Herper.com: Reptiles and Amphibians

Reptiles and Amphibians in the News

Friday, July 18, 2008

Cane Toad Snake Snack

A cane toad was photographed chowing down on a keelback in Australia. (News source.)

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Thursday, July 10, 2008

Frog News

Dead frogs were the clue to busting a cigarette smuggler in Malaysia... (News source.)

And, an article on female frog's picking out their mates call here.

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Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Live Fast, Die Young

An unusual species of Madagascar chameleon, Furcifer labordi, lives only 4 to 5 months after hatching. (Eurekalert)

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Thursday, June 26, 2008

Boreal Toad Anomaly

The boreal toads in Colorado are dying off from the chytrid fungus, but it doesn't seem to be killing the populations in Wyoming or Montana (despite being present). Researchers are investigating the apparent immunity... (News source.)

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Monday, June 23, 2008

Crocodilian News

A Texas man tries to find a new home for his 5-foot illegal alligator. (News source.)

China is reporting (for some reason) the sighting of some Chinese alligators in the wild. (News source.)

Two gharials were spotted 30km from the Tata Steel Zoological Park (in India ), where they escaped during flooding. (News source.)

An Australian man was fortunate enough to fight off an attack by a 15-foot saltwater crocodile. (News source.)

Baby Nile crocodiles synchronize their hatching by chattering to each other beforehand. (News source.)

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Sunday, June 22, 2008

Manitoba Garters

An article here describing a trip to the Manitoba garter snake dens.

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Friday, June 13, 2008

Bipedal Lizards

A study here shows that bipedalism in lizards is based on the reptile shifting its center of gravity during acceleration...

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Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Clawed Frog

"'Amphibian horror' isn't a movie genre, but on this evidence perhaps it should be. Harvard biologists have described a bizarre, hairy frog with cat-like extendable claws.
"Trichobatrachus robustus
actively breaks its own bones to produce claws that puncture their way out of the frog's toe pads, probably when it is threatened."


Details at New Scientist.

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Thursday, May 22, 2008

Silvery Salamanders

Some info here on the strange genetic history of the silvery salamander in Illinois.

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Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Reproductive Plasticity

Here is a study on a neotropical treefrog that can lay its eggs in water or on land...

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Sunday, May 11, 2008

Ultrasonic Frogs

The female concave-eared torrent frog, Odorrana tormota, uses ultrasonic chirps to attract males over the sounds of rushing water and waterfalls in central China. (Eurekalert.)

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Friday, April 18, 2008

Rapid Changes in Podarcis

The Italian wall lizard, Podarcis sicula, was introduced to a small island in the Adriatic in 1971, and show a variety of significant changes in the current population. (News source.)

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Monday, April 14, 2008

Komodo Research

Research on Komodo dragon skulls shows that while the bite force is low and the skull is comparatively lightweight, but sharp teeth and unique biting methods driven by strong neck musculature make for an effective predator. (Eurekalert.)

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Monday, April 7, 2008

Lungless Frog

A rare aquatic frog, Barbourula kalimantanensis, from Borneo has been confirmed as the only known (so far) lungless frog. The frog "lives in cold, fast-flowing water, they noted, so loss of lungs might be an adaptation to a combination of factors: a higher oxygen environment, the species’s presumed low metabolic rate, severe flattening of their bodies that increases the surface area of their skin, and selection for negative buoyancy—meaning that the frogs would rather sink than float." (Eurekalert)

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Gator Blood Fights Disease

Proteins from the blood of alligators may find their way into human medicine. Medical researchers are looking for ways to harness gators' strong immunological resistance in future medical treatments. (News source.)

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Friday, March 14, 2008

Gator News

Shifting lungs allows alligators to be agile and quick underwater. (News source.)

Two suspects in the vandalism at St. Augustine Alligator Farm have been caught. (News source.)

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Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Crocodile News

Here's an article at LiveScience on crocodilian digestion.

Chinese parents won a lawsuit against a crocodile farm where their child was killed by a croc. The boy and some friends had snuck over a fence to a staging area, then slung rocks at the reptiles and hit them with sticks. One croc lunged at the boy, and pulled him underwater, where he was eaten. The keeper was not at his station, and other conditions brought the court in the parent's favor. (News source.)

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Wednesday, January 30, 2008

No Camouflage for Chameleons

New research proposes that the color changing in chameleons is strictly for mating displays, and has no camouflaging purpose. (News source.)

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