#SciFri: Do reptiles and amphibians hibernate?
We all know that mammals such as squirrels and hedgehogs hibernate for the winter and in the wider landscape of the Northern Hemisphere, other species such as bears are also another group of animals that often come to mind when…
#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…
#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…
#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…
#SciFri: Venomous caecilians
You may have seen this article (or one like it) at the beginning of the month, which caused a stir among the amphibian research community. As a group caecilians are severely understudied due to their fossorial nature which makes surveying…
#SteveReviews: Into The Forest
First off, apologies for the patchy frequency of blog posts recently. I have only just returned to the field and I had a mad period of getting ready to get back out and chase snakes. I’ll tell you more about…
#SciFri: Colour polymorphisms in amphibians and reptiles
Field guides are a great way to identify wildlife whether it be in the field or from photographs. I have a large number of them that make up the core of my reference library for countries I’ve visited or I’m…
#SciFri: Where should I report any herpetofauna I’ve seen?
Picture this, you’ve been out and about in the woods walking your dog and whilst bending down to pick up the stick your furry friend has become fond of, you spot a frog. What do you do with this casual…
#SciFri: Revenge of the venomous frogs
Something I’ve noticed making the rounds on social media again is the story of venomous frogs, first discovered back in 2015. Yeah you read that right, at a time before the world had started to fall apart/was on fire all…
#SciFri: Special issue on emerging diseases and infections in herpetofauna
As many of you will be aware, we are experiencing unprecedented declines in biodiversity globally in an event that biologists have named the sixth mass extinction. The two biggest obstacles facing the natural world are habitat loss and anthropogenic environment…