Steve's Herpetological Blog

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

Zoology

#StevesLibrary: Platypus Matters

Regular readers of the blog will know that it isn’t just books on amphibians and reptiles that I read, but all areas of science. It feels like I haven’t produced one of these reviews in forever – apologies for that…

#FeatureFriday: Sea snake conservation

Note: Every now and again I post an invited blog post by a member of the community. This time around it is the turn of Victoria Protheroe, a prolific author from the currently-dormant blog Bioweb. Thanks in advance to James…

#SciFri: Visiting the Horniman Museum

Those of you that follow my blog and read last week’s #SciFri will know that I recently visited the Horniman Museum with an entourage of palaeontologists/dinosaur enthusiasts to visit the new exhibition, Dinosaur rEvolution. I first visited the Museum as…

#SciFri: Herpetofauna Workers Meeting 2024

Regular readers of this blog, as well as those in the field will know that the beginning of February is a busy time for herpetologists. It is a time which has historically marked the beginning of the field season, when…

#SteveReviews: Planet Earth III

It is always a momentous occasion when a new landmark Attenborough series airs on BBC One, especially one following in the footsteps of Planet Earth II. It was during the beginning year or two of my PhD when I heard…

#SciFri: ARC-BHS Joint Scientific Meeting 2023

Ahhh, the first weekend of December. For most of you it may be the start of your Christmas countdown, but for us herpetologists it is the timing of the annual Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust – British Herpetological Society Join…

#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…