Bringing you the recent scientific advancements in the field of Herpetology.
Episodes
Tuesday Jun 26, 2018
Tuesday Jun 26, 2018
Generally speaking, toads are laid back, easy-going creatures. But every so often a species will find itself an invader in a new land and wreak total havoc. We discuss one such toad (but not necessarily the one you might think). Of course there is a toad which is brand new to science as well, in our Species of the Bi-Week. FULL REFERENCE LIST AVAILABLE AT: herphighlights.podbean.com
Main Paper References:
Moore, M, JFSN Fidy, and D Edmonds. 2015. “The New Toad in Town: Distribution of the Asian Toad, Duttaphrynus Melanostictus, in the Toamasina Area of Eastern Madagascar.” Tropical Conservation Science 8 (2): 440–55.
Marshall, BM, NR Casewell, M Vences, F Glaw, F Andreone, A Rakotoarison, G Zancolli, F Woog, and W Wüster. 2018. “Widespread Vulnerability of Malagasy Predators to the Toxins of an Introduced Toad.” Current Biology 28 (11): R654–55.
Species of the Bi-Week:
Landestoy T., MA, DB Turner, AB Marion, and SB Hedges. 2018. “A New Species of Caribbean Toad (Bufonidae, Peltophryne) from Southern Hispaniola.” Zootaxa 4403 (3): 523.
Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:
Brown, GP, BL Phillips, JK Webb, and R Shine. 2006. “Toad on the Road: Use of Roads as Dispersal Corridors by Cane Toads (Bufo marinus) at an Invasion Front in Tropical Australia.” Biological Conservation 133 (1): 88–94.
Feit, B, CE Gordon, JK Webb, TS Jessop, SW Laffan, T Dempster, and M Letnic. 2018. “Invasive Cane Toads Might Initiate Cascades of Direct and Indirect Effects in a Terrestrial Ecosystem.” Biological Invasions. Springer International Publishing, 1–15.
Jenkins, RKB, A Rabearivelo, CT Chan, WM Andre, R Randrianavelona, and JC Randrianantoandro. 2009. “The Harvest of Endemic Amphibians for Food in Eastern Madagascar.” Tropical Conservation Science 2 (1): 25–33.
Kelly, E, and BL Phillips. 2018. “Targeted Gene Flow and Rapid Adaptation in an Endangered Marsupial.” Conservation Biology, June.
Kuo, H-Y, C-W Hsu, J-H Chen, Y-L Wu, and Y-S Shen. 2007. “Life-Threatening Episode after Ingestion of Toad Eggs: A Case Report with Literature Review.” Emergancy Medecine Journal 24 (3): 215–16.
Llewelyn, J, K Bell, L Schwarzkopf, RA Alford, and R Shine. 2012. “Ontogenetic Shifts in a Prey’s Chemical Defences Influence Feeding Responses of a Snake Predator.” Oecologia 169 (4): 965–73.
O’Shea, M, A Kathriner, S Mecke, C Sanchez, and H Kaiser. 2013. “‘Fantastic Voyage’: A Live Blindsnake (Ramphotyphlops Braminus) Journeys through the Gastrointestinal System of a Toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus).” Herpetology Notes 6 (1): 467–70.
Mohammadi, S, Z Gompert, J Gonzalez, H Takeuchi, A Mori, and AH Savitzky. 2016. “Toxin-Resistant Isoforms of Na+/K+-ATPase in Snakes Do Not Closely Track Dietary Specialization on Toads.” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 283: 20162111.
Phillips, BL, and R Shine. 2004. “Adapting to an Invasive Species: Toxic Cane Toads Induce Morphological Change in Australian Snakes.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 101 (49): 17150–55.
Pramuk, JB, T Robertson, JW Sites, and BP Noonan. 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.
Reardon, J. T., Kraus, F., Moore, M., Rabenantenaina, L., Rabinivo, A., Rakotoarisoa, N. H., & Randrianasolo, H. H. (2018). Testing tools for eradicating the invasive toad Duttaphrynus melanostictus in Madagascar. Conservation Evidence 15, 12-19.
Ujvari, B, HC Mun, AD Conigrave, A Bray, J Osterkamp, P Halling, and T Madsen. 2013. “Isolation Breeds Naivety: Island Living Robs Australian Varanid Lizards of Toad-Toxin Immunity via Four-Base-Pair Mutation.” Evolution 67 (1): 289–94.
Ujvari, B, H Mun, AD Conigrave, C Ciofi, and T Madsen. 2014. “Invasive Toxic Prey May Imperil the Survival of an Iconic Giant Lizard, the Komodo Dragon.” Pacific Conservation Biology 20 (4): 363–65.
Ujvari, B, NR Casewell, K Sunagar, K Arbuckle, W Wüster, N Lo, D O’Meally, et al. 2015. “Widespread Convergence in Toxin Resistance by Predictable Molecular Evolution.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112 (38): 11911–11916.
Vences, M, JL Brown, A Lathrop, GM Rosa, A Cameron, A Crottini, R Dolch, et al. 2017. “Tracing a Toad Invasion: Lack of Mitochondrial DNA Variation, Haplotype Origins, and Potential Distribution of Introduced Duttaphrynus melanostictus in Madagascar.” Amphibia-Reptilia 38 (2): 197–207.
Wogan, GOU, BL Stuart, DT Iskandar, and JA McGuire. 2016. “Deep Genetic Structure and Ecological Divergence in a Widespread Human Commensal Toad.” Biology Letters 12 (1): 20150807.
Other Links/Mentions:
CrocFest - www.crocfest.org
Music:
Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson
Other Music – The Passion HiFi, www.thepassionhifi.com
Tuesday Jun 12, 2018
Tuesday Jun 12, 2018
Vipers, sedentary and slow, until it matters most. But how fast can vipers strike? And how do other snakes compare? We check out a couple of papers answering these questions this fortnight as well as checking in on another Species of the Bi-week. FULL REFERENCE LIST AVAILABLE AT: herphighlights.podbean.com
Main Paper References:
Higham, TE, RW Clark, CE Collins, MD Whitford, and GA Freymiller. 2017. “Rattlesnakes Are Extremely Fast and Variable When Striking at Kangaroo Rats in Nature: Three-Dimensional High-Speed Kinematics at Night.” Scientific Reports 7: 40412.
Penning, DA, B Sawvel, and BR Moon. 2016. “Debunking the Viper’s Strike: Harmless Snakes Kill a Common Assumption.” Biology Letters 12 (3): 20160011.
Species of the Bi-Week:
Wickramasinghe, LJM, DR Vidanapathirana, HKD Kandambi, RA Pyron, and N Wickramasinghe. 2017. “A New Species of Aspidura Wagler, 1830 (Squamata: Colubridae: Natricinae) from Sri Pada Sanctuary (Peak Wilderness), Sri Lanka.” Zootaxa 4347 (2): 275–92.
Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:
Devan-Song, A, P Martelli, D Dudgeon, P Crow, G Ades, and NE Karraker. 2016. “Is Long-Distance Translocation an Effective Mitigation Tool for White-Lipped Pit Vipers (Trimeresurus Albolabris) in South China?” Biological Conservation 204: 212–20.
O’Hanlon, SJ, A Rieux, RA Farrer, GM Rosa, B Waldman, A Bataille, TA Kosch, et al. 2018. “Recent Asian Origin of Chytrid Fungi Causing Global Amphibian Declines.” Science 360 (6389): 621–27.
Rundus, A. S., Owings, D. H., Joshi, S. S., Chinn, E. and Giannini, N. (2007). Ground squirrels
use an infrared signal to deter rattlesnake predation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 104, 14372–
14376.
Schraft, H. A., & Clark, R. W. (2017). Kangaroo rats change temperature when investigating rattlesnake predators. Physiology & behavior, 173, 174-178.
Other Links/Mentions:
Videos from Higham et al. 2017
- Snake miss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBEp2LtQwZ8&feature=youtu.be
- Rat escapes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCxvIk8wS_8&feature=youtu.be
Rattlesnake falls down hill from Barbour and Clark 2012
Music:
Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson
Other Music – The Passion HiFi, www.thepassionhifi.com
Tuesday May 29, 2018
Tuesday May 29, 2018
Some snakes are equal parts impressive and mysterious. The indigo snakes are one such group. In this episode we talk about Drymarchon conservation controversies, and what they like to have for their lunch. Finally, we do an unintended Species of the Bi-week mash up. FULL REFERENCE LIST AVAILABLE AT: herphighlights.podbean.com
Main Paper References:
Folta, B, J Bauder, S Spear, D Stevenson, M Hoffman, J Oaks, C Jenkins, D Steen, and C Guyer. 2018. “Phylogenetic, Population Genetic, and Morphological Analyses Reveal Evidence for One Species of Eastern Indigo Snake (Drymarchon Couperi).” BioRxiv: 1–56. doi:10.1101/318766.
Goetz, SM, JC Godwin, M Hoffman, F Antonio, and DA Steen. 2018. “Eastern Indigo Snakes Exhibit an Innate Response to Pit Viper Scent and an Ontogenetic Shift in Their Response to Mouse Scent.” Herpetologica 74 (2): 152–58.
Species’ of the Bi-Week:
Kraus, F. (2013). A New Species of Hylophorbus (Anura: Microhylidae) from Papua New Guinea. Current Herpetology, 32(2), 102-111.
Kraus, F. 2018. “A New Species of Choerophryne (Anura: Microhylidae) from Papua New Guinea.” Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 32 (2): 102–11.
Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:
de Fraga, R, AP Lima, WE Magnusson, M Ferrão, and AJ Stow. 2017. “Contrasting Patterns of Gene Flow for Amazonian Snakes That Actively Forage and Those That Wait in Ambush.” Journal of Heredity 108 (5): 524–34.
Hyslop, NL, JM Meyers, RJ Cooper, and DJ Stevenson. 2014. “Effects of Body Size and Sex of Drymarchon Couperi (Eastern Indigo Snake) on Habitat Use, Movements, and Home Range Size in Georgia.” Journal of Wildlife Management 78 (1): 101–11.
Krysko, KL, MC Granatosky, LP Nuñez, and DJ Smith. 2016. “A Cryptic New Species of Indigo Snake (Genus Drymarchon) from the Florida Platform of the United States.” Zootaxa 4138 (3): 549.
Krysko, KL, LP Nuñez, CA Lippi, DJ Smith, and MC Granatosky. 2016. “Pliocene–Pleistocene Lineage Diversifications in the Eastern Indigo Snake (Drymarchon Couperi) in the Southeastern United States.” Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 98 (May): 111–22.
Strickland, JL, CL Parkinson, JK McCoy, and LK Ammerman. 2014. “Phylogeography of Agkistrodon Piscivorus with Emphasis on the Western Limit of Its Range.” Copeia 2014 (4): 639–49.
Wüster, W, JL Yrausquin, and A Mijares-Urrutia. 2001. “A New Species of Indigo Snake from North-Western Venezuela (Serpentes: Colubridae: Drymarchon).” Herpetological Journal 11 (4): 157–65.
Other Links/Mentions:
T shirts etc: https://www.redbubble.com/people/HerpHighlights?asc=u
https://www.patreon.com/herphighlights
Music:
Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson
Other Music – The Passion HiFi, www.thepassionhifi.com
Tuesday May 15, 2018
Tuesday May 15, 2018
Back to the news niche! This fortnight we’re talking about a collection of papers ranging from crocodile colours to frog personalities, as well as the mysterious death of a tortoise. We finish up with a meta-chat about science podcasting and a brief mention of the crazy future world of in-field laboratories. FULL REFERENCE LIST AVAILABLE AT: herphighlights.podbean.com
References:
Kelleher, S. R., Silla, A. J., & Byrne, P. G. (2018). Animal personality and behavioral syndromes in amphibians: a review of the evidence, experimental approaches, and implications for conservation. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 72(5), 79.
Leary, C. J., & Crocker‐Buta, S. (2018). Rapid effects of elevated stress hormones on male courtship signals suggest a major role for the acute stress response in intra‐and intersexual selection. Functional Ecology, 32(5), 1214-1226.
Mackenzie, LE. 2018. “Science Podcasts : Analysis of Global Production and Output from 2004 to 2018.” bioRxiv, Preprint. doi:https://doi.org/10.1101/298356.
Merchant, M., Hale, A., Brueggen, J., Harbsmeier, C., & Adams, C. (2018). Crocodiles Alter Skin Color in Response to Environmental Color Conditions. Scientific reports, 8(1), 6174.
Pomerantz, A, N Peñafiel, A Arteaga, L Bustamante, F Pichardo, LA Coloma, CL Barrio-Amorós, D Salazar-Valenzuela, and S Prost. 2018. “Real-Time DNA Barcoding in a Rainforest Using Nanopore Sequencing: Opportunities for Rapid Biodiversity Assessments and Local Capacity Building.” GigaScience 7 (4): 1–14.
Staniewicz, A, U Youngprapakorn, and G Jones. 2018. “First Report of Physiological Color Change in a Crocodilian.” Copeia 106 (2): 264–67. doi:10.1643/CP-17-711.
Urban, MC, BL Phillips, DK Skelly, and R Shine. 2008. “A Toad More Traveled: The Heterogeneous Invasion Dynamics of Cane Toads in Australia.” The American Naturalist 171 (3): E134–48
Ward, M. 2018. “INDOTESTUDO ELONGATA (Elongated Tortoise). UNUSUAL MORTALITY.” Herpetological Review 49 (1): 108–9.
Other Links/Mentions:
T-shirts etc: https://www.redbubble.com/people/herphighlights
Music:
Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson
Other Music – The Passion HiFi, www.thepassionhifi.com
Tuesday May 01, 2018
Tuesday May 01, 2018
Long-time friends of herpetologists, anoles have proven a fruitful area of research for decades. This bi-week we discuss a couple of papers examining anole behaviour and colouration before highlighting a newly discovered (and rather spectacular) species.
FULL REFERENCE LIST AVAILABLE AT: herphighlights.podbean.com
Main Paper References:
Kamath, A, and JB Losos. 2018. “Estimating Encounter Rates as the First Step of Sexual Selection in the Lizard Anolis Sagrei.” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 285 (1873): 20172244.
Medina, I, JB Losos, and DL Mahler. 2016. “Evolution of Dorsal Pattern Variation in Greater Antillean Anolis Lizards.” Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 120 (2): 427–35.
Species of the Bi-Week:
Gray, L, R Meza-lázaro, S Poe, and AN De Oca. 2016. “A New Species of Semiaquatic Anolis (Squamata: Dactyloidae) from Oaxaca and Veracruz, Mexico.” Herpetological Journal 26 (October): 253–62.
Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:
Fidler, F, H Fraser, MA Mccarthy, and ET Game. 2018. “Improving the Transparency of Statistical Reporting in Conservation Letters.” Conservation Letters 11 (e12453): 1–4.
Galdino, CAB, G Horta, and RJ Young. 2014. “An Update to a Bead-Tagging Method for Marking Lizards.” Herpetological Review 45 (4): 587–89.
Kolbe, J. J., Glor, R. E., Schettino, L. R., Lara, A. C., Larson, A., & Losos, J. B. (2004). Genetic variation increases during biological invasion by a Cuban lizard. Nature, 431(7005), 177.
Ríos-Saldaña, CA, M Delibes-Mateos, and C Ferreira. 2018. “Are Fieldwork Studies Being Relegated to Second Place in Conservation Science?” Global Ecology and Conservation, April. Elsevier B.V., e00389.
Toda, M., Takahashi, H., Nakagawa, N., & Sukigara, N. (2010). Ecology and control of the green anole (Anolis carolinensis), an invasive alien species on the Ogasawara Islands. In Restoring the oceanic island ecosystem (pp. 145-152). Springer, Tokyo.
Wuster, W, CSE Allum, IB Bjargardottir, KL Bailey, KJ Dawson, J Guenioui, J Lewis, et al. 2004. “Do Aposematism and Batesian Mimicry Require Bright Colours? A Test, Using European Viper Markings.” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 271 (1556): 2495–99.
Other Links/Mentions:
Anole Annals blog: http://www.anoleannals.org/
Wildlife, Cake and Cocktails podcast: https://www.facebook.com/WildlifeCakeCocktails/
Morelia Python Radio podcast: http://www.moreliapythonradio.com/
Music:
Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson
Other Music – The Passion HiFi, www.thepassionhifi.com
Tuesday Apr 17, 2018
Tuesday Apr 17, 2018
We back for another invertebrate versus amphibian episode. But this time we’re focusing on carabid beetles and their relentless consumption all amphibian life. They have managed to turn the tables on their would be predator in a remarkable case of role-reversal. Species of the Bi-week is a beautiful frog with a fittingly macabre name. FULL REFERENCE LIST AVAILABLE AT: herphighlights.podbean.com
Main Paper References:
Wizen, G., and A. Gasith. 2011. “Predation of amphibians by carabid beetles of the genus Epomis found in the central coastal plain of Israel.” Zookeys 100: 181–191.
Wizen, G., and A. Gasith. 2011. “An unprecedented role reversal: Ground beetle larvae (Coleoptera: Carabidae) lure amphibians and prey upon them.” PLoS One 6: 1–6.
Species of the Bi-Week:
Dias, I. R., C. F. B. Haddad, A. J. S. Argôlo, and V. G. D. Orrico. 2017. “The 100th: An appealing new species of Dendropsophus (Amphibia: Anura: Hylidae) from northeastern Brazil R. Castiglia.” PLoS One 12: e0171678.
Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:
Barkai A, McQuaid C (1988) Predator–prey role reversal in marine benthic ecosystems. Science 242: 62–64.
Beckmann, C, and R Shine. 2011. “Toad’s Tongue for Breakfast: Exploitation of a Novel Prey Type, the Invasive Cane Toad, by Scavenging Raptors in Tropical Australia.” Biological Invasions 13 (6): 1447–55.
Brodie Jr., ED. 1977. “Hedgehogs Use Toad Venom in Their Own Defence.” Nature 268 (5621): 627–28.
Choh, Y., Takabayashi, J., Sabelis, M. W., & Janssen, A. (2014). Witnessing predation can affect strength of counterattack in phytoseiids with ontogenetic predator–prey role reversal. Animal Behaviour, 93, 9-13.
Escoriza, D., L. Mestre, G. Pascual, and J. Buse. 2017. “First case of attack of an adult Bufo spinosus Daudin, 1803 by a carabid beetle larva of Epomis circumscriptus (Duftschmid, 1812).” Bol. Asoc. Herpetol. Esp. 28: 2006–2008.
Petschenka, G, S Fandrich, N Sander, V Wagschal, M Boppré, and S Dobler. 2013. “Stepwise Evolution of Resistance to Toxic Cardenolides via Genetic Substitutions in the Na+/K+-ATPase of Milkweed Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Danaini).” Evolution 67 (9): 2753–61.
Scudder, GGE, and J Meredith. 1982. “The Permeability of the Midgut of Three Insects to Cardiac Glycosides.” Journal of Insect Physiology 28 (8): 689–94.
Ujvari, B, NR Casewell, K Sunagar, K Arbuckle, W Wüster, N Lo, D O’Meally, et al. 2015. “Widespread Convergence in Toxin Resistance by Predictable Molecular Evolution.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112 (38): 11911–11916.
Wilson, NJ, AN Stokes, GR Hopkins, ED Brodie, Jr., and CR Williams. 2014. “Functional and Physiological Resistance of Crayfish to Amphibian Toxins: Tetrodotoxin Resistance in the White River Crayfish (Procambarus Acutus).” Canadian Journal of Zoology 92 (11): 939–45.
Voyles, J, DC Woodhams, V Saenz, AQ Byrne, R Perez, G Rios-sotelo, MJ Ryan, et al. 2018. “Shifts in Disease Dynamics in a Tropical Amphibian Assemblage Are Not due to Pathogen Attenuation.” Science 359: 1517–19.
Other Links/Mentions:
Epomis circumscriptus attacking and preying upon Bufo viridis – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFJ_CXJ0qPo
Epomis circumscriptus attacking and preying upon Hyla savignyi – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMkFb5n97cU
Trophic interactions between Epomis adults and Triturus vittatus – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA46dbEpluI
Videos from Wizen and Gasith 2011 PLoS One – http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0025161
Photos from paper two: http://www.tau.ac.il/lifesci/departments/zoology/Amphibia/new.html
Rats vs toads: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ukargs/permalink/2092225931007478/
Music:
Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson
Other Music – The Passion HiFi, www.thepassionhifi.com
Tuesday Apr 03, 2018
Tuesday Apr 03, 2018
This bi-week we decided to do things a little differently. No main theme, we just read random stuff and chatted about it. Featuring some exciting new developments in the crab vs snake continuum, and some methodological issues to keep an eye on. Huge thank you to our Patreons - if you enjoy the podcast please consider donating at www.patreon.com/herphighlights
FULL REFERENCE LIST AVAILABLE AT: herphighlights.podbean.com
References:
Akçakaya, H. Resit, Elizabeth L. Bennett, Thomas M. Brooks, Molly K. Grace, Anna Heath, Simon Hedges, Craig Hilton-Taylor, et al. 2018. “Quantifying Species Recovery and Conservation Success to Develop an IUCN Green List of Species.” Conservation Biology, 1–15.
Alexander, G. J. Reproductive biology and maternal care of neonates in southern African python (Python natalensis). Journal of Zoology. IN PRESS
Dolia, Jignasu. 2018. “Notes on the Distribution and Natural History of the King Cobra (Ophiophagus Hannah Cantor, 1836) from the Kumaon Hills of Uttarakhand, India.” Herpetology Notes 11:217–22.
Fraser, Hannah, Timothy H. Parker, Shinichi Nakagawa, Ashley Barnett, and Fiona Fidler. 2018. “Questionable Research Practices in Ecology and Evolution.” Pre-Print. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/AJYQG.
Garnett, S. T., & Christidis, L. (2017). Taxonomy anarchy hampers conservation. Nature News, 546(7656), 25.
Jayne, B. C., Voris, H. K., & Ng, P. K. (2018). How big is too big? Using crustacean-eating snakes (Homalopsidae) to test how anatomy and behaviour affect prey size and feeding performance. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 123(3), 636-650.
Loss, Scott R., and Peter P. Marra. 2018. “Merchants of Doubt in the Free-Ranging Cat Conflict.” Conservation Biology 32 (2):265–66.
Thomson, Scott A., Richard L. Pyle, Shane T. Ahyong, Miguel Alonso-Zarazaga, Joe Ammirati, Juan Francisco Araya, John S. Ascher, et al. 2018. “Taxonomy Based on Science Is Necessary for Global Conservation.” PLOS Biology 16 (3):e2005075.
Other Links/Mentions:
Video of Pareas carinatus eating a snail - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcis86ZSwhE
Supplementary material from Alexander 2018 (including videos of baby pythons): https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jzo.12554
Music:
Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson
Other Music – The Passion HiFi, www.thepassionhifi.com
Tuesday Mar 20, 2018
Tuesday Mar 20, 2018
We kick off this episode with the announcement of our move onto Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/herphighlights . Research chat this time is all British snakes. We may not have the most extensive array of snake-life in the Britain, but that doesn't mean that there can’t be some exciting herpetofaunal research. This fortnight we are looking at a couple of papers on smooth and grass snakes. And a slight change to the Species of the Bi-week. FULL REFERENCE LIST AVAILABLE AT: herphighlights.podbean.com
Main Paper References:
Reading, C, and G Jofré. 2013. “Diet Composition Changes Correlated with Body Size in the Smooth Snake, Coronella Austriaca, Inhabiting Lowland Heath in Southern England.” Amphibia-Reptilia 34 (4): 463–70.
Sewell, D, JMR Baker, and RA Griffiths. 2015. “Population Dynamics of Grass Snakes (Natrix natrix) at a Site Restored for Amphibian Reintroduction.” Herpetological Journal 25 (July): 155–61.
Species of the Bi-Week:
Kindler, C, M Chèvre, S Ursenbacher, W Böhme, A Hille, D Jablonski, M Vamberger, and U Fritz. 2017. “Hybridization Patterns in Two Contact Zones of Grass Snakes Reveal a New Central European Snake Species.” Scientific Reports 7 (1): 1–12.
Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:
Buckley, J, and J Foster. 2005. “Reintroduction Strategy for the Pool Frog Rana Lessonae in England.” English Nature Research Report.
Glaudas, X, and GJ Alexander, 2017. “Food supplementation affects the foraging ecology of a low-energy, ambush-foraging snake.” Behavioral ecology and sociobiology, 71(1), 5.
Glaudas, X, TC Kearney, and GJ Alexander. 2017. “Museum specimens bias measures of snake diet: a case study using the ambush-foraging puff adder (Bitis arietans).” Herpetologica, 73(2), 121-128.
Madsen, T. 1984. “Movements, Home Range Size and Habitat Use of Radio-Tracked Grass Snakes (Natrix Natrix) in Southern Sweden.” Copeia 1984 (3): 707–13.
Reading, CJ, and GM Jofré. 2009. “Habitat Selection and Range Size of Grass Snakes Natrix natrix in an Agricultural Landscape in Southern England.” Amphibia-Reptilia 30 (3): 379–88.
Wasko, DK, and M Sasa. 2012. “Food Resources Influence Spatial Ecology, Habitat Selection, and Foraging Behavior in an Ambush-Hunting Snake (Viperidae: Bothrops Asper): An Experimental Study.” Zoology 115 (3): 179–87.
Wisler, C, U Hofer, and R Arlettaz. 2008. “Snakes and Monocultures: Habitat Selection and Movements of Female Grass Snakes (Natrix natrix l.) in an Agricultural Landscape.” Journal of Herpetology 42 (2): 337–46.
Thomson, SA, RL Pyle, ST Ahyong, M Alonso-Zarazaga, J Ammirati, JF Araya, JS Ascher, et al. 2018. “Taxonomy Based on Science Is Necessary for Global Conservation.” PLOS Biology 16 (3): e2005075.
Other Links/Mentions:
The grass snake and the frog video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Sa_G9Hhf3o
Music:
Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson
Other Music – The Passion HiFi, www.thepassionhifi.com
Tuesday Mar 06, 2018
Tuesday Mar 06, 2018
Unsurprisingly, water snakes love water. But what happens when this precious resource dries out? This week we discuss the effects of drought on various American water snakes, and pay homage to a newly described Mesoamerican snake. FULL REFERENCE LIST AVAILABLE AT: herphighlights.podbean.com
Main Paper References:
Rose, JP, and BD Todd. 2017. “Demographic Effects of Prolonged Drought on a Nascent Introduction of a Semi-Aquatic Snake.” Biological Invasions 19 (10): 2885–98. doi:10.1007/s10530-017-1491-4.
Vogrinc, PN, AM Durso, CT Winne, and JD Willson. 2018. “Landscape-Scale Effects of Supra-Seasonal Drought on Semi-Aquatic Snake Assemblages.” Wetlands.
Species of the Bi-Week:
Campbell, JA. 2015. “A New Species of Rhadinella (Serpentes: Colubridae) from the Pacific Versant of Oaxaca, Mexico.” Zootaxa 3918 (3): 397.
Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:
Brown, GP, and PJ Weatherhead. 1999. “Growth and Sexual Size Dimorphism in Northern Water Snakes (Nerodia Sipedon).” Copeia 1999 (3): 723.
Fernández, M., Hamilton, H., Alvarez, O., & Guo, Q. (2012). Does adding multi-scale climatic variability improve our capacity to explain niche transferability in invasive species?. Ecological modelling, 246, 60-67.
Fuller, TE, KL Pope, DT Ashton, and HH Welsh. 2011. “Linking the Distribution of an Invasive Amphibian (Rana Catesbeiana) to Habitat Conditions in a Managed River System in Northern California.” Restoration Ecology 19 (201): 204–13.
King, RB, JM Ray, and KM Stanford. 2006. “Gorging on Gobies: Beneficial Effects of Alien Prey on a Threatened Vertebrate.” Canadian Journal of Zoology 84 (1): 108–15.
Mahoney, P. J. et al. (2015) ‘Introduction effort, climate matching and species traits as predictors of global establishment success in non-native reptiles’, Diversity and Distributions, 21(1), pp. 64–74.
Mazzotti, F. J., Cherkiss, M. S., Hart, K. M., Snow, R. W., Rochford, M. R., Dorcas, M. E., & Reed, R. N. (2011). Cold-induced mortality of invasive Burmese pythons in south Florida. Biological Invasions, 13(1), 143-151.
McClelland, P, JT Reardon, F Kraus, CJ Raxworthy, and C Randrianantoandro. 2015. “Asian Toad Eradication Feasibility Report for Madagascar.” Te Anau, New Zealand.
Pounds, JA, MPL Fogden, and JH Campbell. 1999. “Biological Response to Climate Change on a Tropical Mountain.” Nature 398 (6728): 611–15.
Rose, JP, and BD Todd. 2014. “Projecting Invasion Risk of Non-Native Watersnakes (Nerodia Fasciata and Nerodia Sipedon) in the Western United States.” Edited by Benedikt R. Schmidt. PLoS ONE 9 (6): e100277.
Music:
Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson
Other Music – The Passion HiFi, www.thepassionhifi.com
Tuesday Feb 20, 2018
Tuesday Feb 20, 2018
Monitor lizards are renowned savengers... or so is widely thought. There are a few species that have cast aside the scavenger ways of their compatriots, opting for more relaxed arboreal lifestyles, spending their days high in the tree tops foraging for fruit. These frugivorous monitor lizards are are joined by a serpentine Species of the Bi-week. FULL REFERENCE LIST AVAILABLE AT: herphighlights.podbean.com
Main Paper References:
Bennett, D. 2014. “The Arboreal Foraging Behavior of the Frugivorous Monitor Lizard Varanus Olivaceus on Polillo Island.” Biawak 8 (1): 15–18.
Law, SJ, SR De Kort, D Bennett, and M Van Weerd. 2016. “Morphology, Activity Area, and Movement Patterns of the Frugivorous Monitor Lizard Varanus Bitatawa.” Herpetological Conservation and Biology 11 (3): 467–75.
Species of the Bi-Week:
Brown, RM, U Smart, AE Leviton, and EN Smith. 2018. “A New Species of Long-Glanded Coralsnake of the Genus Calliophis (Squamata: Elapidae) from Dinagat Island, with Notes on the Biogeography and Species Diversity of Philippine Calliophis and Hemibungarus.” Herpetologica 74 (1): 89–104.
Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:
Bennett, D. 2014. “A Dubious Account of Breeding Varanus Olivaceus in Captivity at the Paradise Reptile Zoo in Mindoro, Philippines.” Biawak 8 (1): 12–14.
Bennett, D, and T Clements. 2014. “The Use of Passive Infrared Camera Trapping Systems in the Study of Frugivorous Monitor Lizards.” Biawak 8 (1): 19–30.
Gunawardena, S. A. 2016. “Forensic Significance of Monitor Lizard Scavenging Activity on Human Corpses.” Biawak 10 (2): 45-47.
Koch, A., and E. Arida. 2017. “A coconut-eating monitor lizard? On an unusual case of frugivory in the melanistic Sulawesi water monitor (Varanus togianus).” Herpetological Bulletin 139: 41.
Sugiura, S, and T Sato. 2018. “Successful Escape of Bombardier Beetles from Predator Digestive Systems.” Biology Letters 14 (2): 20170647.
Sy, E. Y. 2012. “First record of Varanus bitatawa in the Philippine pet trade.” Biawak 6 (2): 73.
Other Links/Mentions:
Smallest monitor lizard article/video: http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/blogs/creatura-blog/2015/05/australian-lizard-the-worlds-smallest-monitor
Music:
Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson
Other Music – The Passion HiFi, www.thepassionhifi.com