Steve's Herpetological Blog

An insight into the life of Steve, his research and the many books he reads

Steven Allain

#SteveReviews: Life on Our Planet

It is weird to me to watch a nature documentary, especially one which by title appears to be a spinoff of an Attenborough series and not have him narrate it. Instead however, Life on Our Planet which is available on…

#SciFri: Monsters of the Deep

As a scientist with a keen interest in mythology and palaeontology, I recently visited the Chatham Historic Dockyard to visit the Monsters of the Deep exhibition, that was co-curated by Darren Naish of TetZoo fame. Monsters of the Deep was…

#SciFri: European Turtle Alliance Conference 2023

On the 11th November, I visited Writtle University College for the annual conference of the European Turtle Alliance. Despite being reptiles, turtles and tortoises are not my forte and so I decided to try to fill that gap in my…

#SciFri: Free online Bsal course from EAZA Academy

A decade ago in 2013 when the discovery of the salamander chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans; Bsal) was published, my heart sank. What really scared me was the potential impact on wild newt and salamander populations in Europe, following the decline…

#SciFri: Arthropleura at the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences

The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences tucked away in Downing College, Cambridge. Despite being hidden out of view of the public, it is well visited and represents a captivating journey through the geological wonders of our planet. This museum promises…

#SciFri: Visiting the Southend Central Museum

As a passionate naturalist, and as someone that was both born near Southend and grew up nearby, Southend Central Museum has always been a special place to me. This is despite the fact that I hadn’t been back in over…

#SciFri: 22nd European Congress of Herpetology

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past month, you’re probably aware that earlier in September I spent a week in Wolverhampton for the 22nd European Congress of Herpetology, organised by the Societas Europaea Herpetologica (SEH) and a…

#SteveReviews: Secrets of Squirrels

It is rare that you’ll see my posting about mammals on this blog, mainly because I think they’re overhyped and focussed on too much, compared to other taxa. I may focus obsessively on amphibians and reptiles, but even I often…

#SciFri: Birds and Us at the Linnean Society of London

On the evening of the 14th July last year, I attended a lecture at the Linnean Society of London being presented by Emeritus Professor Tim Birkhead. He has published a number of books in the past on various aspects of…

#SciFri: Animals – Art, Science & Sound

If you know me well, you know that the one thing I love more than science, are books. Recently, I found the time to visit the British Library in London to visit and exhibition that I have been meaning too…