#SciFri: Why do snakes shed their skin?
As someone that studies reptiles and snakes in particular, I’m often asked why reptiles shed their skin. Before I answer that question, let’s take a step back. When some people picture a reptile shedding their skin (also called sloughing), they…
#SteveReviews: The Mystery of the Pink Dolphin
Anyone who has read Witness to Extinction by Samuel Turvey will be able to tell you how heartbreaking the extinction of the Yangtze river dolphin (or baiji) was despite the efforts put in place to prevent it. There are a…
#StevesLibrary: The Deep
As you can probably tell, I’m no marine biologist or oceanographer. However this doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate the vast array of life that the oceans support. I was born and grew up on the South Essex coast so…
#SciFri: Snake removal from a woman’s stomach?
Something that 2020 has taught me is to always expect the unexpected. Whilst perusing Twitter the other evening I saw a video shared by Emily Taylor (@snakeymama) which claims to show a woman on an operating table in the Dagestan…
#SteveReviews: American Animals
Ever since reading The Feather Thief last summer and learning about Edwin Rist’s burglary of the Natural History Museum at Tring, I’ve been interested in those individuals that have stolen valuable natural history specimens. In the case of Rist, this…
#StevesLibrary: Junk DNA
As someone that has completed a formal education on a biology-related topic, I was well aware beforehand that ‘junk DNA’ isn’t just junk. After all, it makes up the majority of our genome (98% of it is junk DNA). That…
#StevesLibrary: Invasive Aliens
In the world of conservation, there are few groups of species that catch my attention and imagination more than invasive species. These are species that have been moved outside of their native range (usually by the agency of humankind) to…
#SciFri: What’s that beeping in my garden?
Picture this. You’ve been sitting in your garden during lockdown or the recent warm spell. Marvellous! Whilst turning the page to the book your reading or taking a sip of wine, you hear a conspicuous beeping sound. At first thought…
#StevesLibrary: The Tyrannosaur Chronicles
Who would have guessed it? Tyrannosaurus rex is my favourite dinosaur. Yes I know how cliché that sounds but I am a big kid in a tall man’s body don’t forget. It was T. rex that made me fall in…
#SciFri: Do frogs have teeth?
Recently I’ve had a number of conversations with people regarding amphibians (partly whilst recording various podcasts) and one question has been repeatedly asked about frogs. Do they have teeth? Let’s take a quick step back here, we know amphibians evolved…