Episodes
Tuesday Jul 30, 2019
054 Venom Variation
Tuesday Jul 30, 2019
Tuesday Jul 30, 2019
Venom can be deadly, but not all venoms are created equal. They serve different purposes and have evolved for different reasons. In this episode we discuss a couple of new papers around the theme of venom, and finish off with a venomous new species for our Species of the Bi-week.
Main Paper References:
Goetz, S. M., Piccolomini, S., Hoffman, M., Bogan, J., Holding, M. L., Mendonça, M. T., & Steen, D. A. (2019). Serum-based inhibition of pitviper venom by eastern indigo snakes (Drymarchon couperi). Biology Open, 5.
Healy, K., Carbone, C., & Jackson, A. L. (2019). Snake venom potency and yield are associated with prey-evolution, predator metabolism and habitat structure. Ecology Letters, 22(3), 527–537. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13216
Species of the Bi-Week:
Captain, A., Deepak, V., Pandit, R., Bhatt, B., & Athreya, R. (2019). A new species of pitviper (Serpentes: Viperidae: Trimeresurus Lacepède, 1804) from West Kameng District, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Russian Journal of Herpetology, 26, 13.
Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:
Barlow, A., Pook, C. E., Harrison, R. A., & Wüster, W. (2009). Coevolution of diet and prey-specific venom activity supports the role of selection in snake venom evolution. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 276(1666), 2443-2449.
Malhotra, A., & Thorpe, R. S. (2004). A phylogeny of four mitochondrial gene regions suggests a revised taxonomy for Asian pitvipers (Trimeresurus and Ovophis). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 32(1), 83–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2004.02.008
Music:
Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson
Other Music – The Passion HiFi, www.thepassionhifi.com
Tuesday Jul 16, 2019
053 In Defense of Eggs
Tuesday Jul 16, 2019
Tuesday Jul 16, 2019
A slightly hap-hazard episode looking at some brave lizards facing down an ever present snake menace. Lizards have to stop nest raiding some-how and a couple of recent papers shed some light on how. We also have a well armoured Species of the Bi-week. FULL REFERENCE LIST AVAILABLE AT: herphighlights.podbean.com
Main Paper References:
Pike, D. A., Clark, R. W., Manica, A., Tseng, H.-Y., Hsu, J.-Y., & Huang, W.-S. (2016). Surf and turf: Predation by egg-eating snakes has led to the evolution of parental care in a terrestrial lizard. Scientific Reports, 6(1), 22207. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep22207
Sherbrooke, W. C. (2017). Antipredator Nest Guarding by Female Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma): Iguanian Parental Care. Herpetologica, 73(4), 331–337. https://doi.org/10.1655/Herpetologica-D-17-00028.1
Species of the Bi-Week:
Avila-Pires, T. C., Nogueira, C., & Martins, M. (2019). A new ‘horned’’ Stenocercus from the highlands of southeastern Brazil, and redescription of Stenocercus tricristatus (Reptilia: Tropiduridae)’. Zoologia, 36, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.3897/zoologia.36.e22909
Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:
Huang, W.-S., Greene, H. W., Chang, T.-J., & Shine, R. (2011). Territorial behavior in Taiwanese kukrisnakes (Oligodon formosanus). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(18), 7455–7459. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1101804108
Origgi, F. C., Schmidt, B. R., Lohmann, P., Otten, P., Meier, R. K., Pisano, S. R., ... & Gaschen, V. (2018). Bufonid herpesvirus 1 (BfHV1) associated dermatitis and mortality in free ranging common toads (Bufo bufo) in Switzerland. Scientific reports, 8(1), 14737. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-32841-0
Willson, J. D., & Winne, C. T. (2016). Evaluating the functional importance of secretive species: A case study of aquatic snake predators in isolated wetlands. Journal of Zoology, 298(4), 266–273. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12311
Music:
Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson
Other Music – The Passion HiFi, www.thepassionhifi.com
Tuesday Jul 02, 2019
052 Salamanders Vs Plants
Tuesday Jul 02, 2019
Tuesday Jul 02, 2019
Salamanders are famous for being slippery and liking water, but we uncover some new and surprising elements in their ecology. Stay tuned for a Species of the Bi-Week that resembles a breakfast favourite.
FULL REFERENCE LIST AVAILABLE AT: herphighlights.podbean.com
Main Paper References:
Mezebish, T. D., Blackman, A., & Novarro, A. J. (2018). Salamander climbing behavior varies among species and is correlated with community composition. Behavioral Ecology, 29(3), 686–692. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ary022
Moldowan, P. D., Alex Smith, M., Baldwin, T., Bartley, T., Rollinson, N., & Wynen, H. (2019). Nature’s pitfall trap: Salamanders as rich prey for carnivorous plants in a nutrient‐poor northern bog ecosystem. The Scientific Naturalist, e02770. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2770
Species of the Bi-Week:
Sugawara, H., Watabe, T., Yoshikawa, T., & Nagano, M. (2018). Morphological and Molecular Analyses of Hynobius dunni Reveal a New Species from Shikoku, Japan. Herpetologica, 74(2), 159–168. https://doi.org/10.1655/Herpetologica-D-17-00002.1
Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:
Adams, D. C., & Rohlf, F. J. (2000). Ecological character displacement in Plethodon: Biomechanical differences found from a geometric morphometric study. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97(8), 4106–4111. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.97.8.4106
Other Links/Mentions:
Roberts, W. E. (1994). Explosive breeding aggregations and parachuting in a Neotropical frog, Agalychnis saltator (Hylidae). Journal of Herpetology, 193-199.
Stuart YE, Campbell TS, Hohenlohe PA, Reynolds RG, Revell LJ, Losos JB. 2014. Rapid evolution of a native species following invasion by a congener. Science. 346:463–466.
Music:
Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson
Other Music – The Passion HiFi, www.thepassionhifi.com