A Birthday Surprise

No, it's not my birthday but it is someone in my family's birthday today. The surprise was not what she got for present but that my large female Hermann's tortoise laid 4 eggs today. I did not think my two year + old male was ready nor big enough but apparently he was good to go. So, in another 65 to 90 days or so, there should be a batch of 4 new Hermann's tortoise hatchlings scampering around my herp room.

All the best,
Glenn B

Three "New" Species of Herps Discovered

The three new species of herps, two lizards and a frog (previously unidentified by science) were recently discovered in an isolated ecosystem in Australia. See:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/10408499/Scientists-discover-new-species-in-Lost-World-in-Australia.html

A hat tip and my thanks to Mike G, an online friend of mine, who sent me the link.

All the best,
Glenn B

Jumping Out of The Lab To Do Real Scientific Research

Researchers who were studying frogs were flummoxed over the Guinness Book of World Records relative to the longest distance ever jumped, in a single bound , by a bullfrog. Their lab results had shown that the best a bullfrog could do was a jump of about 1.3 meters; however, the GBWR showed that a bullfrog named Rosie The Ribeter had jumped just over an impressive 2.1 meters (21' 5 3/4") at the Calaveras County Jumping Frog Jubilee in 1986.

In 2009, the eggheads decided to take a look into whether or not it was fact or fiction that such a long jump could be achieved by a bullfrog in a single bound. If you would like to read about what they found, hop on over to the article at this link:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131016213042.htm

A hat tip and my thanks to Deb H for this one.

All the best,
Glenn B

Reminder - LIHS Monthly Meeting, Sunday, October 20th

The next monthly meeting of the Long Island Herpetological Society (LIHS) will take place on Sunday October 20th at SUNY Farmingdale in the Conference Center. Click here for directions. As usual, it will begin at 1PM and is slated to end at 4PM although it may end earlier. The speaker will be LIHS member John Heiser and the topic will be:


Reptiles & Amphibians of Long Island
Part 1 - Snakes and Lizard

 

In addition to the planned speaker and presentation, we should be holding nominations for board members at the October meeting. We usually hold nominations in both September and October but the nominations were overlooked at the September meeting. Hopefully we will have a good turn out of the membership at the October meeting for the nominations (and for John's presentation).

As usual, the meeting is open to LIHS members and to the general public. Entry to the meetings are free, there is no admission fee. Hope to see you there.

All the best,
Glenn B

Robert C. Stebbins March 1915 - September 2013

 

If you are a herper and looked at the title of this post and then thought who the heck is Robert C. Stebbins, all I can figure is you are probably pretty young. I would think that any herper who was middle aged or older would know the name, he wrote one of the most widely used herpetological field guides ever. That would be The Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians which was published first in 1966 as part of the Peterson Field Guide Series. I was ten or eleven when it was published and soon after that I got to see it in the library. It was not more than a few years after that when I owned my own copy. It wound up being the perfect companion for my copy of A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of the United States and Canada East of the 100th Meridian by Roger Conant and was a constant companion many years later when I traveled afield in our western states. I am indebted o Mr. Stebbins for many a herp collecting adventure that his field guide inspired within me.

Throughout much of his 98 years, Mr. Stebbins was an accomplished author and illustrator, a eminent herpetologist, a biologist, a naturalist, a conservationist and professor emeritus as well as being an inspiration to many a youngster who developed lasting interests in reptiles & amphibians. To see more about Robert C. Stebbins see these articles:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/08/us/robert-c-stebbins-chronicler-of-western-reptiles-and-amphibians-dies-at-98.html?_r=0

http://www.latimes.com/obituaries/la-me-robert-stebbins-20131006,0,6487001.story

http://bioaccumulation.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/in-memorium-robert-c-stebbins-march-31-1915-september-22-2013/

May he rest in peace in a place with lots of herps.

All the best,
Glenn B

Rapid Evolution of Italian Wall Lizards

"Italian wall lizards introduced to a tiny island off the coast of Croatia are evolving in ways that would normally take millions of years to play out, new research shows."  

For the source of that quote and for the rest of the story, see the article at this link:

http://news.nationalgeographic.co.uk/news/2008/04/080421-lizard-evolution.html

Male and female Italian Wall Lizards, Podarcis siculus. They are a
fairly common sight around certain areas of Long Island since their
unintended introduction to the Garden City area in 1966. Photo source.

Makes me wonder if the Italian Wall Lizards on Long Island have evolved since their establishment here. For more info on Long Island's Italian Wall Lizards, see the linked article by Russell Burke.

Personally, my hypotheses has been that at least some evolutionary change, maybe even most of it, occurs much more rapidly than over millions of years. It has been witnessed happening at a much faster rate over and over again, after major habitat changes, yet many scientists still seems to think the process is a long drawn out one. Lasting catastrophic habitat changes can and often do take place rapidly. It seems reasonable that the only creatures that would be able to survive, in some way, shape or form, would be those that adapt to it rapidly. Introduction of a species to a habitat for which it is not already adapted would force such changes or would likely result in the demise of the species in that new location.

Thanks to Deb H for the article.

All the best,
Glenn B

Another Herp/Cat Relationship Post

I don't know exactly what it is with Deb H sending in all these submission for the blog that involve cats but here is yet another. In this one it looks as if the herp, a tortoise, has the last laugh an maybe winds up with a hairball.

I kind of doubt it hurt much, if any, but it startled the cat. I guess it is not too often that the cat plays cat and mouse with a tortoise when the tortoise plays the role of the cat.

Another hat tip to Deb for sending in something for the blog.

All he best,
Glenn B

Upcoming Long Island Reptile Expo

The next Long Island Reptile Expo will be held on Sunday, October 13th, located at the:

Huntington Hilton Hotel 

598 Broad Hollow Rd. (Rt. 110)

Melville, NY  11747

 

 

The LIHS will have a table there. My guess is that volunteers (LIHS members only) to help man the table are needed. If you are an LIHS member and want to volunteer to help out at the LIHS table, please contact Rich Meyer Jr. at: gojiira@optonline.net.

 

All the best,

Glenn B



Long Island Herpetological Society October Meeting

The next monthly meeting of the LIHS will take place on Sunday October 20th at SUNY Farmingdale in the Conference Center. Click here for directions. As usual, it will begin at 1PM and is slated to end at 4PM although it may end earlier. GThe speaker will be LIHS member John Heiser and the topic will be:

Reptiles & Amphibians of Long Island
Part 1 - Snakes and Lizard

 

In addition to the planned speaker and presentation, we should be holding nominations for board members at the October meeting. We usually hold nominations in both September and October but the nominations were overlooked at the September meeting. Hopefully we will have a good turn out of the membership at the October meeting for the nominations (and for John's presentation).

As usual, the meeting is open to LIHS members and to the general public. Entry to the meetings are free, there is no admission fee. Hope to see you there.

All the best,
Glenn B

Hatchling Chameleon

I don't know what species of chameleon is this but if someone does know, please leave the species name in the comments. Thanks, yet again, to Deb H for this submission.



Source: Click here: http://i.imgur.com/NWoWjwQ.jpg

All the best,
Glenn B