Bringing you the recent scientific advancements in the field of Herpetology.
Episodes
Tuesday Jun 13, 2017
Tuesday Jun 13, 2017
In episode two of Herpetological Highlights we delve into the world of frogs and how they deal with noisy environments. Followed up by a pair of radiotelemetry studies giving us a glimpse into the lives of two North American snakes. We have two Species of the Bi-week, a ghostly snake from Madagascar and a rediscovered Monitor Lizard from the distant Bismarck Archipelago. FULL REFERENCE LIST AVAILABLE AT: herphighlights.podbean.com
Main Paper References:
Bauder, Javan M., David R. Breininger, M. Rebecca Bolt, Michael L. Legare, Christopher L. Jenkins, Betsie B. Rothermel, and Kevin McGarigal. 2016. “The Influence of Sex and Season on Conspecific Spatial Overlap in a Large, Actively-Foraging Colubrid Snake.” PLoS ONE 11 (8): 1–19. OPEN ACCESS
Fill, Jennifer M., Jayme L. Waldron, Shane M. Welch, J. Whitfield Gibbons, Stephen H. Bennett, and Timothy A. Mousseau. 2015. “Using Multiscale Spatial Models to Assess Potential Surrogate Habitat for an Imperiled Reptile.” PLoS ONE 10 (4): 1–13. OPEN ACCESS
Goutte, Sandra, Alain Dubois, and Frédéric Legendre. 2013. “The Importance of Ambient Sound Level to Characterise Anuran Habitat.” PLoS ONE 8 (10): 1–11. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0078020. OPEN ACCESS
Species of the Bi-Week:
Ruane, S., F.T. Burbrink, B. Randriamahtantsoa, and Raxworthy. C.J. 2016. “The Cat-Eyed Snakes of Madagascar: Phylogeny and Description of a New Species of Madagascarophis (Serpentes: Lamprophiidae) from the Tsingy of Ankarana.” Copeia 104 (3): 712–21.
Weijola, Valter, Fred Kraus, Varpu Vahtera, Christer Lindqvist, and Stephen C Donnellan. 2017. “Reinstatement of Varanus Douarrha Lesson, 1830 as a Valid Species with Comments on the Zoogeography of Monitor Lizards (Squamata: Varanidae) in the Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea.” Australian Journal of Zoology.
Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:
Durso, Andrew M, and Richard A Seigel. 2015. “A Snake in the Hand Is Worth 10,000 in the Bush.” Journal of Herpetology 49 (4): 503–6. doi:10.1670/15-49-04.1.
Jones, Julia P G, Mijasoa M. Andriamarovololona, and Neal Hockley. 2008. “The Importance of Taboos and Social Norms to Conservation in Madagascar.” Conservation Biology 22 (4): 976–86.
Picciulin, M., Sebastianutto, L., Codarin, A., Calcagno, G., & Ferrero, E. A. 2012. “Brown meagre vocalization rate increases during repetitive boat noise exposures: A possible case of vocal compensation.” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 132(5), 3118-3124.
Scott, Mitchell L., Martin J. Whiting, Jonathan K. Webb, and Richard Shine. 2013. “Chemosensory Discrimination of Social Cues Mediates Space Use in Snakes, Cryptophis Nigrescens (Elapidae).” Animal Behaviour 85: 1493–1500.
Strine, Colin, Curt Barnes, Matthew Crane, Inês Silva, Pongthep Suwanwaree, Bartosz Nadolski, Taksin Artchawakom, and Jacques Hill. 2015. “Sexual Dimorphism of Tropical Green Pit Viper Trimeresurus (Cryptelytrops) macrops in Northeast Thailand.” Amphibia-Reptilia 36 (4): 327–38.
York, Daniel S. "The combat ritual of the Malayan pit viper (Calloselasma rhodostoma)." Copeia 1984.3 (1984): 770-772.
Other Links and Mentions:
Staurios guttatus (Black-spotted Rock Skipper) waves back legs video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vcnZSkRgpQ
Atelopus zeteki (Panamanian golden frog) clip from BBC’s Life in Cold Blood - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1FWQvaBoRg
Music – http://www.purple-planet.com
Saturday May 27, 2017
Saturday May 27, 2017
On this inaugural episode of Herpetological Highlights we discuss colour changing Bearded Dragons, the temperature efficiency of Bluetongue Skinks, and how snake camouflage may have driven primate evolution. Our Species of the Bi-week is a sexually dichromatic snake from India. FULL REFERENCE LIST AVAILABLE AT: herphighlights.podbean.com
Main Paper References:
Fan, Marie, Devi Stuart-Fox, and Viviana Cadena. 2014. “Cyclic Colour Change in the Bearded Dragon Pogona Vitticeps under Different Photoperiods.” PLoS ONE 9 (10). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0111504. OPEN ACCESS
Geen, Michael R S, and Gregory R. Johnston. 2014. “Coloration Affects Heating and Cooling in Three Color Morphs of the Australian Bluetongue Lizard, Tiliqua Scincoides.” Journal of Thermal Biology 43 (1). Elsevier: 54–60. doi:10.1016/j.jtherbio.2014.04.004.
Kawai, Nobuyuki, and Hongshen He. 2016. “Breaking Snake Camouflage: Humans Detect Snakes More Accurately than Other Animals under Less Discernible Visual Conditions.” PLoS ONE 11 (10): 1–10. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0164342. OPEN ACCESS
Species of the Bi-week:
Mohapatra, Pratyush P., S. K. Dutta, Niladri B. Kar, Abhijit Das, B. H. C.K Murthy, and V. Deepak. 2017. “Ahaetulla Nasuta Anomala (Annandale, 1906) (Squamata: Colubridae), Resurrected as a Valid Species with Marked Sexual Dichromatism.” Zootaxa 4263 (2): 318–32. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4263.2.6.
Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:
Cook, Edwin W., Robert L. Hodes, and Peter J. Lang. 1986. "Preparedness and phobia: Effects of stimulus content on human visceral conditioning." Journal of abnormal psychology 95 (3): 195. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.95.3.195
Forsman, Anders. 1995. “Heating Rates and Body Temperature Variation in Melanistic and Zigzag Vipera Berus, Does Colour Make a Difference?” Annales Zoologici Fennici 32 (4): 365–74. http://www.sekj.org/PDF/anzf32/anz32-365-374.pdf. OPEN ACCESS
Garcia, Tiffany S, Jodi Stacy, and Andrew Sih. 2014. “Larval Salamander Response to UV Radiation and Predation Risk : Color Change and Microhabitat Use.” Ecological Applications 14 (4): 1055–64. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/02-5288/full.
Price-Rees, Samantha J., Gregory P. Brown, and Richard Shine. 2010. “Predation on Toxic Cane Toads (Bufo Marinus) May Imperil Bluetongue Lizards (Tiliqua Scincoides Intermedia, Scincidae) in Tropical Australia.” Wildlife Research 37 (2): 166. doi:10.1071/WR09170.
Price-Rees, Samantha J., Jonathan K. Webb, and Richard Shine. 2011. “School for Skinks: Can Conditioned Taste Aversion Enable Bluetongue Lizards (Tiliqua Scincoides) to Avoid Toxic Cane Toads (Rhinella Marina) as Prey?” Ethology 117 (9): 749–57. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.2011.01935.x.
Rasmussen, J.B., 1990. The retina of Psammodynastes pulverulentus (Boie, 1827) and Telescopus fallax (Fleischmann, 1831) with a discussion of their phylogenetic significance (Colubroidea, Serpentes). Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research, 28 (4): 269-276. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0469.1990.tb00381.x
Soares, Sandra C., Björn Lindström, Francisco Esteves, and Arne Öhman. 2014. “The Hidden Snake in the Grass: Superior Detection of Snakes in Challenging Attentional Conditions.” PLoS ONE 9 (12): 1–26. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0114724. OPEN ACCESS
Tanaka, Koji. 2007. “Thermal Biology of a Colour-Dimorphic Snake, Elaphe Quadrivirgata, in a Montane Forest: Do Melanistic Snakes Enjoy Thermal Advantages?” Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 92 (2): 309–22. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2007.00849.x.
Vences, Miguel, Pedro Galán, David R Vieites, Marta Puente, Kerstin Oetter, and Stefan Wanke. 2002. “Field Body Temperatures and Heating Rates in a Montane Frog Population: The Importance of Black Dorsal Pattern for Thermoregulation.” Annales Zoologici Fennici 39: 209–20. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23736709 OPEN ACCESS
Vidal, Nicolas. 2002. “Colubroid Systematics: Evidence for an Early Appearance of the Venom Apparatus Followed By Extensive Evolutionary Tinkering.” Journal of Toxicology: Toxin Reviews 21 (1–2): 21–41. doi:10.1081/TXR-120004740.
Music – http://www.purple-planet.com