that is valid under the international code of zoological nomenclature: the case of the lizards of the family Dactyloidae (Order Squamata). Zootaxa 4461 (4): 573–586.
Other Links/Mentions:
Video of surface running in the wild: https://www.cell.com/cms/10.1016/j.cub.2018.10.064/attachment/5ca65509-66ab-4c2e-b882-81b2a32dacc6/mmc2.mp4
Video of surface running in the lab: https://www.cell.com/cms/10.1016/j.cub.2018.10.064/attachment/810c5bcb-6b9f-4294-88cc-0181b6fbe4e3/mmc3.mp4
Video of underwater breathing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDwqWAv1RO4
Gecko walking on water article: https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/watch-a-gecko-runs-on-water
Music:
Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson
Other Music – The Passion HiFi, www.thepassionhifi.com