Another new species of lizard discovered in India

Another new species of ground dwelling lizard, Hemidactylus sataraensis, has been discovered in India by a team from the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). The geckos belonging to this genus are chiefly arboreal and many of them are well known to humans. The lizards or geckos which are common in houses mostly belong to this genus. In India there are 21 species in this genus, however this new lizard from Maharashtra is the largest species of Hemidactylus from India.   

This distinctive new species of gecko is chiefly rock dwelling and occurs on the cliffs in the northern Western Ghats. This gecko was first photographed by herpetologist Mr. Ashok Captain of Pune. After consultation with Mr. Varad B. Giri, of the Bombay Natural History Society, and Dr. Aaron M. Bauer of Villanova University they realised that this is an interesting and as yet undescribed species. Dr. Aaron M. Bauer is an expert on lizards and an authority in this group.

Unique herpetofauna diversity

The discovery of a new, large, rock dwelling species of Hemidactylus proves the fact that this region has a unique diversity of herpetofauna. Presently this species is only known from the type locality, but by looking at habitat preference of this species, it is strongly felt that it may be present in other regions of the northern Western Ghats and needs immediate attention. This also highlights the need for more intensive systematic surveys in this region to document the diversity. And the data generated will eventually be utilized to conserve the species and its habitats.     

Varad had submitted his findings to a scientific journal, Hamadryad which are published recently. Varad had named this new species honouring Dr. Bauer as Hemidactylus aaronbaueri.  

For further details contact:

Varad B. Giri
Scientist ‘B’
Bombay Natural History Society
Mumbai
Mobile: 9223542581
Tel.: 22821811 (office)
E-mail: varadgiri@gmail.com

Courtesy of Varad B. Giri, of the Herpetology Section of Bombay Natural History Society of Mumbai.

From Wildlife Extra

Still just a lizard

I found a blogpost that I can´t help myself from sharing with you..

“The title gets the principal objection of any creationist out of the way: yes, this population of Podarcis sicula is still made up of lizards, but they’re a different kind of lizard now. Evolution works.

Here’s the story: in 1971, scientists started an experiment. They took 5 male lizards and 5 female lizards of the species Podarcis sicula from a tiny Adriatic island called Pod Kopiste, 0.09km², and they placed them on an even tinier island, Pod Mrcaru, 0.03km², which was also inhabited by another lizard species, Podarcis melisellensis. Then a war broke out, the Croatian War of Independence, which went on and on and meant the little islands were completely neglected for 36 years, and nature took its course. When scientists finally returned to the island and looked around, they discovered that something very interesting had happened.

The original population of P. sicula was still present on Pod Kopiste, so we have a nice control population. These lizards are small, fast, insect-eaters in which the males defend territories.

Sadly, P. melisellensis on Pod Mrcaru had been extirpated. So we had a few innocent casualties of the experiment.

The transplanted P. sicula thrived and swarmed over the island of Pod Mrcaru, but they were different, and they had evolved in multiple ways.

The original P. sicula were insectivores who occasionally munched on a leaf; approximately 4-7% of their diet was vegetation. The P. sicula of Pod Mrcaru, though, had adopted a more vegetarian diet: examining their gut contents revealed that 34% of their diet was plants in the spring, climbing to 61% in the summer…and much of this diet was hard-to-digest stuff, high in cellulose. This is a fairly radical shift.

There were concomitant changes. The lizards’ skulls were wider, deeper, and longer, and they had stronger bites — a necessity for chomping off bits of tough plants, instead of soft mosquitos. Instead of chasing bugs, they’re browsing stationary plants, and their legs are shorter and they are slower. Population densities are higher. The Pod Mrcaru lizards no longer seem to defend territories, so there have been behavioral changes.

Still just a lizard, I know.

Now here’s something really cool, though: these lizards have evolved cecal valves. What those are are muscular ridges in the gut that allow the animal to close off sections of the tube to slow the progress of food through them, and to act as fermentation chambers where plant material can be broken down by commensal organisms like bacteria and nematodes — and the guts of Pod Mrcaru P. sicula are swarming with nematodes not found in the guts of their Pod Kopiste cousins.

Here’s a photo (how could I resist an opportunity to show some lizard guts?). The top ones may be a little difficult to interpret; what they’ve done is slit open the tube of the gut, and then use some pins to hold the tube open so you can see the little ridge or flap that rings the interior.

The cecal valves are an evolutionary novelty, a brand new feature not present in the ancestral population and newly evolved in these lizards. That’s important. This is more than a simple quantitative change, but is actually an observed qualitative change in a population, the appearance of a new morphological structure.

Evolution created something new, and it did it quickly (about 30 generations), and the appearance was documented. It’s still just a lizard, but we expected nothing else — and it’s now a lizard with novel adaptations for herbivory.”

From Pharyngula`s blog.

Chameleons are dying out

Chameleons or Girgits — a term often used to define politicians — are fast becoming an endangered species in the country. Zeylanicus (Chameleon) is the only lizard family that originally belongs to Pakistan and India. Several years ago, the entire green belt of Thar in Sindh was their natural habitat but now these rare species can only be found in Nagar Parkar, owing to the greenery there.

Recently Dr Theodore, a Professor at the California University, visited the Sindh government-run, Rann of Kutch Wildlife Sanctuary (Nagar Parkar) for the second time and collected some specimens for research purposes. The foreign expert’s visit was arranged jointly by the Zoological Survey Department (ZSD) of Pakistan and the Sindh Wildlife Department (SWD) officials.

Dr Theodore is conducting a research in order to find any similarities between the rare lizard specie population residing in the Indian and Pakistani wildlife sanctuaries. He is expected to come again in July this year for acquiring further information about the specie.

With 70-80 million years of evolution and some of the most grotesque physical characteristics, the chameleon is doubtlessly one of the most intriguing lizards. Like most of its relatives, it dwells exclusively in trees and thickets.

These species are able to change their skin colour, which is an expression of the physical and physiological condition of the lizard. Different chameleon species are able to change colours which include pink, blue, red, orange, green, black, brown and yellow, which is why they are able to blend into their surroundings. However, recent research has indicated that chameleons may also change their colour as a method of communication, including making themselves more attractive to potential mates.

Syed Shamim Fakhri, a field observer of the Zoological Survey Department, said that the chameleon changes colours to protect itself. It prefers to live at the top of a tree. He rejects the notion that it is poisonous and added that it is a friendly animal but can not survive in a different environment. It eats particular insects in the wild. Fakhri also claimed that the chameleon is only present in the Sindh province.

Not only government-run zoos, but also private individuals also keep chameleons as pets. Local people are hunting down or capturing these endangered species which has become a lucrative business, therefore violating many international laws.

More than 160 kinds of chameleon species are at present, arranged in nine genera and are mostly oviparous, and some are ovoviviparous. The oviparous species lay eggs after a 3-6 week gestation period. The female digs a hole in the ground, anywhere from 4-12 inches (10-30cm) deep depending on the species. The female turns herself around at the bottom of the hole and deposits her eggs. Once finished, the female buries the eggs and leaves the nesting site. Clutch sizes vary greatly with species.

Though Pakistan is a signatory of international laws about the export of endangered species and their hunting, still various species have been under threat due to a lack of implementation of certain laws.

Despite the fact that the ZSD and SWD have experts but due to the lack of funds in the relevant departments, they are unable to conduct adequate research.

From The News

Species extinction poses threat to medical science

As species decline, huge losses to medical science may follow suit.

A NEW generation of antibiotics, new treatments for thinning bone disease and kidney failure, and new cancer treatments may all stand to be lost unless the world acts to reverse the present alarming rate of biodiversity loss, a new landmark book says.

The natural world holds secrets to the development of new kinds of safer and more powerful painkillers; treatments for a leading cause of blindness – macular degeneration – and possibly ways of re-growing lost tissues and organs by, for example studying newts and salamanders.

But, the experts warn that we may lose many of the land and marine-based life forms of economic and medical interest before we can learn their secrets, or, in some cases, before we know they exist.

The new book, Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity, is the most comprehensive treatment of this subject to date and fills a major gap in the arguments made to conserve nature. While many books have focused on the expected ecological consequences, or on the aesthetic, ethical, sociological, or economic dimensions of biodiversity loss, Sustaining Life examines the full range of potential threats that this loss poses to human health.

A particularly illustrative example, highlighted by the book’s authors, of what may be lost with species extinctions can be found in the southern gastric brooding frog (Rheobatrachus) which was discovered in undisturbed rainforests of Australia in the 80s. The frogs raise their young in the female’s stomach where they would, in other animals, be digested by enzymes and acid.

Preliminary studies indicated that the baby frogs produced a substance, or perhaps a variety of substances, that inhibited acid and enzyme secretions and prevented the mother from emptying her stomach into her intestines while the young were developing.

The authors point out that the research on gastric brooding frogs could have led to new insights into preventing and treating human peptic ulcers which affect some 25 million people in the United States alone.

“But these studies could not be continued because both species of Rheobactrachus became extinct, and the valuable medical secrets they held are now gone forever,” say Eric Chivian and Aaron Bernstein, the key authors of the book based at the Centre for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School.

Sustaining Life is the work of more than 100 experts and published by Oxford University Press. At the heart of the book is a chapter dedicated to exploring seven threatened groups of organisms valuable to medicine, including amphibians, bears, cone snails, sharks, nonhuman primates, gymnosperms, and horseshoe crabs that underscore what may be lost to human health when species go extinct.

These losses include: promising new avenues of medical research and new treatments, pharmaceuticals and diagnostic tests.

 A giant leaf-tailed gecko from Montagne d’Anjanaharibe, Madagascar.

“The Earth’s biodiversity, much of which has yet to be discovered, provides a unique opportunity to improve not only the health of current but also that of future generations. However as species are lost so too are our options for future discovery and advancement. Thus Sustaining Life provides poignant evidence that biodiversity loss is not merely an environmental issue but one which affects us on a very basic, fundamental and personal level,” said Ahmed Djoghlaf, United Nations assistant secretary-general and executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Experts, including the authors, emphasise that the book’s conclusions should not be construed as a licence to harvest wildlife in a way that puts further pressure on already threatened, vulnerable and endangered species. Instead they should be a spur for even greater conservation and improved management of species and the ecosystems they inhabit.

Jeffrey McNeely, chief scientist at IUCN-World Conservation Union and a co-author of the book, said: “While extinction is alarming in its own right, this book demonstrates that many species can help save human lives. If we needed more justification for action to conserve species, this book offers dozens of dramatic examples of both why and how citizens can act in ways that will conserve, rather than destroy, the species that enrich our lives.” – United Nations Environment Programme

Amphibians

The class Amphibians is made up of frogs, toads, newts, salamanders and caecilians – little known legless organisms that resemble giant earthworms. Nearly one third of the approximately 6,000 known amphibian species are threatened with extinction. These animals produce a wide range of novel substances, some of which are made only by amphibians living in the wild, not by those in captivity.

 A blue poison dart fron from northern South America. One third of 6,000 known amphibian species are threatened by extinction.

These include:

 

• Pumiliotoxins, like those made by the Panamanian poison frog that may lead to medicines that strengthen the contractions of the heart and thus prove useful in treating heart disease.

 

 

• Alkaloids made by species like the Ecuadorian poison frog, which could be the source of a new and novel generation of painkillers.

 

 

• Antibacterial compounds produced in the skin of frogs and toads such as the African clawed frog and South and Central American leaf frogs.

 

 

• Bradykinins and maximakinins, made in the skin glands of species like the Chinese large-webbed bell toad; Mexican leaf frog, and North American pickerel frog that dilate the smooth muscle of blood vessels in mammals and therefore offer promising avenues for treating high blood pressure.

 

 

• Frog glue, produced by species such as the Australian frog, could lead to natural adhesives for repairing cartilage and other tissue tears in humans.

 

 

• Many species of newts and salamanders, such as the Eastern spotted newt, can regrow tissues such as heart muscle, nerve tissue in the spinal cord and even whole organs.

 

 

• As we are in evolutionary terms relatively closely related to these species, they are vital models for understanding how we might someday harness our own dormant regenerative potential.

 

 

• Some frogs, such as the grey tree frog and the chorus frog can survive long periods of freezing without suffering cell damage – understanding how these frogs do this may yield key insights into how we might better preserve scarce organs needed for transplant.

 

Bears

 A brown bear and her cubs. Bears are hunted for their paws and gall bladders.

Nine species of bear are threatened with extinction including the polar bear, the giant panda, and the Asiatic black bear. The threats to bears are similar to those amphibians face, but in addition many bears are at risk because they are killed for body parts, such as gall bladders, which can command high prices in black markets in places like China, Japan and Thailand.

Several medical benefits have already arisen from the study of bears, including the development of ursodeoxycholic acid, found in the gall bladders of some bear species such as polar and black bears, into a medicine.

The substance is used to prevent the build up of bile during pregnancy; dissolve certain kinds of gallstones; and prolong the life of patients with a specific kind of liver disease, known as primary biliary cirrhosis, giving them more time to find a liver transplant.

Some bear species, known as “denning” bears because they enter into a largely dormant state when food is scarce, are of tremendous value to medicine as they are able to recycle a wide variety of their body’s substances.

Unlike people, who if “bed-ridden” for a five-month period can lose up to a third of their bone mass, bears actually lay down new bone during the denning period. Bears appear to produce a substance that inhibits cells that break down bone and promote substances that encourage bone and cartilage-making cells. Denning bears can survive for a period of five months or more without excreting their urinary wastes, whereas humans would die from the build up of these toxic substances after only a few days. An estimated 1.5 million people worldwide are receiving treatment for end-stage renal disease. By studying denning bears, we may be able to learn how to treat them more effectively and help large numbers to survive. Denning bears may also hold clues to treating Type 1 and Type II diabetes as well as obesity. When produced in a non-invasive and ethically acceptable way, without pushing already threatened species further towards extinction, these substances are of great value to medicine.

Gymnosperms

Close to 1,000 species of Gymnosperms have been identified, including pines and spruces. Evolutionary, they are among the oldest of any plants alive but many groups, such as the cycads, are classified as endangered.

Several pharmaceuticals, including decongestants and the anti-cancer drug taxol, have already been isolated from gymnosperms. The researchers believe many more are yet to be discovered and may be lost if species of Gymnosperms become extinct.

Substances from one Gymnosperm, the ginkgo tree may reduce the production of receptors in the human nervous system linked with memory loss. Thus they may play a role in countering Alzheimer’s disease.

They may also help in the treatment of epilepsy and depression.

Cone snails

Around 700 species make up the cone snails, seven of which were identified only since 2004. While only four are now classified as vulnerable, no thorough assessment has been made in over 10 years; so current listings may under-estimate the true number of endangered cone snail species. For example, almost 70% of some 380 cone snail species surveyed had more than half their geographic range within areas where coral reefs, their main habitats, are threatened.

Cone snail species may produce as many as 70,000 to 140,000 peptide compounds, large numbers of which may have value as human medicines, yet only a few hundred have been characterised.

One compound, known as ziconotide, is thought to be 1,000 times more potent than morphine and has been shown in clinical trials to provide significant pain relief for advanced cancer and AIDS patients. Another cone snail compound has been shown in animal models to protect brain cells from death during times of inadequate blood flow.

It could prove a breakthrough therapy for people suffering head injuries and strokes and may even contribute to therapy for patients with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Other potential developments from cone snail peptides include treatments for urinary incontinence and cardiac arrhythmias.

Sharks

There are at least 400 species of sharks, which, as a group, evolved in ancient seas 400 to 450 million years ago. Many species are now threatened, with some species, such as the scalloped hammerhead, white shark and thresher shark, falling in numbers by as much as 75% over the past 15 years.

Over-fishing has been the main reason for the losses, and has been driven by: an increased demand for shark meat as a substitute for traditional commercial fish catches in foods like fish and chips; the rise in consumption of shark fin soup; increases in by-catch, for example, in tuna fisheries; and an increased market for shark cartilage products for a variety of unproved medical purposes.

Squalamine, a substance isolated from sharks such as dogfish, especially abundant in their livers, may lead to a new generation of antibiotics as well as treatments against fungal and protozoan infections. Studies are also being undertaken with squalamine compounds as possible anti-tumour and appetitesuppressant substances.

Trials are now also underway to see if squalamine can treat age-related macular degeneration which can lead to severe vision loss. The shark substance may halt the growth of new blood cells in the retina, which is linked to a loss of retinal function and blindness in these patients.

The salt glands of some sharks are also being studied to gain insight into how the human kidney functions and how chloride ions are transported across membranes, which may shed light on two diseases – cystic fibrosis and polycystic kidney disease.

Sharks, having evolved as some of the first creatures with a fully functioning “adaptive” immune system are irreplaceable models to help us understand human immunity. What potential these creatures may still hold to further our knowledge of immunity is being rapidly depleted with the mass slaughter of sharks and the endangerment of sharks worldwide.

Horseshoe crabs

There are four species of horseshoe crabs, with each organism possessing four eyes and six other light-detecting organs as well as blood that turns cobalt blue when exposed to the air. Because only around 10 offspring survive out of the estimated 90,000 eggs produced by a female, they are highly sensitive to over-fishing.

Once harvested and processed to be used as fertiliser, they are now used as bait for eel and whelk fisheries. Horseshoe crabs are also important in the food chain, especially for birds like the red knott, which rely upon the eggs for fuel over their 16,000km migratory journey Horseshoe crabs also have tremendous value to medicine. Several classes of peptides have been isolated from the creatures’ blood that appear to kill a wide range of bacteria.

Another peptide from the horseshoe crab has been developed into a compound known as T140 which locks onto the receptor in humans that allows the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) to gain access into the body’s immune cells. Pre-clinical trails indicate that the substance is at least as effective as the drug AZT at inhibiting the replication of HIV.

T140 has also shown promise in preventing the spread of certain cancers such as leukaemia, prostate cancer and breast cancer, and as a possible treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. Other cells in the blood of horseshoe crabs can, for example, detect the presence of key bacteria in the spinal fluid of people suspected of having cerebral meningitis.

From The Star

As You Know It’s “The Year Of The Frog.”

And As Part Of Our Continued Attempt To Raise Money To Help

It’s Time For Our Decorative Items Sale.

Decorative Items like: Herp Figurines, Copper Snake, Lizard or Turtle Light Light Switch Plates, One Of A Kind Netsuke Sculpture From Japan Of Snakes, Turtles and Frogs, Frog Napkin Holders, Decorative Frog or Turtle Ceramic Tiles You Can Display Or Use As A Trivet, Decorative Frog Picture Frames, Turtle, Frog, Even Flying Dragon Lizard Trinket Boxes, Items From All Over The World—And Of Course More.

So - From Friday April 18th thru Sunday, April 21st

PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM THE DECORATIVE ITEMS DEPARTMENT
AT WWW.HERPARTS.COM (REMEMBER IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE OF A FROG)

10% OF THE PRODUCT’S PRICE GOES TO THE AMPIHBIAN SPECIALIST GROUP

And remember Mother’s Day is around the corner. If you are a mom buy yourself a gift.

Keep in mind a lot of these items are one of a kind.

On behalf of the frogs: rabbit, ribbbit, croak, ribbit. (Thank you for your support.)

Some of the products..

 

 

 

“Living Dinosaur” Is Fastest-Evolving Animal

New Zealand’s “living dinosaur,” the tuatara, hasn’t changed its look in millions of years. But the reptile is actually evolving faster than any other animal studied so far, new DNA analysis reveals.Scientists recovered DNA from 8,000-year-old tuatara bones and compared it with DNA in blood samples from living tuatara. The modern species is the only surviving member of the order Sphenodontia, which flourished around 200 million years ago.

The results showed that tuatara evolve faster than bears, horses, and many other warm-blooded vertebrates.

(Related: “‘Instant’ Evolution Seen in Darwin’s Finches, Study Says” [July 14, 2006].)

Slowpokes

“Tuatara do most things slowly,” said study lead author David Lambert of New Zealand’s Massey University. He and colleagues published the findings in the March issue of the journal Trends in Genetics.

Tuatara “have a very low metabolic rate. So you would be forgiven for thinking that they haven’t been doing very much over 200 million years of evolution.”

But Lambert said the reptile’s ancient anatomy hides the rapid evolution of DNA within the animals’ cells.

“What [the research] is telling us is that the processes that govern anatomical evolution are quite different from those governing molecular evolution.”

Axel Meyer, of the University of Konstanz in Germany, agreed.

“There can be a real disconnect” between an animal’s physical and genetic evolution rates, said Meyer, who was not involved in the research.

“Fast [evolution] does not necessarily imply ‘good’ or ‘adaptive,’” he added.

He also cautioned against an assumption that so-called living fossils are somehow backward.

For example Meyer’s work on the coelacanth—a 300-million-year-old fish species thought to be extinct until 1938—showed that the fish do not evolve more slowly than “normal” species.

(See a picture of a coelacanth captured in 2007.)

Genetic Vigor

Lead author Lambert said the tuatara’s genetic vigor came from the structure of its mitochondrial genome. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell.

“When the molecule actually replicates itself, the two DNA strands separate from one another—this region on the genome is single-stranded for lot of the time,” Lambert said.

“And when you are single-stranded, you tend to accumulate more change.”

However, the tuatara’s dynamic DNA is not the secret of its extraordinary survival through millions of years, Lambert said.

“The tuatara of today is not some supercharged model of what was here 8,000 years ago. It’s the same tuatara—its survival is related more to where it lives.”

New Zealand split from the supercontinent of Gondwana 80 million years ago—before the advent of mammals. As a result, tuatara were not hunted by swift, smart predators until humans brought rats to the islands of New Zealand around a thousand years ago.

While the tuatara’s evolutionary rate beat out a field of living and extinct animals, Lambert said the differences were not that huge.

“This is because the mitochondrial genome—and the processes that govern it—is very similar in a lot of those animals.

“The big surprise in all of this is that tuatara are evolving as quickly as they are.”

New Survival Challenge?

The hardy reptile may face another survival test as human-induced climate change takes hold, experts say.

Conservationists are concerned that climate change may upset the sex ratios of hatchling tuatara, as warmer temperatures result in the birth of more males.

Lambert said the section of DNA his team studied would not help the lizard to adapt any better to global warming.

But he said tuatara populations had survived countless ice ages, possibly simply by shifting north or south as temperatures fluctuated.

“That’s important, because it illustrates how behavior can control evolution—not to cause animals to change, but to remain the same throughout climate change [events].”

From National Geographics

Breeders’ Expo Europe

 

The idea for the Breeders’ Expo Europe was born from lots of stimulation from herpers from Germany and around Europe. The fair concept reflects these suggestions in four main issues:• sufficient room for animals and people
• comfortable room climate
• user-oriented organization/reservation
• a real meeting point for herpers in EuropeThe A2 Forum in Rheda-Wiedenbrück provides ideal conditions to put these ideas into action. The modern event centre integrates enough exhibition area plus other facilities and is located directly at the A2 highway in Germany, right in the heart of Europe. The fair concept includes a market place, an attractive program of lectures as well as quiet areas.
You can see our approach in the event’s logo: The BEE shall be a ‘friendly place’ allowing people to meet and exchange with their friends or business partners having a coffee or a good beer.

Facilities and equipment of the A2 Forum allow the chance to adapt to increasing needs step by step – providing room for more stands or the integration of additional program items. We are currently working on a convention for the friends of poison dart frogs, more cooperations are expected to come. Do you have an interesting idea or is your group of herpers looking for an opportunity to meet and exchange at a central European meeting place? Contact us, flexibility is part of the agenda.

By the way: This principle guides us through the organization of the whole event. For example we will separate exhibitors offering live rats or mice into an extra room to optimize the quality of air in all the other areas. A really good ventilation is standard at the A2 Forum anyway. Another plus: You can book your stands for the next expo on the day of the event. There’s no need to hassle because there’s enough room and stands for everybody. This will help especially our foreign exhibitors to reduce effort and costs alike. We strive to make your visit to the BEE as comfortable as possible and help you with every possible challenge. If we fail in some parts during the first expo your positive input will help us to improve the second time. You can leave your suggestions in writing at the information desk on the day of the event or by e-mail. The service personnel reflects exactly this approach: How can we help you to make you love to come back?

Of course an attractive event needs an attractive supply and demand alike. We are working on both aspects with full intensity and are very pleased having received bookings of a number of well known breeders from Germany and foreign countries at this early stage. You will find a list of exhibitors including their stand numbers beginning with February 2008 under Downloads.

Have you always wanted a real meeting place for you hobby? Then don’t look any further but arrange to meet with your friends at the BEE and make use of our offer. Do you have important questions not covered by the FAQ? Please ask. Do you like to link to the BEE from your web site? Under Downloads you will find the copyright-protected logo of the BEE meant to be used for exactly this purpose.

Time Author Topic
11.30 hours Karsten Wöllner Thinking big – a life with retic pythons (German, questions in English possible) http://www.breeders-expo.de/home-E/lectures-E/retics-E.html13.00 hours Jason Wagner (USA) & Christian Langner Abronia – jewels of the cloud forest (English + German) http://www.breeders-expo.de/home-E/lectures-E/abronia-E.html14.30 hours Lars Fehlandt Ranitomeya imitator, the frog with the “mask” (German, questions in English possible) http://www.breeders-expo.de/home-E/lectures-E/ranitomeya-E.html 15.30 hours Peter Nowark Practice workshop: arranging and equipping a terrarium for poison-dart frogs (German, questions in English possible) http://www.breeders-expo.de/home-E/lectures-E/workshop-E.html16.45 hours Thorsten Mahn Oophaga pumilio – differences between habitat and husbandry (German, questions in English possible) http://www.breeders-expo.de/home-E/lectures-E/oophaga-E.html

No venomous at the Terraristika in Hamm, Germany.

The person behind the Terraristika-show in Hamm (Germany), Mr. Frank Izaber, announced on the 28/3 2008 that they would not accept venomous snakes at the show anymore.

In English this means that Mr. Izaber thinks that there is no manageable legal regulations, making this difficult for him to keep the venomous room he have had at the show before. He also supports the demand of the Federal association for professional nature and protection of species (BNA), witch aim at a federally uniform regulation, with permits a holding of such animals only for adept specialists with special permission.

Below is he´s words in German, taken from the website.

Giftschlangen nicht mehr im Börsenangebot

Pressemitteilung vom 28.03.2008Die dreimal jährlich stattfindende größte europäische Reptilienbörse in Hamm wird zukünftig auf das Anbieten von Giftschlangen verzichten. Frank Izaber, Börsenveranstalter der Reptilienbörse, begründet seinen Entschluss damit, dass es keine handhabbare gesetzliche Regelung gibt. Izaber unterstützt die Forderung des Bundesverbandes für fachgerechten Natur- und Artenschutz (BNA), der eine bundeseinheitliche Regelung anstrebt, die ein Halten solcher Tiere nur für sachkundige Spezialisten mit besonderer Genehmigung erlaubt. Mit dem freiwilligen Verzicht möchte Izaber einen Beitrag zur Sicherheit bei der Abgabe und Haltung von Giftschlangen leisten und die dringend benötigte bundeseinheitliche Regelung anmahnen.

RATTLERS, PEEPERS, & SNAPPERS; Discovering New England’s Amphibians and Reptiles

Rattlers, Peepers and Snappers; Discovering New England’s Amphibians & Reptiles, is a new DVD scheduled for release in June of 2008. This interactive DVD is designed for anyone who wants to learn about herpetology, natural history, or any of the 53 fascinating amphibians and reptiles in our own backyard of New England.

Vince Franke, of Peregrine Productions, has collaborated with Herpetologist Jim Andrews, of Middlebury College, to produce an impressive DVD that includes: two separate ½ hour educational programs (Amphibians of New England and Reptiles of New England), 53 individual species accounts, field adventures with experts, and quizzes to test your listening and ID skills.

For the past 3 years Vince has traveled all over New England to get close-up action footage of every amphibian and reptile species found in the region. He has met with over 30 herpetologists, ecologists, and naturalists, to develop this DVD and be able to share the lessons and information of these fascinating creatures. “I want to excite people about the wildlife we have in our own backyards” says Vince Franke.

The DVD will be available for purchase from www.peregrineproductions.com. Please email vince@peregrineproductions.com to be notified via email when the DVD is available.

The two educational programs incorporate a series of field trips with local experts from across New England as well as highlighting current research projects with University graduate students from the University of Maine, the University of Massachusetts, Berkshire Community College, and the University of Connecticut. Topics include the identification, natural history, and conservation of all the snakes, turtles, lizards, frogs, and salamanders of New England.

Using the latest video equipment and lenses, Vince gets some impressive close-up action footage of all of our local species. I think you will agree that seeing these beautiful creatures moving through their natural environment is much more effective as a learning tool than still photos or plates.

The DVD is geared for a wide variety of uses and viewers. The easily navigated menus allow a viewer to watch a program in its entirety, to play individual six-minute field trips, or to bounce around the species accounts to see and learn about individual species, their field marks, habitat uses, and ecology. The material and organization is flexible and comprehensive enough to fit into the lesson plans of educators at all levels. It also could be loaded onto a small hand-held computer and used as a field guide. The fascinating variety of species captured in the video is sure to inspire viewers and broaden their understanding of our reptile and amphibian neighbors.

AMPHIBIAN ADVENTURES

REPTILE ADVENTURES

-Spring Migration -Stream Salamanders -Amphibian Road Crossings -Night Time Road Search -Vernal Pools -Wood Frog Research

-Looking For Copperheads -Finding Worm Snakes -Skinks and Snakes -North American Racer Project -Fall Migration -Finding Timber Rattlesnakes -Box Turtle Research -Turtle Tunnels -Nesting Turtles

From Peregrine Productions

Lizard’s DNA evolves quickly

 New DNA research has questioned previous notions about the evolution of the tuatara.

In a study of New Zealand’s “living dinosaur” the tuatara, evolutionary biologist Professor David Lambert and a team from the Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution recovered DNA sequences from the bones of ancient tuatara up to 8000 years old.  They found that although tuatara have remained largely physically unchanged over very long periods of evolution, at a DNA level they are evolving faster than any other animal yet examined. The research has been published in the prestigious international journal Trends in Genetics and features on the cover of the issue.

“What we found is that the tuatara has the highest molecular evolutionary rate that anyone has measured,” Professor Lambert says.

The rate of evolution for Adélie penguins, which Professor Lambert and his team have studied in the Antarctic for many years, is slightly slower than that of the tuatara. The tuatara rate is significantly faster than for animals including the cave bear, lion, ox and horse.

“Of course we would have expected that the tuatara, which does everything slowly – they grow slowly, reproduce slowly and have a very slow metabolism – would have evolved slowly. In fact, at the DNA level, they evolve extremely quickly, which supports a hypothesis proposed by the evolutionary biologist Allan Wilson, who suggested that the rate of molecular evolution was uncoupled from the rate of morphological evolution.”

Allan Wilson, who died of leukaemia in 1991, was a pioneer of molecular evolution. His ideas were controversial when introduced 40 years ago, but this new research supports them.

Professor Lambert says the finding will be helpful in terms of future study and conservation of the tuatara, and the team now hopes to extend the work to look at the evolution of other animal species.

“We want to go on and measure the rate of molecular evolution for humans, as well as doing more work with moa and Antarctic fish, to see if rates of DNA change are uncoupled in these species. There are human mummies in the Andes and some very good samples in Siberia where we have some collaborators, so we are hopeful we will be able to measure the rate of human evolution in these too.”

The tuatara, Sphendon punctatus, is found only in New Zealand and is the only surviving member of a distinct reptilian order, Sphehodontia, that lived alongside early dinosaurs and separated from other reptiles 200 million years ago in the Upper Triassic period.

From Science alert