Blindsnakes have taken over the continent of Australia at rapid speed. We chat about their different body types and finish with some listener-submitted wild observations of unusual reptile behaviour.

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Main Paper References:

Tiatragul S, Skeels A, Keogh JS. 2024. Morphological evolution and niche conservatism across a continental radiation of Australian blindsnakes. Evolution 78:1854–1868. DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpae132.

Other Links/Mentions:

Robles-Gil A. 2024.After the Death of Cassius, the World’s Largest Captive Crocodile, Scientists Are Trying to Solve the Mystery of His Age. Available at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/after-the-death-of-cassius-the-worlds-largest-captive-crocodile-scientists-are-trying-to-solve-the-mystery-of-his-age-180985422/ (accessed December 5, 2024).

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

A clever new experiment has shown that bearded dragons can learn skills by copying other dragons. Then we have a brand new orange and black newt species.

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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:

Kis A, Huber L, Wilkinson A. 2015. Social learning by imitation in a reptile (Pogona vitticeps). Animal Cognition 18:325–331. DOI: 10.1007/s10071-014-0803-7.

Species of the Bi-Week:

Pomchote P, Peerachidacho P, Khonsue W, Sapewisut P, Hernandez A, Phalaraksh C, Siriput P, Nishikawa K. 2024. The seventh species of the newt genus Tylototriton in Thailand: a new species (Urodela, Salamandridae) from Tak Province, northwestern Thailand. ZooKeys 1215:185–208. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1215.116624.

Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:

Folt B, Marshall M, Emanuel JA, Dziadzio M, Cooke J, Mena L, Hinderliter M, Hoffmann S, Rankin N, Tupy J, McGowan C. 2022. Using predictions from multiple anthropogenic threats to estimate future population persistence of an imperiled species. Global Ecology and Conservation 36:e02143. DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02143.

Loope KJ, Akçakaya HR, Shoemaker KT. 2024. Inflated predictions from a flawed model influenced the decision to deny federal protection for the gopher tortoise. Global Ecology and Conservation 54:e03089. DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2024.e03089.

Folt B, Marshall M, Emanuel JA, Dziadzio M, Cooke J, Mena L, Hinderliter M, Hoffmann S, Rankin N, Tupy J, McGowan C. 2024. Strengths and opportunities in gopher tortoise population modeling: Reply to Loope et al. Global Ecology and Conservation 54:e03093. DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2024.e03093.

Other Links/Mentions:

Learn JR. 2024.Research challenges gopher tortoise listing decision. Available at https://wildlife.org/research-challenges-gopher-tortoise-listing-decision/ (accessed December 5, 2024).

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

Despite their boring name, ground snakes exhibit a variety of gnarly behaviours to help them take down invertebrate prey like spiders, scorpions and centipedes.

Become a Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/herphighlights

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

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

Main Paper References:

Gripshover ND, Meik JM, Nicholson DJ, Cox CL. 2024. Feeding behavior varies based upon prey defenses in the ground snake (Squamata: Serpentes: Sonora episcopa). Journal of Zoology 324:71–82. DOI: 10.1111/jzo.13198.

Other Links/Mentions:

Rana iberica call by Rafael Márquez from https://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-scientific_name=Rana+iberica&rel-scientific_name=contains&include_synonymies=Yes

Burgess J. 2024. World’s largest crocodile in captivity dies. Available at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyvzyyd6l7o (accessed November 6, 2024).

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