Fuck Yeah Herpetology

danidoroi: Why Female Loggerhead Sea Turtles Always Return to Their Place of Birth Marine turtles are among the most endangered species of the world ocean. For a better protection of these fascinating animals, scientists try to understand why turtles return to their birthplace in order to reproduce after rather long distance migrations. Using molecular tools applied to turtles from the Cape Verde islands, scientists from GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (Germany) found that males and females adopt different strategies: while females are very faithful to their island of birth, males appear less selective and mate at multiple locations. Furthermore, the study published now in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences demonstrates that females from different islands have different immune genes, suggesting that returning home to reproduce is linked to advantages in parasite resistance. This is the first evidence ever to explain why many migratory animals show this type of behavior. More: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130530111143.htm

Reblogged from rhamphotheca

danidoroi:

Why Female Loggerhead Sea Turtles Always Return to Their Place of Birth


Marine turtles are among the most endangered species of the world ocean. For a better protection of these fascinating animals, scientists try to understand why turtles return to their birthplace in order to reproduce after rather long distance migrations. Using molecular tools applied to turtles from the Cape Verde islands, scientists from GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (Germany) found that males and females adopt different strategies: while females are very faithful to their island of birth, males appear less selective and mate at multiple locations.

Furthermore, the study published now in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences demonstrates that females from different islands have different immune genes, suggesting that returning home to reproduce is linked to advantages in parasite resistance. This is the first evidence ever to explain why many migratory animals show this type of behavior.

More: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130530111143.htm

Posted June 17, 2013 at 7:45 pm 114 notes

Reblogged from rhamphotheca

animaltoday:

Pygmy Rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius barbouri) 

or dusky pigmy rattlesnake, small ground rattlesnake, hog nosed rattler

About 20 inches long, it is quite thick for its size.  The coloration of this snake can vary from pale grey to a dark charcoal, but always having reddish orange spots along its spine.  

The rattle sounds like the buzzing of an insect.  It feeds on frogs, mice and small vertebrate.  Its bite is venomous, but rarely reported to be fatal.  It is very common in Florida and some regions of Texas.

Posted June 17, 2013 at 6:30 pm 84 notes

rhamphotheca: Two common toads (Bufo bufo) in amplexus, a form of pseudocopulation found in amphibians and limulids. A male common toad grasps a female with his front legs as part of the mating process. Common toads stay in amplexus for several days. As the female lays a long, double string of small black eggs, the male fertilises them with his sperm; the gelatinous egg strings, which may contain 3000 to 6000 eggs and be 3 to 4.5 m (10 to 15 ft) in length, are later tangled in plant stalks. (photo: Bernie Kohl)                                              (via; Wikipedia)

Reblogged from rhamphotheca

rhamphotheca:

Two common toads (Bufo bufo) in amplexus, a form of pseudocopulation found in amphibians and limulids. A male common toad grasps a female with his front legs as part of the mating process. Common toads stay in amplexus for several days. As the female lays a long, double string of small black eggs, the male fertilises them with his sperm; the gelatinous egg strings, which may contain 3000 to 6000 eggs and be 3 to 4.5 m (10 to 15 ft) in length, are later tangled in plant stalks.

(photo: Bernie Kohl)                                              (via; Wikipedia)

Posted June 17, 2013 at 5:15 pm 55 notes

Reblogged from rhamphotheca

rhamphotheca:

Mesosaurs (“middle lizards”) were a group of small aquatic reptiles that lived during the early Permian period, roughly 299 to 270 million years ago. Mesosaurs were the first aquatic reptiles, having apparently returned to an aquatic lifestyle from more terrestrial ancestors. Their placement in relation to other reptiles is contested…

(read more: Wikipedia)               

(illustrations by Smokeybjb and Nobu Tamura)

Posted June 16, 2013 at 7:45 pm 30 notes

rhamphotheca: animaliachordata: This Knob-tailed gecko (Nephrurus levis) is ready for anything!!! (phot: Stephen Mahony | Flickr)

Reblogged from rhamphotheca

rhamphotheca:

animaliachordata: This Knob-tailed gecko (Nephrurus levis) is ready for anything!!!

(phot: Stephen Mahony | Flickr)

Posted June 16, 2013 at 6:30 pm 503 notes

rhamphotheca: JUST HOP ON, I’LL EXPLAIN LATER! Photographer Pawan Kumar captured this photo recently of a mouse taking refuge from flood waters on the back of an Asian common toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus), who seemed unfazed by the whole affair. (via: TakePart.org)             (Photo: Pawan Kumar/Reuters)

Reblogged from rhamphotheca

rhamphotheca:

JUST HOP ON, I’LL EXPLAIN LATER!

Photographer Pawan Kumar captured this photo recently of a mouse taking refuge from flood waters on the back of an Asian common toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus), who seemed unfazed by the whole affair.

(via: TakePart.org)             (Photo: Pawan Kumar/Reuters)

Posted June 16, 2013 at 5:15 pm 1102 notes

rhamphotheca: Protorothyrididae is a family of  small, lizard-like Romeriid reptiles, related to modern “true reptiles” (eureptiles). Their skulls did not have fenestrae, as is also true of modern turtles and tortoises. Protorothyridids lived from the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian periods, in what is now North America. (via: Wikipedia)                        (illustration by Smokeybjb)

Reblogged from rhamphotheca

rhamphotheca:

Protorothyrididae is a family of  small, lizard-like Romeriid reptiles, related to modern “true reptiles” (eureptiles). Their skulls did not have fenestrae, as is also true of modern turtles and tortoises. Protorothyridids lived from the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian periods, in what is now North America.

(via: Wikipedia)                        (illustration by Smokeybjb)

Posted June 15, 2013 at 7:45 pm 35 notes

Reblogged from rhamphotheca

earthandscience:

Endangered Frogs Get Helping Hands on Road to Recovery

“USGS ecologists helped release a batch of young Mountain Yellow-Legged Frogs (Rana muscosa) into a California nature reserve on Thursday, June 12, 2013.

The froglets were bred at the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, and will help restore wild populations of this highly endangered species, which has only about 200 adults remaining in the wilds of Southern California.

USGS ecologists lead the field monitoring and ecological research effort for this species on behalf of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Read more about this news at: USFWS

Posted June 15, 2013 at 6:30 pm 99 notes

Reblogged from rhamphotheca

rhamphotheca:

Procolophonidae

… is an extinct family of parareptiles (a disputed group of primitive anapsids) from the Permian and Triassic periods.

They were shaped like stocky lizards, with broad-cheeked skulls. Their cheeks sported a stout backward-pointing spike. They have historically been classed alongside the turtles under the Anapsida.

Up to the early Triassic, their teeth were sharp, indicating an insectivorous diet. Later in the Triassic their teeth became broader, indicating a switch to a herbivorous diet. They became extinct at the end of the Triassic.

Recent findings indicate that these animals may have been found in Antarctica in the Early Triassic, thereby the earliest evidence of tetrapods in the Antarctic.

(read more: Wikipedia)         

(illustrations by Dmitry Bogdanov and Nobu Tamura)

Posted June 15, 2013 at 5:15 pm 25 notes

Reblogged from basaliskos

Posted June 14, 2013 at 7:45 pm 3508 notes