Arboreal alligator lizards - yes, really : Tetrapod Zoology As you might guess from the following article, I still have a bit of a thing going on with anguid lizards (the family that includes slow-worms, glass lizards, alligator lizards and galliwasps). This is despite the fact that I spent a lot of time over the last few days talking about new tupuxuarid pterosaurs, the behaviour of hadrosaurs, and the discovery of multiple (yes, multiple) new large mammal species in the Amazon… If you live in a northern place where anguids occur, you might regard these lizards as denizens of predominantly subtropical or temperate climates. The vast majority of species, however, are tropical. Some of them are really neat looking, if not beautiful and/or bizarre: many of them are very poorly known and many are in danger of extinction. In fact at least some have become extinct within recent decades. * Captive individuals of some species have been observed to change colour over a period of a few months. Refs – - Bogert, C. Campbell, J. Estes, R. 1983. Good, D.
Secrets of spitting cobras revealed - Technology & science - Science - DiscoveryNews.com Spitting cobras spew blinding venom toward the eyes and face of victims with surprising accuracy, and now researchers know how they do it. Venom spitting — a defense mechanism only — is a two-part process that's part muscle and part like a baseball pitcher psyching out batters before winding up before a throw, indicates a new study published in the latest issue of Physiological and Biochemical Zoology. "Since the venom can cover a distance of over 6.5 feet, and the snakes appear to be very accurate, it is presumed to be a good deterrent," said Bruce Young, an associate professor of biology at Washburn University and lead author of the study. For the study, Young and colleagues Melissa Boetig and Guido Westhoff analyzed adult, captive specimens of the red spitting cobra, the black-neck spitting cobra and the black-and-white spitting cobra. Equipped with a special visor to protect his eyes, Young had the indelicate task of taunting the snakes by moving his head in front of them.
Running Out of Snake Venom! Guide Launched To Solve Antivenom Shortage Photo via lucaboldrini69 via Flickr CC Around 250 million people are bitten by venomous snakes each year causing not only deaths, but also nearly 300,000 amputations annually - most of which could be avoided if anti-venom were on hand. But in many areas there's a shortage - and even impending failure of supplies - as anti-venom stocks run short. The World Health Organization's database was created "to enable users to easily identify the most important venomous snakes in their country, territory or area; see the distributions of each species; and find information about antivenom products for treating envenoming caused by their bites." How this will benefit anyone other than doctors isn't clear, since the areas where a lack of anti-venom and number of annual snake bites is the most problematic are poor rural areas where access to a computer and internet to peruse the database is unlikely.
Saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) in the Andaman Islands The incident:The tragic death of Ms. Lauren Failla, an American national, on the 28th of April 2010 (at about 1615 hrs) by crocodile predation, was considered to be an extremely unlikely event given that it took place in open water over a coral reef, in an area lacking any mangrove refuge in the vicinity. The location was Neil’s cove off Radhanagar beach (no.7), the most popular beach in the Andaman Islands where no crocodile has ever been sighted before.The incident has been discussed with a number of knowledgeable field biologists and the consensus is that the crocodile responsible for this predation event, based on the description given by the sole witness, Mr. Past Research:The authors and colleagues have been sporadically looking at the saltwater crocodile population in the Andaman Islands since 1976. Andaman Crocodiles:Crocodile hunters and egg collectors were interviewed in the Andaman Islands and information gleaned from historical literature on the islands. Dr. ANDREWS, H.
Cobra Venom Erases Arthritis Symptoms In 2002, arthritis sufferer Joe de Casa was working in his Northamptonshire garden in England when a venomous snake bit him. After surviving the bite, de Casa, who struggles with arthritis, claimed that the following months provided his only pain-free days in years. Such anecdotal claims, including teachings in India's centuries' old Ayurveda traditional medicine system, may hold some truth. Scientists have just determined that Indian monocellate cobra venom displayed anti-arthritic activity during lab tests on rodents, according to a paper that will be in the February-March issue of the journal Toxicon. While clinical trials on humans are still needed, a cobra venom arthritis ointment is in the works, lead author Antony Gomes told Discovery News. "We have already prepared such an oil-based preparation (for topical application), which is showing very promising results on humans," Gomes, a professor of physiology at the University of Calcutta, said.
Severed Lizard Tail Has a Mind of Its Own It's amazing enough that lizards can shed their tails as a decoy for predators and entertainment for young boys. But a new study of geckos documents an incredible set of acrobatics that these severed tails perform. Though it might seem as though a lizard loses its tail because it's pulled off, in fact the lizards control the severing, apparently when they sense they're about to become dinner. The tails exhibit not only rhythmic but also complex movements, including flips, jumps and lunges, after the tails are shed, Anthony Russell of the University of Calgary and Tim Higham of Clemson University report in the journal Biology Letters. No previous study had quantified movement patterns of the tail by examining the relationship between such patterns and muscular activity. The findings suggest a model for studying the complex functions of the human spinal cord and the effects of spinal cord injuries. But how? And why? The tail tumbles could serve as first-rate decoys.
A Venomous Tale: How Lizards Can Shed Their Tail When Predators Attack University of Michigan ecologists and their colleagues have answered a question that has puzzled biologists for more than a century: What is the main factor that determines a lizard's ability to shed its tail when predators attack? The answer, in a word: Venom. Tail-shedding, known to scientists as caudal autotomy, is a common anti-predator defense among lizards. When attacked, many lizards jettison the wriggling appendage and flee. The predator often feasts on the tail while the lucky lizard scurries to safety. The ease with which lizards shed their tails varies from species to species and from place to place. When lizards live alongside lots of creatures eager to devour them, they're more likely to evolve the ability to shed their tails easily, because this trait enables them to survive long enough to reproduce and pass their genes to the next generation. However, tail loss carries long-term costs, including impaired mobility, lower social status and slower growth rates.
dragons kill Indonesian fisherman Side-stabbing stiletto snakes : Tetrapod Zoology It goes without saying that most predatory animals need to open their mouths when they want to stab or bite potential prey items. But, get this, there’s a group of snakes that can erect their teeth and stab prey with a closed mouth. And that’s not all that’s interesting about these snakes. Yes, time for more weird snakes. There are lots and lots and lots of weird snakes, and one of my favourite groups of weird snakes are the atractaspidids (or atractaspids), and in particular the atractaspidid genus Atractaspis. * I put colubrids in quotes because there are widespread suspicions that this immense group (over 1500 species, over 300 genera, up to 28 ‘subfamilies’) is not monophyletic (e.g., Jackson 2003, Fry & Wster 2004). The venom apparatus of burrowing asps is formidable. How to be a ‘fang stabber’ As the maxilla rotates anteroventrally, it opens up a slit along the mouth-line, providing enough space for the fang to protrude out though the mouth. Specialised – but specialised for what?
Close encounters with the Father of Death : Tetrapod Zoology Yes, more snakes: after yesterday’s horned snake article (thanks to everyone who chipped in with ideas and comments) I’ve decided to stick with snakes for a while. I can knock these articles up in a few minutes, and unfortunately I just don’t have time at the moment to finish the backlog of planned and semi-complete articles. And I’ve had ‘snake guilt’ for a while now: for a massive tetrapod group encompassing round about 3000 extant species, snakes are still under-represented at Tet Zoo. Firstly I would like to thank and congratulate you on a fantastic article. Mistakenly identified as an Eastern Worm Snake, and busy shedding its skin, I decided to allow my daughter of 11 years to keep the snake for a few days. We decided to have closer look at the snake, which was still in a container in the car. Immediately I walked out of there, got into my car and drove approximately 30 kilometres to a snake park that we had visited 6 months earlier. Amazing stuff. Ref – - Kochva, E. 2002.
Cannibalistic rattlesnakes eat dead offspring - Technology & science - Science - LiveScience Every mom knows that pregnancy and birth really sap your energy. To get some back, many rattlesnake mothers will eat some of their non-surviving offspring, a new study finds. This postpartum cannibalismhelps the mother regain strength for her next reproductive effort, researchers report. The researchers found that on average, the mother snakes ate about 11 percent of their postpartum mass — particularly eggs and dead offspring — to regain energy. "A cannibal rattlesnake female can recover lost energy for reproduction without having to hunt for food, a dangerous activity that requires time and expends a great deal of energy," said Estrella Mociño and Kirk Setser, lead authors of the study and researchers at the University of Granada in Spain. A wide variety of animals have been found to eat their offspring, including polar bears, burying beetles, hamsters, wolf spiders and a range of fish species. Crotalus polystictus is a "threatened species," according to Mexican officials.
The Global Burden of Snakebite: A Literature Analysis and Modelling Based on Regional Estimates of Envenoming and Deaths Abstract Background Envenoming resulting from snakebites is an important public health problem in many tropical and subtropical countries. Few attempts have been made to quantify the burden, and recent estimates all suffer from the lack of an objective and reproducible methodology. In an attempt to provide an accurate, up-to-date estimate of the scale of the global problem, we developed a new method to estimate the disease burden due to snakebites. Methods and Findings The global estimates were based on regional estimates that were, in turn, derived from data available for countries within a defined region. Conclusions Snakebites cause considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. Citation: Kasturiratne A, Wickremasinghe AR, de Silva N, Gunawardena NK, Pathmeswaran A, et al. (2008) The Global Burden of Snakebite: A Literature Analysis and Modelling Based on Regional Estimates of Envenoming and Deaths. Academic Editor: Ken Winkel, University of Melbourne, Australia Editors' Summary Methods