New research suggests that tokay geckos can distinguish between different people, shedding further light on the intelligence of lizards. We delve into this study and voice warranted concerns about the intelligence of these little maniacs.

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Main Paper References:

Damas-Moreira I, Bégué L, Ringler E, Szabo B. 2025. Tokay geckos adjust their behaviour based on handler familiarity but according to context. Scientific Reports 15:11364. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-95936-5.

Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:

Correa, C., Riveros-Riffo, E., & Donoso, J. P. (2025). Lost for more than a century: the rediscovery of Alsodes vittatus (Philippi, 1902)(Anura, Alsodidae), one of the rarest and most elusive amphibians from Chile. ZooKeys, 1230, 195.

Other Links/Mentions:

Pensoft Publishers. 2025.Ghost Frog Found: Scientists Stumble Upon Species Missing Since 1902. Available at https://scitechdaily.com/ghost-frog-found-scientists-stumble-upon-species-missing-since-1902/ (accessed May 1, 2025).

Editing and Music:

Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson

Species Bi-week theme – Michael Timothy

Other Music – The Passion HiFi, https://www.thepassionhifi.com

Almost all pythons and some boas have heat pits on their faces. This extraordinary adaptation lets these snakes 'see' the heat signature of their unsuspecting prey. A new study has determined the evolutionary history of these amazing attributes, and worked out whether they are more prevalent in snakes with certain lifestyles.

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Full reference list available here: http://www.herphighlights.podbean.com

Main Paper References:

Biswas A, Ghosh A, Agashe M. 2025. In ‘hot’ pursuit: exploring the evolutionary ecology of labial pits in boas and pythons. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 292:20250199. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2025.0199.

Species of the Bi-Week:

Albuquerque NR, Martins RH, Carvalho PS, Shepard DB, Santana DJ. 2025. A new species of parrot snake, Leptophis (Serpentes: Colubridae) from the Brazilian Cerrado. PeerJ 13:e18528. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.18528.

Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:

Bontrager DR, Christie JT, Pierce AJ, Artchawakom T, Waengsothorn S, Jones MD. 2025. Ritualistic Male–Male Combat of the Northern King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) in Thailand. Ecology and Evolution 15:e71191. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.71191.

Editing and Music:

Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson

Species Bi-week theme – Michael Timothy

Other Music – The Passion HiFi, https://www.thepassionhifi.com

Day geckos and certain plants share a long evolutionary history, with day geckos feasting on nectar and in return pollinating plants. A study from back in the mid 2000s proved this neatly, and we delve into it this episode. After that, we have a snake eating somebody's underwear, and a very novel new method for controlling invasive cane toads in Australia.

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Merch: https://www.redbubble.com/people/herphighlights/shop

Full reference list available here: http://www.herphighlights.podbean.com

Main Paper References:

Hansen DM, Beer K, Müller CB. 2006. Mauritian coloured nectar no longer a mystery: a visual signal for lizard pollinators. Biology Letters 2:165–168. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2006.0458.

Other Links/Mentions:

Brann M. 2025. Woman finds python eating her bra and shirt for breakfast. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-25/cattle-producer-finds-python-eating-bra-and-shirt/104976022

de Kruijff P. 2025. Cannibal cane toad tadpoles that never grow up could help toad control. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-04-08/cane-toad-created-that-never-grows-up-and-eats-its-siblings/105100286

Editing and Music:

Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson

Species Bi-week theme – Michael Timothy

Other Music – The Passion HiFi, https://www.thepassionhifi.com

Intro visuals – Paul Snelling