Lizard-Limbs.. Lift the Veil on the Mysteries of Organ Regeneration .

Montreal scientists (from the Universite de Montreal and McGill University) are reporting a breakthrough in limb-regeneration research. They say their work with a little Mexican salamander (Axolotls – urodele amphibians) has identified a cellular pathway that leads them to envision the possibility of regenerating damaged or destroyed organs in humans.  They’ve determined that a gene is involved in the preparation phase leading to the regeneration of a limb in the little lizard.  The gene controls cell division and migration and allows the creature to regenerate complex structures like its feet, tail, jaw, spinal cord and the front (anterior) part of its brain.
Humans already are capable of limited tissue regeneration; including the liver, which can grow back when part of it is removed.  Also, damaged tissue in children’s fingertips can grow back if they don’t get stitches. 

From cjad.com

UK’s toads menaced by fungal attack

Scientists have predicted that the UK’s toad population will suffer extinction in some areas within 10 years due to a deadly infectious fungal disease introduced into Britain via North American bullfrogs.

While the original non-native vectors of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis have now been exterminated, the disease has persisted, and has been detected in Kent, Reuters reports.

Researchers from Imperial College London and the Institute of Zoology formulated a mathematical model which pointed to its eventual spread with “devastating” consequences for the European common toad (Bufo bufo).

Just how apocalyptic the scenario is depends on how long the fungus can survive in water when not flourishing on amphibian skin. Scientists believe it could be “a very long time”, and Mat Fisher of Imperial College elaborated: “We start to see dramatic effects if the chytrid [fungus] lives for longer than seven weeks outside the host.

“We strongly suspect that it can live for longer because of the devastating effect it has had elsewhere, and the new models show that this would be very bad news for toads in this country.”

The disease has indeed already done for entire amphibian populations in Australia and Central and South America, and is now menacing European toads. Scientists have, perhaps inevitably, “linked its spread to global warming”.

The bottom line is that if Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis can live outside the host for a year, this would provoke a “severe decline” in the overall UK toad population and its complete disappearance from some areas within a decade.

Whatever the eventual outcome, the common British frog (Rana temporaria) will be unaffected, since it’s immune to the disease.

The reserachers’ findings are published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society. ®

From The Register

Marilyn Manson to attempt ’snake bath’ record

Marilyn Manson wants to break the world record for sharing a bath with snakes.

The controversial rocker – who is famous for his peculiar obsessions with death and taxidermy – wants to beat the ‘Texas Snakeman’ Jackie Bibby, who holds the world record by bathing with 87 rattlesnakes for 45 minutes.

A source close to the singer said: “Marilyn is desperate to get into the famous book, and wants to do it for something people will associate him with.

“He thought about all the wacky records he could try and break, and came across Jackie Bibby’s record. That’s when he decided he wanted to try and break it.”

Father-of-two Jackie – who holds four world records including holding eight rattlesnakes in his mouth by their tails – has perfected the art of bathing with the venomous creatures.

He said: “They can go wherever they want as long as they don’t start biting. The key to not biting is for me to stay still.

“Rapid movement scares a rattlesnake. If you move real slow and gentle, that doesn’t seem to bother them.”

From stuff.co.nz

2 Headed snake hatched.

I came across a posting in a reptileforum that I had to write about…

In a clutch of 3 Honduran Milksnake eggs 1 juvenile came out as a normalcoloured, 1 as a Tangerine and 1 with 2 heads. Now this is not so common. As a matter of fact, it rareley happens.

Anyways, I asked if I could post about it, and it was ok from the man that has bred the animals. So, here are a couple of links. The first is to the thread in the reptileforums uk (RFUK) and the other is to a videoshot, showing the 2-headed snake.

Conservation group files lawsuit to protect Mississippi gopher frog

A conservation group has filed a federal lawsuit against the Bush administration, arguing Mississippi’s gopher frog and five other endangered species are the victims of political corruption.The Center for Biological Diversity’s lawsuit says President Bush’s appointees in the Interior Department overruled the opinions of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists and failed to provide protection for the species.

A center employee said Bush has allowed “political interference” in scientific decisions.

“He’s appointed people at the Interior Department that are downright hostile to wildlife and designating habitat to wildlife,” said Will Hodges, a biodiversity advocate for the center.

The gopher frog was once plentiful across the Gulf Coast, but has dwindled to a few hundred specimens in three south Mississippi ponds.

The other five endangered species covered in the lawsuit are the Montana fluvial arctic grayling, the Mexican garter snake, the Santa Ana sucker in California and the Spikedace and loach minnows in Arizona and New Mexico.

Advocates at the center said they have identified 55 species they believe have been affected after partisan officials who favor development overruled scientific opinions.

They point to the recent resignation of former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior Julie MacDonald. She left the agency after the department’s inspector general found she “has been heavily involved with editing, commenting on, and reshaping” reports on endangered species written by biologists.

“This administration just doesn’t want to protect species,” Hodges said. “Critical habitat is controversial because it can hold up or block projects on public land or projects that need federal permits.”

A lawsuit only tells one side of the legal argument. Federal officials were not available to discuss the center’s claims because of the holiday, according to an article at http://www.clarionledger.com, but have downplayed similar efforts in the past.

Kieran Suckling, the center’s policy director, said federal law requires officials to come up with a plan to save endangered species. The gopher frog has no such plan.

“It’s been on the list for six years, and the government has taken no steps to develop a plan,” he said.

The gopher frog is about 3 inches long with black to brown or gray coloring. It once ranged from southwest Alabama to southeast Louisiana, but it has not been found in Louisiana since 1967 and it has been gone from Alabama since 1922.

Hodges said the frog is “fairly obscure,” but that’s no reason to let it go extinct.

“If we concede on the gopher frog, what is the next species?” he said.

From SunHerald

Sun frog in danger

A HEAT-SEEKING frog with a remarkable ability to control its temperature may be protected from extinction by experts in Manchester.

Scientists believe global warming is behind a dramatic decline in Central America’s tropical tree frogs – and their findings could help save dozens of other threatened species.

Costa Rican tree frogs live high above the ground and bask in the sun.

Manchester University scientists think they do this because the heat kills fungal infections, but global warming has created cloudy conditions in their habitat, leading to increased illness.

They are testing their theory on tree frogs held as part of a collection of amphibians at Manchester Museum.

Amphibian expert Andrew Gray said a scanner would examine the frogs’ skin, which lets them regulate their temperature as well as change colour to camouflage themselves.

He said: “The imaging technique is non-invavsive and does not harm the frogs.”

A third of the world’s 5,700 amphibians face extinction through global warming.

From Manchester Evening News

Swedish article about a man who injected snakevenom in another person: Man injicerade ormgift i offer

Gift från sandhuggorm sprutades in i låret på en person i Haparanda i våras när en man skulle driva in en skuld på 6500 kronor. Den stuckne fick vårdas på sjukhus, skriver kuriren.nu.

På måndagen åtalas mannen och åklagaren anser att han ska dömas för grov misshandel till ett års fängelse. Mannen hävdar att det hela var en olyckshändelse.

Enligt vissa uppgifter ska sandhuggorm vara Europas giftigaste orm.

From Aftonbladet

Här är lite om händelsen:

Injicerades med ormgift i benet

LULEÅ.
- Grov misshandel, tycker åklagaren.

- En olyckshändelse, menar den åtalade.

Båda talar om en spruta med ormgift som hamnade i baksidan av låret på en man i en by utanför Haparanda i våras. Och om det, råder i alla fall enighet.

Händelsen återberättades i Haparanda tingsrätt på måndagen. Åklagare Thor-Bertil Mjörnerud yrkar på ett år och två månaders fängelse för grov misshandel för dådet.

 

Det hela tog sin början i slutet av mars i år, när en man kom till en annan man i en by utanför Haparanda för att driva in en skuld på 6.500 kronor. Mannen som bodde i byn hade en bekant hos sig och diskussion och handgemäng uppstod. Indrivaren sprejade mot de båda andra med något som åklagaren betecknar som pepparliknande sprej, men som den åtalade påstår var hårsprej.

 

Faktum var i alla fall att de båda männen både fick svårt att se och svårt att andas efter sprejningen.

 

Spruta i låret
I momentet efter har den man som var skyldig pengar fått en injektionsspruta inkörd i baksidan av ena låret. I sprutan fanns, enligt åklagare Mjörnerud, desinfektionsmedel, någon form av medicin och också gift från sandhuggorm.

 

Efter sprutsticket svullnade mannens lår upp så att det blev åtminstone tio centimeter större i omkrets än hans andra lår. Mannen fick föras till sjukhus och vårdas där några dagar för illamående och diarréer.

 

Sandhuggormen lever i södra Europa och det råder delade meningar om hur giftigt ormens bett är.

 

Enligt uppgifter på internet ska det röra sig om Europas giftigaste orm, något tiotal gånger giftigare än vår svenska huggorm. Och med tanke på att ett bett från svensk huggorm kan leda till döden, torde väl anklagelsepunkten grov misshandel knappast att beteckna som en underdrift.

 

Dödligt gift
- Under olyckliga omständigheter ska bettet vara dödligt, säger Thor-Bertil Mjörnerud.

 

- Om giftet exempelvis hamnar i ett kärl som leder till hjärtat, till exempel.

 

I sprutan fanns dock tydligen bara en liten mängd gift och den stuckne mannen fick som sagt tillbringa några dagar på sjukhus.

 

Mannen med injektionssprutan hävdar att sprejattacken mot de båda andra skedde i nödvärn och att sticket med sprutan var en olyckshändelse.

Men åklagaren menar att det handlar om grov misshandel mot den stuckne mannen och misshandel mot den man som klarade sig med att “bara” bli sprejad.

Yrkar på fängelse
Åklagaren yrkar på att mannen döms till ett år och två månaders fängelse för det grova brottet, det vill säga sprutsticket med ormgiftet.

Minimistraffet för grov misshandel är ett års fängelse. Åklagaren yrkar dessutom ansvar för misshandel för sprejattacken mot den andre mannen.

Indrivaren åtalades också för olaga hot mot en kvinna i samma rättegång.

Dom faller om 14 dagar, den 3 december.

From Kuriren

Bufo toads prove a tempting, and fatal, target for S. Florida pets

TAMPA – There’s nothing comely about shot-put-size toads. They repulse. They are big and brown and look like they could leave a bruise if they leap at you.

Unfortunately, dogs and cats seem to love them.

Carole Miller, of Temple Terrace, had a Jack Russell terrier that got hold of such a toad a month ago. The results were tragic.

Her dog was in the backyard playing when Miller heard him barking.

“I went out to see what he was up to. He was back in the bushes,” she recalled. “I looked and saw a toad stretched out on the ground.”

She recognized the species as poisonous and immediately pulled her dog into the house.

Her dog clawed at its mouth and began suffering seizures. She rushed him to the veterinarian, but there was nothing to be done and he died.

The scientific name of the toad is Bufo marinus. Some call them marine toads or just plain giant toads. But whatever you call them, they have adapted well to life in urban and suburban areas of Central and South Florida.

“They can frequently be seen hopping along sidewalks or resting near suburban canals,” an advisory from the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission states. They are active mostly at night, hiding during the day under fallen trees, leaves, stones or debris, or burrowing into loose soil.

Bufos have immense, deeply parotid glands that extend far down the sides of their bodies. They are brown or gray-brown on top, sometimes with cream-colored spots scattered across their backs, sides and legs. The underside is a sickly pale yellow, sometimes flecked with black. The back and legs are covered with spiny warts.

Though big and tough looking, the Bufo is sensitive to cold. They breed from spring to autumn. They eat everything, from plants to insects to dog and cat food. Scientists in Costa Rica once grew Bufos in a lab by feeding them small mice.

They came from the Amazon basin in South America and have spread through Central America into some of the warmer Southern states.

In Florida, they have invaded the Keys as well as South Florida and the Tampa Bay area, the advisory states.

So, why not live and let live? It’s the milky secretion that presents a problem.

Skin glands in the Bufos produce a highly toxic substance that is an effective defense against predators. It can sicken or kill small animals, including dogs and cats. The secretion can irritate the skin and burn the eyes of humans who handle the critter.

The regional office of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in Lakeland gets about two to three calls a month about the toads, said Chad Allison, wildlife assistance biologist.

The commission has no problem with people eradicating them, he said.

“They are so easily recognized, people aren’t afraid to euthanize them, whether stomping or freezing or shooting them,” he said.

Wildlife experts say the most humane choice is to pop them into a plastic bag and then put them in a freezer for a couple of days or smack them with a shovel.

But first make sure it is at least 4 inches long because the species has a smaller look-alike called Bufo terrestris. Also known as the Southern toad, this Bufo is a beneficial indigenous species that doesn’t harm pets.

Use gloves or a bag to handle the Bufos. If you have to use a bare hand, grab it around the waist, away from the poison-secreting glands.

Wildlife experts say that if a dog has been poisoned by a Bufo, it may drool a lot, shake its head and whine. Its gums turn brick red. In serious cases, the dog may convulse.

Pet owners immediately should use a hose to flush the pet’s mouth, holding its head to the side and down so the water runs out and isn’t swallowed. Rub the gums and mouth to remove the toxin, and immediately call a veterinarian.

From Sun-Sentinel

Urban Bromeliad – big jungles in small packages.

“Morning comes and drenches the red rocks with heavy, warming light. The air is thick and hot, yet there is enough of a breeze to cause the spear grass to sway, its shadows dancing and falling with delicate intricacy onto a beautifully patterned goanna. On the other side of the glass, life in your home is going on as normal.

You see, many of us may marvel at the beauty of the reptiles and amphibians we see filmed or photographed in the wild, yet when we look to our private collections something is not quite right. It may be that the beaded texture and bold colourings of your Gila Monster’s skin look slightly less spectacular when the animal is viewed against a petshop bought “desert backdrop” through glass smeared with greasy handprints. Or maybe its that your tree frogs bright patterns clash nastily with the gaudy plastic petals of that fake plant you gave them to hide in.

At Urban Bromeliad, we believe that your herptiles deserve an enclosure which has been custom crafted into a portion of the environment they would naturally live in. We will substitute that cellophane backdrop for a unique hand crafted three dimensional hardscape in sandstone, slate, or any other rock type you wish to see. We will take away the plastic plant and replace it with unusual and beautiful plants which can even be matched to the exact geographical region your animal is from. An expert knowledge of horticulture mixed with the detailed sculpting of faux rock landscapes gives you a gargantuan range of plants and rock types which not only suit your animal geographically but aesthetically too. Taking into account the unique requirements of both the specimens and the keepers, we will present you with a well planned natural looking set up which will be enjoyed by all.”

The text above was taken from this beautifully designed homepage of Urban Bromeliad, run by Paul Batchelor. A site and onlinestore that is dedicated to orchids, succulents, creepers, ferns and other species of plants that do really well in vivariums and terrariums.

Nothing is missing here! I mentioned plants but they also have a stock of lightning, substrates, wood and wines, frogs and they also design, build and places terrariums  in corporate settings. Now that looks spectacular in a foyer, reception, retail space, or even your office. And then they handle the maintainenance of it! All one have to do really, is to enjoy the whole thing!

Think about it.. Your own little jungle.. With frogs that looks like little gems..

Here are some of the frogs:

     

Pictures by: Stuart Howe

The site is designed by EggMan designs , and he has done a really great job with it.

The least you can do, is to take a look and dream…

Kansas City Man Accused Of Toad Licking.

Toad Venom Used As Hallucinogenic

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A 21-year-old man has been accused of using a toad to get high.

Clay County sheriff’s deputies said David Theiss, of Kansas City, possessed a Colorado River toad with the intention of using it as a hallucinogenic.

Experts said it’s possible to lick the toad’s venom glands to achieve psychedelic effects. 

Most pet stores don’t sell the Colorado River toad because the venom can sicken humans and kill household animals.

“People used to do it all the time, but it got faded out awhile, but came back as a fad. Not a smart one,” animal expert Danny Snyder told KMBC’s Dion Lim. “The toxins in it can kill a lot of stuff.”

Authorities said this is the first time Clay County has dealt with this sort of hallucinogen.

Theiss was released on bond.

The toad is in custody at a police crime lab.

From KMBC