07-03-2012, 01:18 PM
HerpDigest.org: The Only Free Weekly Electronic Newsletter That Reports on the Latest News on Herpetological Conservation, Husbandry and Science
Volume # 12 Issue # 28 7/3/12
Publisher/Editor- Allen Salzberg
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Just Out-
HEALTH CARE AND REHABILITATION OF TURTLES AND TORTOISES
(2012) An excellent, must have for every turtle owner. Covers everything from general information to major supportive care together with supporting photographs. It is obvious the author took great time and care to provide such marvelous information to all turtle owners or turtle enthusiasts. Full-color photographs. 393 pp. Softcover
Author: Amanda Ebenhack
List Price $39.95 plus $6.00 S&H see below on how to order (Overseas email us at asalzberg@herpdigest.org for S&H price.)
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Table of Contents:
1. Download copies of “Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles in Florida”
1. Looking for Associate Editors. Opportunity presents itself for CNAH to adopt the orphaned journal, Contemporary Herpetology (founded 1997).
3) EU ban on non-native pets would "boost black market"
1. A Giant Tortoise’s Death Gives Extinction a Face (Lonesome George)
5) Feds Likely To Face Legal Battle Over Burmese Python Ban from USARK
6) Introducing Alternatives to Sea Turtle Fishing in Cuba- June 21, 2012 in Eco-Tourism, Marine, Rivers and Watersheds, Species Preservation
7) How Sticky Toepads Evolved in Geckos and What That Means for Adhesive Technologies
8) Tiny turtles take a big step (Map and Spiny Softshell Turtles in Lake Champlain)
9) Tropical Storm Debby's pounding waves wiped out turtle nests as well as beaches
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1. Download copies of “Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles in Florida” (Krysko et al. 2011).
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herpetology/reptiles.htm
On this website you can find 3 open access versions of this 527 pp. publication: an online magazine, a high res PDF, and a low res PDF.
Cheers,
Lou
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Louis A. Somma, Research Associate
Florida State Collection of Arthropods
Division of Plant Industry - Entomology Sect.
Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
PO Box 147100, 1911 SW 34th St.
Gainesville, FL 32614-7100 USA
Ph: 352-372-3505
email: Louis.Somma@freshfromflorida.com
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Curatorial Assistant
McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity
and Volunteer in Herpetology
Florida Museum of Natural History
email: omma@ufl.edu">somma@ufl.edu
email: SommaSkink@yahoo.com
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1. Looking for Associate Editors. Opportunity presents itself for CNAH to adopt the orphaned journal, Contemporary Herpetology (founded 1997).
In keeping with the mission of that journal, articles would remain free and online. In keeping with the mission of CNAH, the journal would be North American, north of Mexico, in taxonomic scope and would be complete in topical coverage. Tentatively, issues would be produced twice each calendar year. PDF papers would consist of research articles only and would have audio and visual capabilities in keeping with our desire to promote a stronger understanding of North American Herpetology.
Is the herpetological community interested in such a venue?
Are you interested in and committed to associate editorship of potential headings listed below? You may find that your expertise falls under more than one category, such as both anuran ecology and salamander ecology. If you are, please respond to both Walter E. Meshaka, Jr. (toadwally@gmail.com) and Daniel Fogell (prairieherper@yahoo.com) under the subject heading of “JNAH AE”.
Genetics (apart from Taxonomy & Systematics)-
Morphology-
Taxonomy & Systematics-
Ecology (major or exclusive focus)
amphisbaenians-
crocodilians-
exotic species-
frogs and toads-
lizards-
salamanders-
turtles-
inventory and monitor-
reproductive ecology-
Based upon the interest level over the next few months we will be able to make a decision regarding the likelihood of success of this potential opportunity. We look forward to your input.
If you no longer wish to receive CNAH e-mail announcements please reply to this e-mail with 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in the e-mail subject. The Center for North American Herpetology (CNAH) is a 503© non-profit foundation established to benefit the North American Herpetofauna and the scientists that study them.
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3) EU ban on non-native pets would "boost black market"
Hereford Times 6/28/12 by Paul Broome
A poposal to ban non-native pets from the UK would lead to a surge in black market animal trading, the owner of Herefordshire’s largest exotic reptile collection has warned.
The European Union is considering a law restricting UK residents to pets originating from this country.
But Tom Wheeler of Ross-on-Wye’s Rainforest Exotics believes the idea would create chaos.
“What about dogs such as huskies and pets like dwarf rabbits?” he said.
“I don’t think you’d ever stop the sale of animals. They would just go onto the black market.
“At the moment we have to have a certificate to own crocodiles and venomous animals. But if they banned exotic animals they would change hands without any checks.”
The Ross shop currently stocks non-native animals including the Indian cobra snake and caiman crocodile.
The EU says the ruling would affect non-native pets which pose a “serious threat to native plants and animals in Europe”.
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4) A Giant Tortoise’s Death Gives Extinction a Face (Lonesome George)
By CARL HULSE
PUERTO AYORA, Galápagos Islands — Lonesome George is gone, and there will never be another like him.
George, the last giant tortoise of his subspecies in this archipelago, was found dead in his corral at the Charles Darwin Research Station here the morning of June 24 — to the shock of his devoted caretakers, who had hoped he would survive for decades to continue his line.
The cause was natural, according to a necropsy, with the liver showing definite signs of aging. Giant tortoises can live well into their second century; George, who was brought here in 1972 from the northern island of Pinta, was thought to be around 100.
The Galápagos is home to other types of giant tortoises, though their numbers remain low and their populations vulnerable. But in recent years, it was George who came to symbolize endangered species around the world, and he was enmeshed in the soul of the Galápagos — enshrined in stamps, logos and countless T-shirts.
His loss has left the islands’ human inhabitants a bit bereft.
“It is a very sad story for all of us,” said Christian Saa, a national park ranger, guide and naturalist who had never been at the research center when George was not on hand.
“We were expecting to have George another 50 years,” he said as he stood before the pen, which houses a heart-shaped pool in which the tortoise’s caretakers had hoped to entice him to produce an heir with two biologically close female tortoises who remain. “It feels kind of empty.”
George’s death was a singular moment, representing the extinction of a creature right before human eyes — not dinosaurs wiped out eons ago or animals consigned to oblivion by hunters who assumed there would always be more. That thought was expressed at the shops and restaurants that are the research center’s neighbors on Charles Darwin Avenue.
“We have witnessed extinction,” said a blackboard in front of one business. “Hopefully we will learn from it.”
It especially struck home with Fausto Llerena, the 72-year-old ranger who cared for George for many of the tortoise’s 40 years at the center. Mr. Llerena was part of the original expedition that found George on Pinta Island in 1972, when all the tortoises there were thought to be gone, and brought him here to Santa Cruz Island. Through the years, he said, George had come to recognize him.
“He came toward me and he stopped and stretched his neck out, opened his mouth like a greeting, welcoming me,” said Mr. Llerena, interviewed while he was weighing and measuring young tortoises that the center hopes to eventually return to the wild. “That was his behavior with me and my companions at work.”
On June 24, Mr. Llerena noticed that George was not in his usual morning spot. On closer inspection, he found the tortoise dead. Several days later, he said it was still hard to fathom.
“He was like a member of the family to me,” he added. “To me, he was everything.”
Over the decades, notables from many countries had visited George to ooh and ahh, and his death has drawn worldwide attention. But here on these isolated islands, the loss is much more personal.
Washington Tapia, a senior official at Ecuador’s park service, said he cried when he heard the news; for him, it was like losing his grandparents. The plan now, he said, is to prepare George for display in a new tortoise museum.
The Pinta subspecies of giant tortoises was hardly the first Galápagos animal to disappear, Mr. Tapia said. Over the centuries, whalers, sailors, explorers and pirates gathered tens of thousands of tortoises for food and introduced nonnative species that crowded out indigenous ones.
“Sadly, it is not the first species that has become extinct,” he said. “But because of the reputation that he had, the reaction to it is more unusual.”
After George arrived here in 1972, researchers at the center used numerous strategies to get him to reproduce, introducing him to female tortoises and even trying artificial insemination. A $10,000 reward was offered for identifying a Pinta Island female. Hopes were raised when tortoise eggs were found in the enclosure, but they turned out to be unfertilized.
Lonesome George, who was thought to have been named for the clueless character popularized by the 1950s comedian George Gobel, was not universally popular in the islands. In 1995 sea-cucumber fishermen blockaded the research center to protest proposed environmental restrictions, shouting “Death to Lonesome George!” The standoff ended without harm to George, and the Galápagos have embraced eco-tourism as a way to balance conservation and economic need.
Park officials say they hope George’s death drives home the lesson that humanity must take greater care in interacting with other species. And though George was a powerful emblem of the Galápagos, they see his loss as a beginning as much as an end.
“George is very important, but the Galápagos is more than just George,” Mr. Tapia said. “The Galápagos is one of the last places in the world where we can see those things, nature in its purest state.”
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5) Feds Likely To Face Legal Battle Over Burmese Python Ban from USARK
By Chris Sweeney Jun. 21 2012 Broward/Palm Beach New Times
Most of us rejoiced earlier this year when Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar announced a new set of restrictions on the much loathed, much feared, much hyped Burmese python.
But six months after the feds announced a ban on the importation and interstate sale of Burmese pythons and three other snake species, the reptile industry is starting to mount a resistance that could very well culminate in a costly lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
This week the United States Association of Reptile Keepers said that it is taking up funds to prepare for a judicial joust over the right to breed and sell these beastly snakes to whomever is willing to pay top dollar.
"There are a few legal avenues we are exploring first that may bring satisfaction without the need for a lawsuit," says Andrew Wyatt, president of the industry group. "The remedy of last resort is to file a federal lawsuit."
Under the current ban, reptile farmers are free to raise and sell Burmese pythons, so long as the snakes don't make their way over state lines. Wyatt says this is troublesome because reptiles are a multi-million-dollar industry, and breeders sell their snakes to zoos, research facilities and pet shops around the world.
For example, if a breeder in North Carolina gets an order from a lab in France, it might not be possible to complete the sale because there's a good chance the snake would pass through a FedEx facility outside of North Carolina, say in Georgia for example. If that were to happen, the seller would then be in violation of federal law and could be hit with stiff fines and potential jail time.
Florida already had a set of rules governing the snakes, and the reptile industry isn't pleased that the feds are pushing in on a problem that affects only a few counties in Florida. Down here, Burmese can't be acquired as pets, and only registered, licensed dealers, researchers and exhibitors are allowed to own the reptiles.
Wyatt makes no attempt to conceal that USARK is an industry group putting its financial interests first.
"We are an industry group trying to keep our businesses going," he says. "There's nothing wrong with farming livestock for profit. We produce high quality, captive-bred reptiles."
Burmese pythons have captured headlines in recent years for allegedly terrorizing the Everglades. One study suggested the snakes decimated mammal populations in the Everglades, but critics said the data were flawed and the study should have never been published.
It remains unclear exactly how many of the snakes remain in Florida; estimates range from a few thousand to more than 100,000.
In the recent past, Scott Hardin of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said it's not likely that Burmese pythons pose any significant threat, and that wild hogs are the most problematic invasive species in the Sunshine State.
Wyatt alleges that "a small cabal of scientists has sensationalized the threat Burmese pythons pose to South Florida and exaggerated it to secure federal funding for research." He also expresses concern that a ban on shipping these snakes across state lines does absolutely nothing to address the remnant population of pythons in the Everglades.
USARK asserts that Fish and Wildlife has "exceeded its Lacey Act authority in terms of the breadth of the restrictions" it placed on the four snake species. It's now taking up donations to challenge the law.
Wyatt says the group plans to file a lawsuit by the end of the year if the issue is not resolved through other means.
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6) Introducing Alternatives to Sea Turtle Fishing in Cuba
June 21, 2012 in Eco-Tourism, Marine, Rivers and Watersheds, Species Preservation
BY FERNANDO BRETOS (2011 Kinship Fellow)
By engaging fishing towns at the community level, Fernando and his colleagues are replacing short-term payoffs with more permanent social and economic benefits.
In a recent PBS/Nature documentary, Cuba was coined an “accidental Eden.” Its large size relative to low population, isolation, and a series of progressive environmental legislation passed by the Cuban government in the 1990s has spared many of its coastal resources the same ecological fate as in neighboring Caribbean countries. I have worked in Cuba since 1998, from where my parents departed in 1961. The island country has been close to my heart and the basis for much of my work in conservation. Collaborating with the University of Havana, I have studied and worked to protect Cuba’s sea turtle populations.
Cuba’s 3,000km of coastline provides ample habitat for many species of sea turtles, particularly green, loggerhead, and hawksbill turtles. Sea turtles are enigmatic creatures. Migratory, shy and confined to an oceanic habitat for most of their lives, it is difficult to estimate their true conservation status. Based on historical accounts, including Christopher Columbus’ 15th century voyages to the Americas, hundreds of millions of turtles once nested on Caribbean beaches. Turtle populations have dropped precipitously in the Caribbean as a result of direct poaching of eggs and meat, bycatch, and habitat loss. Cuba’s hawksbill turtles, until recently were the target of government mandated fisheries at two different fishing villages, Cocodrilo on Cuba’s isolated Isle of Youth and Nuevitas on Cuba’s north central coast. Over five hundred animals a year were harvested at these towns since the 1960s, for meat and shell products.
After relenting to constant pressure from the international conservation community, the Cuban government agreed to a full moratorium on this hawksbill harvest in 2008. By shifting from viewing turtles as a marine resource to be exploited for meat and shell alone to one that can serve longer term economic needs such as tourism, the future of sea turtles in the region is bright.
While successful in increasing local hawksbill populations, the elimination of the fishery at Cocodrilo left many Cocodrilo fishermen facing an uncertain future. Founded in 1904, Cocodrilo is an isolated fishing community of 311 residents. Until recently it was known as Jacksonville, in honor of its founder William Hawkins Jackson, a turtle fishermen from the Cayman Islands. Since its founding, generations of English speaking Cocodrilo fishermen made their living hunting sea turtles with the backing of the Cuban government who paid them for their catch. The moratorium on the sea turtle harvest left many fishermen without a livelihood and facing a turning point. How do they preserve their culture and continue their livelihoods while protecting these animals?
In 2009, I reached out to Grupo Tortuguero (GT), a community activism group in Mexico’s Baja California peninsula that developed a successful model to engage similar fishermen. Mexico shares a similar relationship with sea turtles. Until the Mexican government banned the fishing and poaching of sea turtles in 1990, many fishing villages in Baja depended on sea turtles for protein. As with Cocodrilo, these fishermen faced the difficult dilemma of how to feed their families once the Mexican ban was implemented. A group of conservationists, biologists, and fishermen formed GT as a community model to engage fishermen in alternatives to turtle fishing such as eco-tourism, research, and conservation. GT’s flagship outreach programs are festivals during which fishing towns that once targeted sea turtles hold their own community-wide celebrations to honor their relationship to these sentinel creatures.
My Mexican colleagues and I convened the first-ever Cuba-US-Mexico fisherman’s exchange on the Isle of Youth in April 2009 which provided a unique forum for Mexican and Cuban fishermen to discuss ways to reduce sea turtle mortality through their fishing activity. The successful sea turtle exchange and workshop created considerable momentum within Cuba to provide alternatives for fishermen.
One of the proposed measures announced during the 2009 workshop was to provide continued outreach that engages all facets of the community, including fishermen, women, and children in understanding the ecological and financial benefits of protecting turtles. This would take the form of a sea turtle festival in Crocodrilo featuring music, lectures, workshops, and children’s activities that revolve around the conservation of natural resources. Fishermen would learn how eco-tourism based on turtle encounters, such as when they nest on beaches, could provide an attractive alternative to hunting these charismatic creatures.
The first festival took place from November 18-19, 2011 in Cocodrilo. The event featured educational workshops for adults and children, a forum for local fishermen to express their inherent points of view about harvesting sea turtle, and music and poetry about marine conservation by local artists. The entire community of Cocodrilo, led by its mayor, Evelio Lavadie Montpelier have taken full ownership in hosting subsequent events. The Ocean Foundation and GT recently completed the Second Annual Cocodrilo Sea Turtle festival from May 18-21, 2012. One of the concepts discussed at this festival was the need to encourage sustainable tourism to this rustic fishing community. This new type of tourism would provide alternative income to the community, particularly those who do not rely on fishing for their income such as women and elders. Ideas include trips to the nearby reef at Punta Frances aboard artisanal fishing boats, the establishment of bed and breakfasts and visits to a nearby loggerhead turtle nesting beach called El Guanal.
By engaging fishing towns at the community level, my colleagues and I in Mexico and Cuba are creating permanent social and economic alternatives to those with a short term payoff.
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7) How Sticky Toepads Evolved in Geckos and What That Means for Adhesive Technologies
ScienceDaily (June 28, 2012) — Geckos are known for sticky toes that allow them to climb up walls and even hang upside down on ceilings. A new study shows that geckos have gained and lost these unique adhesive structures multiple times over the course of their long evolutionary history in response to habitat changes.
"Scientists have long thought that adhesive toepads originated just once in geckos, twice at the most," says University of Minnesota postdoctoral researcher Tony Gamble, a coauthor of the study. "To discover that geckos evolved sticky toepads again and again is amazing."
The findings are published in the most recent edition of PLoS ONE. Gamble is a researcher in the College of Biological Sciences' Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development. Aaron Bauer, a professor at Villanova University, is the study's senior author. The research is part of a long-standing collaboration on gecko evolution among biologists at the University of Minnesota, Villanova University and the University of Calgary.
Geckos, a type of lizard, are found in tropical and semitropical regions around the world. About 60 percent of the approximately 1,400 gecko species have adhesive toepads. Remaining species lack the pads and are unable to climb smooth surfaces. Geckos with these toepads are able to exploit vertical habitats on rocks and boulders that many other kinds of lizards can't easily get to. This advantage gives them access to food in these environments, such as moths and spiders. Climbing also helps geckos avoid predators.
The researchers found that sticky toes evolved independently in about 11 different gecko groups. In addition, they were lost in at least nine different gecko groups. The gain and subsequent loss of adhesive toepads seems associated with habitat changes; e.g., living on boulders and in trees versus living on the ground, often in sand dunes, where the feature could be a hindrance rather than an advantage. "The loss of adhesive pads in dune-dwelling species is an excellent example of natural selection in action," Bauer says.
Repeated evolution is a key phenomenon in the study of evolutionary biology. A classic example is the independent evolution of wings in birds, bats and pterosaurs. It represents a shared solution that organisms arrived at separately to overcome common problems.
In order to understand how the toepads evolved, the research team produced the most complete gecko family tree ever constructed, including representatives of more than 100 genera (closely related groups of species) from around the world. This family tree can serve as the basis for answering many other questions, such as how and when did live birth, temperature-dependent sex determination, and night color vision evolve in geckos? The family tree will also allow the authors to revise gecko taxonomy to best reflect the group's evolutionary history.
Gecko toepads adhere through a combination of weak intermolecular forces, called van der Waals forces, and frictional adhesion. Hundreds to hundreds of thousands of hair-like bristles, called setae, line the underside of a gecko's toes. The large surface area created by this multitude of bristles generates enough weak intermolecular forces to support the whole animal.
The amazing clinging ability of Gecko toes has inspired engineers to develop biomimetic technologies ranging from dry adhesive bandages to climbing robots. "Gaining a better understanding of the complex evolutionary history of gecko toepads allows bio-inspired engineers to learn from these natural designs and develop new applications," says co-author Anthony Russell, of the University of Calgary.
While scientists have a good understanding of how geckos stick at the microscopic level, they are just beginning to understand how geckos use their adhesive toepads to move around complex environments in the wild. Learning how gecko toepads have evolved to move in nature is an important step in developing robotic technologies that can do similar things. "It's one thing to stick and unstick a piece of 'gecko tape' to a smooth surface in a lab, but something else altogether to get a robotic gecko to move across a complicated landscape in the real world and stick to all the different shapes and textures it will encounter," says Gamble. Examining the repeated evolution of gecko toepads will let scientists find common ways natural selection solved these problems and focus on the characteristics shared across different gecko species.
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8) Tiny turtles take a big step (Map and Spiny Softshell Turtles in Lake Champlain)
Jun 29, 2012 By Cat Viglienzoni- WCAX.com
LAKE CHAMPLAIN - It's a big day for some tiny turtles on Lake Champlain-- they're taking their first strokes out into the water. But when you're a snack-sized turtle, Lake Champlain is a dangerous place.
"And it's kind of like an arms race with the predators," Vt. Fish and Wildlife Biologist Steve Parren said.
It's a race Parren runs in the fall. He has to get to the nests before something else does. Turtle eggs are a treat for foraging raccoons and skunks, and once the turtles hatch, they're vulnerable to other predators.
"And when the predators beat me the ground is littered with shells. I mean they can literally take out every nest on the beach," Parren said.
Vermont is the only New England state with a native spiny softshell turtle population, but the species is threatened. This site, where about 100 or so nest, is one of only two where the turtles breed. Biologists say there used to be more, until development encroached on the shoreline.
"We used to have a population on the Winooski River. That one doesn't exist anymore," Parren said.
An estimated 98 percent of hatchlings never make it to breeding age and many are picked off while they're small and vulnerable. And so Parren and ECHO Lake Aquarium staff are aiming to give these map turtle and softshell babies a head start by collecting them in the fall after they hatch, and then allowing them to grow indoors through the winter instead of hibernating.
"They are the same age. This one was kind of in suspension for about five-six months. So this guy got an extra, well, he's got an extra six months of growth, but it was six months of pampered growth," Parren said.
When these hatchlings were collected in September, they were about the size of a quarter. They don't look much bigger now, but every bit counts as they take their first steps into the lake.
A group of turtle enthusiasts gathered for the big send-off Wednesday, ready to release the youngsters into the waiting waters.
"I love turtles and plus I can't wait for them to be free!" said Logan Martin of Northfield.
Biologists don't know how many will ultimately survive, but they hope their efforts will give these tiny turtles a fighting chance.
"We just know they've won the first round," Parren said.
ECHO staff and biologists requested that we not tell you where the turtles were released, that way they are less likely to be disturbed or accidentally trampled by humans.
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9) Tropical Storm Debby's pounding waves wiped out turtle nests as well as beaches
By Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, June 30, 2012
Advertisement countdown
Tropical Storm Debby did more than just wipe some of Pinellas County's beaches off the map. The storm's pounding waves also destroyed scores of sea turtle nests, potentially ruining what had been a record-breaking nesting season.
"Obviously there's a lot of devastation," said David Yates of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which coordinates sea turtle nesting surveys on most of Pinellas' beaches. "We were having the best year in 15 years, and now we've had a substantial washing away."
Sea turtle guardians still are compiling the numbers to chart the losses, but early estimates are that they will be large. Fort De Soto Park supervisor Jim Wilson figures about one-third of the nests there were wiped out.
David Godfrey of the Sea Turtle Conservancy, the world's oldest sea turtle research and conservation group, said that along the gulf coast up to the Panhandle, "so far we're hearing that as many as half or more were lost."
However, state sea turtle biologist Anne Meylan said those estimates may be based on the loss of nest markers, not the nests.
"Losing your stakes isn't the same thing as losing the nests," noted Meylan, who works for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg. As a result, she said, "It's premature to have any estimate of an impact."
She also pointed out that several months still remain in turtle nesting season, so, "We still have time to make up any losses."
From May until September, thousands of female sea turtles — loggerheads and other species — crawl up on Florida beaches, dig a hole and drop in a clutch of eggs, then cover it back up and swim away.
The turtles that lay the eggs are returning to the beaches where they themselves hatched out some 30 years before.
Until this week, volunteers roving along the state's beaches were reporting record high nest numbers, Godfrey said. And the nesting had begun earlier than usual, too, he said.
But then Debby arrived, producing record rainfall and pounding waves that washed away beaches, as well as the nests beneath them.
"Up to that point, we were way ahead of last year," Meylan said.
South of the Tampa Bay area, researchers from Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota checking on the 1,367 nests they had marked before the storm between Longboat Key and Venice found markers remained for only 244 nests. That means as many as 82 percent of local nests lost the yellow stakes placed for identification — although it does not necessarily mean the nests are gone.
State biologists have been charting sea turtle nesting for more than 20 years. During that time, the nesting of loggerheads — the most common sea turtle species, but still rare enough to be classified as "threatened" — has been going downhill. The decline has been steepest since a high of 59,918 nests were counted in 1998.
Last year, however, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission documented a record-high nest count for green turtles. Leatherback turtles also had a high number of nests. Loggerhead nesting was close to its five-year average.
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HERP BOOKS ON SALE-ALL PROCEEDS GO TO HERPDIGEST
The Lizard King, by Bryan Christy, 256 Pages, Hardcover-List Price $25.00 Sale $12.00 per book. $6.00 for S&H. (Only 3 copies left)
Albino pythons, endangered lizards and other reptiles are the currency of an underworld as dangerous and lucrative as the drug trade. Freelance writer Christy's debut is an enthusiastic chronicle of the rise and fall of a lizard kingpin and the federal agent who pursued him. Mike Van Nostrand inherited Strictly Reptiles, an import-export business in Florida, from his father, Ray, turning it into a multimillion-dollar smuggling operation. Van Nostrand imported reptiles of all shapes and sizes, usually concealed in the suitcases or clothing of his mules, and sold them to collectors and pet stores. He exploited loopholes in the international treaty on endangered-species trade and paid off corrupt officials._____________
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Malformed Frogs: The Collapse of Aquatic Ecosystems [Hardcover]
by Michael Lannoo, University of California Press, 288 Pages
List Price $65.00 Sale Price $30.00
Plus $6.00 for S&H (Only 1 copy left)
The widespread appearance of frogs with deformed bodies has generated much press coverage over the past decade. Frogs with extra limbs or digits, missing limbs or digits, or misaligned appendages raise an alarming question: "Are deformed humans next?" Taking a fresh look at this disturbing environmental problem, this reference provides a balanced overview of the science behind the malformed frog phenomenon. Bringing together data from ecology, parasitology, and other disciplines, Michael Lannoo considers the possible causes of these deformities, tells which frogs have been affected, and addresses questions about what these malformations might mean to human populations. Featuring high-quality radiographic images, Malformed Frogs suggests that our focus should be on finding practical solutions, a key component of which will be controlling chemical, nutrient, and pesticide runoff into wetlands.
Editorial Reviews
"The 1995 discovery of malformed frogs in a Minnesota wetland is one of a few singular events in the history of environmental awareness that has forever changed our views regarding the plight of global biodiversity. Lannoo's book offers a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the malformed frog phenomenon and its likely causes, as well as its possible relation to environmentally mediated malformations in humans. It immediately ranks as a definitive source for information regarding malformed frogs in the larger context of global amphibian declines."--James Hanken, Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, Curator in Herpetology, and Director, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University
"Lannoo's book is unequivocally the definitive work on frog malformations, with broad relevance to the global decline of amphibians, the degradation of natural wetlands, and our own environmental legacy. This scholarly presentation by a top-rate scientist focuses on an irrefutable phenomenon in which frogs are serving as sentinels to which all of society should be listening."--J. Whitfield Gibbons, Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia
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Self-Portrait with Turtles: A Memoir [Paperback]
By David M. Carroll
Mariner Books-Imprint Houghton Mifflin Press -192 Pages Paperback List Price $13.99
Sale Price $8.00 Plus $6.00 S&H
(Only 3 copies left)
McArthur Genius Award Winner, renowned artist, author, and naturalist, David M. Carroll is exceptionally skilled at capturing nature on the page. In Self-Portrait with Turtles, he reflects on his own life, recounting the crucial moments that shaped his passions and abilities. Beginning with his first sighting of a wild turtle at age eight, Carroll describes his lifelong fascination with swamps and the creatures that inhabit them. He also traces his evolution as an artist, from the words of encouragement he received in high school to his college days in Boston to his life with his wife and family. Self-Portrait with Turtles is a remarkable memoir, a marvelous and exhilarating account of a life well lived.
EDITORIAL REVIEWS
From Booklist
Author-naturalist Carroll spent his early years in the city. When he was eight, his family moved to a town with woods, streams, ponds, and a salt marsh within walking distance. When Carroll saw his first turtle on his first outing through the wetlands, he was hooked. When a high-school art teacher declared that art was the only thing that lasts, the author then had the two guides for his life's work. A degree from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston led to turtles in the Fens and the woman who became his wife. Bouts of teaching are interspersed with rambling in search of turtles, and a final move to New Hampshire settles the author and his family in a landscape that comes complete with chelonian denizens. In a wonderful blend of natural history, memoir, and drawings, the author leads us through his life and how it has been shaped by his love of nature and turtles. This beautifully illustrated memoir will be sought out by lovers of good nature writing. Nancy Bent.
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Firefly Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians by Chris Mattison Hardcover - List Price $49.95
Sale Price $25.00 Plus $12.00 for S&H
(Only 3 copies left)
This highly acclaimed encyclopedia combines authoritative, easy-to-read essays with exciting photographs showing reptiles and amphibians in their natural habitats. Illustrations explain anatomy and biological features, and maps show world distribution of species. Commissioned articles by scientists, zoologists and researchers provide the latest findings and interpretations of data.
Each species listing has a "factfile" of essential data: scientific order and population; distribution (with a color-coded map) and habitat; size and color; reproduction and life cycle; longevity and conservation status.
All status descriptions have been updated in this revised edition, which also includes:
Descriptions of all new families of amphibians and reptiles
Updated range maps for all families
Revised family relationship diagrams in light of current taxonomic understanding
New species and genus totals for all groups.
Authoritative, comprehensive and beautiful.
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Turtles of the United States and Canada by Carl H. Ernst and Jeffrey E. Lovich
List Price: $98.00, (Hardcover) 840 pages
The Johns Hopkins University Press; Second edition
Our Price is cheaper than Amazon
$75.00 plus $13 for S&H. (it’s 8 pounds and worth every ounce)
and all profits goes to keep HerpDigest alive
Reviews
[A] monumental work... the standard reference to North American turtles for the next generation of biologists. Every serious vertebrate biologist on the continent will want a copy. (Herpetological Review )
The most comprehensive compilation on North American turtles ever attempted and achieved.(Herpetofauna )
In 1972, C. H. Ernst completed the daunting task of compiling a sequel to A. F. Carr's (1952) landmark Handbook of Turtles. Two decades later, Ernst, this time with assistance from former student and fellow cheloniophile J. E. Lovich, has done it again. (Copeia )
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Invasive Pythons in the United States- Ecology of an Introduced
Predator
Michael E. Dorcas and John D. Willson, Foreword by Whit Gibbons
The first detailed, comprehensive study of this invasive predator
Page count: 176, 188 color photos, 8 maps, 1 table, 7 figures
Paperback, c2011,
Was $25.00 Now Just $15.00 plus add $6.00 for shipping and handling.
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Diamonds in the Marsh - A Natural History of the Diamondback Terrapin
Barbara Brennessel
University Press of New England
2006 - 236 pp. 24 Color Illus. 35 B&W illus. 4 Tables. 6 x 9"
Was $15.00 Now $10.00 plus $6.00 S&H.
The first book-length investigation of a fascinating reptile
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Volume # 12 Issue # 28 7/3/12
Publisher/Editor- Allen Salzberg
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Just Out-
HEALTH CARE AND REHABILITATION OF TURTLES AND TORTOISES
(2012) An excellent, must have for every turtle owner. Covers everything from general information to major supportive care together with supporting photographs. It is obvious the author took great time and care to provide such marvelous information to all turtle owners or turtle enthusiasts. Full-color photographs. 393 pp. Softcover
Author: Amanda Ebenhack
List Price $39.95 plus $6.00 S&H see below on how to order (Overseas email us at asalzberg@herpdigest.org for S&H price.)
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Table of Contents:
1. Download copies of “Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles in Florida”
1. Looking for Associate Editors. Opportunity presents itself for CNAH to adopt the orphaned journal, Contemporary Herpetology (founded 1997).
3) EU ban on non-native pets would "boost black market"
1. A Giant Tortoise’s Death Gives Extinction a Face (Lonesome George)
5) Feds Likely To Face Legal Battle Over Burmese Python Ban from USARK
6) Introducing Alternatives to Sea Turtle Fishing in Cuba- June 21, 2012 in Eco-Tourism, Marine, Rivers and Watersheds, Species Preservation
7) How Sticky Toepads Evolved in Geckos and What That Means for Adhesive Technologies
8) Tiny turtles take a big step (Map and Spiny Softshell Turtles in Lake Champlain)
9) Tropical Storm Debby's pounding waves wiped out turtle nests as well as beaches
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1. Download copies of “Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles in Florida” (Krysko et al. 2011).
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herpetology/reptiles.htm
On this website you can find 3 open access versions of this 527 pp. publication: an online magazine, a high res PDF, and a low res PDF.
Cheers,
Lou
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Louis A. Somma, Research Associate
Florida State Collection of Arthropods
Division of Plant Industry - Entomology Sect.
Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
PO Box 147100, 1911 SW 34th St.
Gainesville, FL 32614-7100 USA
Ph: 352-372-3505
email: Louis.Somma@freshfromflorida.com
****************************************************
Curatorial Assistant
McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity
and Volunteer in Herpetology
Florida Museum of Natural History
email: omma@ufl.edu">somma@ufl.edu
email: SommaSkink@yahoo.com
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1. Looking for Associate Editors. Opportunity presents itself for CNAH to adopt the orphaned journal, Contemporary Herpetology (founded 1997).
In keeping with the mission of that journal, articles would remain free and online. In keeping with the mission of CNAH, the journal would be North American, north of Mexico, in taxonomic scope and would be complete in topical coverage. Tentatively, issues would be produced twice each calendar year. PDF papers would consist of research articles only and would have audio and visual capabilities in keeping with our desire to promote a stronger understanding of North American Herpetology.
Is the herpetological community interested in such a venue?
Are you interested in and committed to associate editorship of potential headings listed below? You may find that your expertise falls under more than one category, such as both anuran ecology and salamander ecology. If you are, please respond to both Walter E. Meshaka, Jr. (toadwally@gmail.com) and Daniel Fogell (prairieherper@yahoo.com) under the subject heading of “JNAH AE”.
Genetics (apart from Taxonomy & Systematics)-
Morphology-
Taxonomy & Systematics-
Ecology (major or exclusive focus)
amphisbaenians-
crocodilians-
exotic species-
frogs and toads-
lizards-
salamanders-
turtles-
inventory and monitor-
reproductive ecology-
Based upon the interest level over the next few months we will be able to make a decision regarding the likelihood of success of this potential opportunity. We look forward to your input.
If you no longer wish to receive CNAH e-mail announcements please reply to this e-mail with 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in the e-mail subject. The Center for North American Herpetology (CNAH) is a 503© non-profit foundation established to benefit the North American Herpetofauna and the scientists that study them.
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3) EU ban on non-native pets would "boost black market"
Hereford Times 6/28/12 by Paul Broome
A poposal to ban non-native pets from the UK would lead to a surge in black market animal trading, the owner of Herefordshire’s largest exotic reptile collection has warned.
The European Union is considering a law restricting UK residents to pets originating from this country.
But Tom Wheeler of Ross-on-Wye’s Rainforest Exotics believes the idea would create chaos.
“What about dogs such as huskies and pets like dwarf rabbits?” he said.
“I don’t think you’d ever stop the sale of animals. They would just go onto the black market.
“At the moment we have to have a certificate to own crocodiles and venomous animals. But if they banned exotic animals they would change hands without any checks.”
The Ross shop currently stocks non-native animals including the Indian cobra snake and caiman crocodile.
The EU says the ruling would affect non-native pets which pose a “serious threat to native plants and animals in Europe”.
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4) A Giant Tortoise’s Death Gives Extinction a Face (Lonesome George)
By CARL HULSE
PUERTO AYORA, Galápagos Islands — Lonesome George is gone, and there will never be another like him.
George, the last giant tortoise of his subspecies in this archipelago, was found dead in his corral at the Charles Darwin Research Station here the morning of June 24 — to the shock of his devoted caretakers, who had hoped he would survive for decades to continue his line.
The cause was natural, according to a necropsy, with the liver showing definite signs of aging. Giant tortoises can live well into their second century; George, who was brought here in 1972 from the northern island of Pinta, was thought to be around 100.
The Galápagos is home to other types of giant tortoises, though their numbers remain low and their populations vulnerable. But in recent years, it was George who came to symbolize endangered species around the world, and he was enmeshed in the soul of the Galápagos — enshrined in stamps, logos and countless T-shirts.
His loss has left the islands’ human inhabitants a bit bereft.
“It is a very sad story for all of us,” said Christian Saa, a national park ranger, guide and naturalist who had never been at the research center when George was not on hand.
“We were expecting to have George another 50 years,” he said as he stood before the pen, which houses a heart-shaped pool in which the tortoise’s caretakers had hoped to entice him to produce an heir with two biologically close female tortoises who remain. “It feels kind of empty.”
George’s death was a singular moment, representing the extinction of a creature right before human eyes — not dinosaurs wiped out eons ago or animals consigned to oblivion by hunters who assumed there would always be more. That thought was expressed at the shops and restaurants that are the research center’s neighbors on Charles Darwin Avenue.
“We have witnessed extinction,” said a blackboard in front of one business. “Hopefully we will learn from it.”
It especially struck home with Fausto Llerena, the 72-year-old ranger who cared for George for many of the tortoise’s 40 years at the center. Mr. Llerena was part of the original expedition that found George on Pinta Island in 1972, when all the tortoises there were thought to be gone, and brought him here to Santa Cruz Island. Through the years, he said, George had come to recognize him.
“He came toward me and he stopped and stretched his neck out, opened his mouth like a greeting, welcoming me,” said Mr. Llerena, interviewed while he was weighing and measuring young tortoises that the center hopes to eventually return to the wild. “That was his behavior with me and my companions at work.”
On June 24, Mr. Llerena noticed that George was not in his usual morning spot. On closer inspection, he found the tortoise dead. Several days later, he said it was still hard to fathom.
“He was like a member of the family to me,” he added. “To me, he was everything.”
Over the decades, notables from many countries had visited George to ooh and ahh, and his death has drawn worldwide attention. But here on these isolated islands, the loss is much more personal.
Washington Tapia, a senior official at Ecuador’s park service, said he cried when he heard the news; for him, it was like losing his grandparents. The plan now, he said, is to prepare George for display in a new tortoise museum.
The Pinta subspecies of giant tortoises was hardly the first Galápagos animal to disappear, Mr. Tapia said. Over the centuries, whalers, sailors, explorers and pirates gathered tens of thousands of tortoises for food and introduced nonnative species that crowded out indigenous ones.
“Sadly, it is not the first species that has become extinct,” he said. “But because of the reputation that he had, the reaction to it is more unusual.”
After George arrived here in 1972, researchers at the center used numerous strategies to get him to reproduce, introducing him to female tortoises and even trying artificial insemination. A $10,000 reward was offered for identifying a Pinta Island female. Hopes were raised when tortoise eggs were found in the enclosure, but they turned out to be unfertilized.
Lonesome George, who was thought to have been named for the clueless character popularized by the 1950s comedian George Gobel, was not universally popular in the islands. In 1995 sea-cucumber fishermen blockaded the research center to protest proposed environmental restrictions, shouting “Death to Lonesome George!” The standoff ended without harm to George, and the Galápagos have embraced eco-tourism as a way to balance conservation and economic need.
Park officials say they hope George’s death drives home the lesson that humanity must take greater care in interacting with other species. And though George was a powerful emblem of the Galápagos, they see his loss as a beginning as much as an end.
“George is very important, but the Galápagos is more than just George,” Mr. Tapia said. “The Galápagos is one of the last places in the world where we can see those things, nature in its purest state.”
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5) Feds Likely To Face Legal Battle Over Burmese Python Ban from USARK
By Chris Sweeney Jun. 21 2012 Broward/Palm Beach New Times
Most of us rejoiced earlier this year when Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar announced a new set of restrictions on the much loathed, much feared, much hyped Burmese python.
But six months after the feds announced a ban on the importation and interstate sale of Burmese pythons and three other snake species, the reptile industry is starting to mount a resistance that could very well culminate in a costly lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
This week the United States Association of Reptile Keepers said that it is taking up funds to prepare for a judicial joust over the right to breed and sell these beastly snakes to whomever is willing to pay top dollar.
"There are a few legal avenues we are exploring first that may bring satisfaction without the need for a lawsuit," says Andrew Wyatt, president of the industry group. "The remedy of last resort is to file a federal lawsuit."
Under the current ban, reptile farmers are free to raise and sell Burmese pythons, so long as the snakes don't make their way over state lines. Wyatt says this is troublesome because reptiles are a multi-million-dollar industry, and breeders sell their snakes to zoos, research facilities and pet shops around the world.
For example, if a breeder in North Carolina gets an order from a lab in France, it might not be possible to complete the sale because there's a good chance the snake would pass through a FedEx facility outside of North Carolina, say in Georgia for example. If that were to happen, the seller would then be in violation of federal law and could be hit with stiff fines and potential jail time.
Florida already had a set of rules governing the snakes, and the reptile industry isn't pleased that the feds are pushing in on a problem that affects only a few counties in Florida. Down here, Burmese can't be acquired as pets, and only registered, licensed dealers, researchers and exhibitors are allowed to own the reptiles.
Wyatt makes no attempt to conceal that USARK is an industry group putting its financial interests first.
"We are an industry group trying to keep our businesses going," he says. "There's nothing wrong with farming livestock for profit. We produce high quality, captive-bred reptiles."
Burmese pythons have captured headlines in recent years for allegedly terrorizing the Everglades. One study suggested the snakes decimated mammal populations in the Everglades, but critics said the data were flawed and the study should have never been published.
It remains unclear exactly how many of the snakes remain in Florida; estimates range from a few thousand to more than 100,000.
In the recent past, Scott Hardin of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said it's not likely that Burmese pythons pose any significant threat, and that wild hogs are the most problematic invasive species in the Sunshine State.
Wyatt alleges that "a small cabal of scientists has sensationalized the threat Burmese pythons pose to South Florida and exaggerated it to secure federal funding for research." He also expresses concern that a ban on shipping these snakes across state lines does absolutely nothing to address the remnant population of pythons in the Everglades.
USARK asserts that Fish and Wildlife has "exceeded its Lacey Act authority in terms of the breadth of the restrictions" it placed on the four snake species. It's now taking up donations to challenge the law.
Wyatt says the group plans to file a lawsuit by the end of the year if the issue is not resolved through other means.
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6) Introducing Alternatives to Sea Turtle Fishing in Cuba
June 21, 2012 in Eco-Tourism, Marine, Rivers and Watersheds, Species Preservation
BY FERNANDO BRETOS (2011 Kinship Fellow)
By engaging fishing towns at the community level, Fernando and his colleagues are replacing short-term payoffs with more permanent social and economic benefits.
In a recent PBS/Nature documentary, Cuba was coined an “accidental Eden.” Its large size relative to low population, isolation, and a series of progressive environmental legislation passed by the Cuban government in the 1990s has spared many of its coastal resources the same ecological fate as in neighboring Caribbean countries. I have worked in Cuba since 1998, from where my parents departed in 1961. The island country has been close to my heart and the basis for much of my work in conservation. Collaborating with the University of Havana, I have studied and worked to protect Cuba’s sea turtle populations.
Cuba’s 3,000km of coastline provides ample habitat for many species of sea turtles, particularly green, loggerhead, and hawksbill turtles. Sea turtles are enigmatic creatures. Migratory, shy and confined to an oceanic habitat for most of their lives, it is difficult to estimate their true conservation status. Based on historical accounts, including Christopher Columbus’ 15th century voyages to the Americas, hundreds of millions of turtles once nested on Caribbean beaches. Turtle populations have dropped precipitously in the Caribbean as a result of direct poaching of eggs and meat, bycatch, and habitat loss. Cuba’s hawksbill turtles, until recently were the target of government mandated fisheries at two different fishing villages, Cocodrilo on Cuba’s isolated Isle of Youth and Nuevitas on Cuba’s north central coast. Over five hundred animals a year were harvested at these towns since the 1960s, for meat and shell products.
After relenting to constant pressure from the international conservation community, the Cuban government agreed to a full moratorium on this hawksbill harvest in 2008. By shifting from viewing turtles as a marine resource to be exploited for meat and shell alone to one that can serve longer term economic needs such as tourism, the future of sea turtles in the region is bright.
While successful in increasing local hawksbill populations, the elimination of the fishery at Cocodrilo left many Cocodrilo fishermen facing an uncertain future. Founded in 1904, Cocodrilo is an isolated fishing community of 311 residents. Until recently it was known as Jacksonville, in honor of its founder William Hawkins Jackson, a turtle fishermen from the Cayman Islands. Since its founding, generations of English speaking Cocodrilo fishermen made their living hunting sea turtles with the backing of the Cuban government who paid them for their catch. The moratorium on the sea turtle harvest left many fishermen without a livelihood and facing a turning point. How do they preserve their culture and continue their livelihoods while protecting these animals?
In 2009, I reached out to Grupo Tortuguero (GT), a community activism group in Mexico’s Baja California peninsula that developed a successful model to engage similar fishermen. Mexico shares a similar relationship with sea turtles. Until the Mexican government banned the fishing and poaching of sea turtles in 1990, many fishing villages in Baja depended on sea turtles for protein. As with Cocodrilo, these fishermen faced the difficult dilemma of how to feed their families once the Mexican ban was implemented. A group of conservationists, biologists, and fishermen formed GT as a community model to engage fishermen in alternatives to turtle fishing such as eco-tourism, research, and conservation. GT’s flagship outreach programs are festivals during which fishing towns that once targeted sea turtles hold their own community-wide celebrations to honor their relationship to these sentinel creatures.
My Mexican colleagues and I convened the first-ever Cuba-US-Mexico fisherman’s exchange on the Isle of Youth in April 2009 which provided a unique forum for Mexican and Cuban fishermen to discuss ways to reduce sea turtle mortality through their fishing activity. The successful sea turtle exchange and workshop created considerable momentum within Cuba to provide alternatives for fishermen.
One of the proposed measures announced during the 2009 workshop was to provide continued outreach that engages all facets of the community, including fishermen, women, and children in understanding the ecological and financial benefits of protecting turtles. This would take the form of a sea turtle festival in Crocodrilo featuring music, lectures, workshops, and children’s activities that revolve around the conservation of natural resources. Fishermen would learn how eco-tourism based on turtle encounters, such as when they nest on beaches, could provide an attractive alternative to hunting these charismatic creatures.
The first festival took place from November 18-19, 2011 in Cocodrilo. The event featured educational workshops for adults and children, a forum for local fishermen to express their inherent points of view about harvesting sea turtle, and music and poetry about marine conservation by local artists. The entire community of Cocodrilo, led by its mayor, Evelio Lavadie Montpelier have taken full ownership in hosting subsequent events. The Ocean Foundation and GT recently completed the Second Annual Cocodrilo Sea Turtle festival from May 18-21, 2012. One of the concepts discussed at this festival was the need to encourage sustainable tourism to this rustic fishing community. This new type of tourism would provide alternative income to the community, particularly those who do not rely on fishing for their income such as women and elders. Ideas include trips to the nearby reef at Punta Frances aboard artisanal fishing boats, the establishment of bed and breakfasts and visits to a nearby loggerhead turtle nesting beach called El Guanal.
By engaging fishing towns at the community level, my colleagues and I in Mexico and Cuba are creating permanent social and economic alternatives to those with a short term payoff.
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7) How Sticky Toepads Evolved in Geckos and What That Means for Adhesive Technologies
ScienceDaily (June 28, 2012) — Geckos are known for sticky toes that allow them to climb up walls and even hang upside down on ceilings. A new study shows that geckos have gained and lost these unique adhesive structures multiple times over the course of their long evolutionary history in response to habitat changes.
"Scientists have long thought that adhesive toepads originated just once in geckos, twice at the most," says University of Minnesota postdoctoral researcher Tony Gamble, a coauthor of the study. "To discover that geckos evolved sticky toepads again and again is amazing."
The findings are published in the most recent edition of PLoS ONE. Gamble is a researcher in the College of Biological Sciences' Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development. Aaron Bauer, a professor at Villanova University, is the study's senior author. The research is part of a long-standing collaboration on gecko evolution among biologists at the University of Minnesota, Villanova University and the University of Calgary.
Geckos, a type of lizard, are found in tropical and semitropical regions around the world. About 60 percent of the approximately 1,400 gecko species have adhesive toepads. Remaining species lack the pads and are unable to climb smooth surfaces. Geckos with these toepads are able to exploit vertical habitats on rocks and boulders that many other kinds of lizards can't easily get to. This advantage gives them access to food in these environments, such as moths and spiders. Climbing also helps geckos avoid predators.
The researchers found that sticky toes evolved independently in about 11 different gecko groups. In addition, they were lost in at least nine different gecko groups. The gain and subsequent loss of adhesive toepads seems associated with habitat changes; e.g., living on boulders and in trees versus living on the ground, often in sand dunes, where the feature could be a hindrance rather than an advantage. "The loss of adhesive pads in dune-dwelling species is an excellent example of natural selection in action," Bauer says.
Repeated evolution is a key phenomenon in the study of evolutionary biology. A classic example is the independent evolution of wings in birds, bats and pterosaurs. It represents a shared solution that organisms arrived at separately to overcome common problems.
In order to understand how the toepads evolved, the research team produced the most complete gecko family tree ever constructed, including representatives of more than 100 genera (closely related groups of species) from around the world. This family tree can serve as the basis for answering many other questions, such as how and when did live birth, temperature-dependent sex determination, and night color vision evolve in geckos? The family tree will also allow the authors to revise gecko taxonomy to best reflect the group's evolutionary history.
Gecko toepads adhere through a combination of weak intermolecular forces, called van der Waals forces, and frictional adhesion. Hundreds to hundreds of thousands of hair-like bristles, called setae, line the underside of a gecko's toes. The large surface area created by this multitude of bristles generates enough weak intermolecular forces to support the whole animal.
The amazing clinging ability of Gecko toes has inspired engineers to develop biomimetic technologies ranging from dry adhesive bandages to climbing robots. "Gaining a better understanding of the complex evolutionary history of gecko toepads allows bio-inspired engineers to learn from these natural designs and develop new applications," says co-author Anthony Russell, of the University of Calgary.
While scientists have a good understanding of how geckos stick at the microscopic level, they are just beginning to understand how geckos use their adhesive toepads to move around complex environments in the wild. Learning how gecko toepads have evolved to move in nature is an important step in developing robotic technologies that can do similar things. "It's one thing to stick and unstick a piece of 'gecko tape' to a smooth surface in a lab, but something else altogether to get a robotic gecko to move across a complicated landscape in the real world and stick to all the different shapes and textures it will encounter," says Gamble. Examining the repeated evolution of gecko toepads will let scientists find common ways natural selection solved these problems and focus on the characteristics shared across different gecko species.
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8) Tiny turtles take a big step (Map and Spiny Softshell Turtles in Lake Champlain)
Jun 29, 2012 By Cat Viglienzoni- WCAX.com
LAKE CHAMPLAIN - It's a big day for some tiny turtles on Lake Champlain-- they're taking their first strokes out into the water. But when you're a snack-sized turtle, Lake Champlain is a dangerous place.
"And it's kind of like an arms race with the predators," Vt. Fish and Wildlife Biologist Steve Parren said.
It's a race Parren runs in the fall. He has to get to the nests before something else does. Turtle eggs are a treat for foraging raccoons and skunks, and once the turtles hatch, they're vulnerable to other predators.
"And when the predators beat me the ground is littered with shells. I mean they can literally take out every nest on the beach," Parren said.
Vermont is the only New England state with a native spiny softshell turtle population, but the species is threatened. This site, where about 100 or so nest, is one of only two where the turtles breed. Biologists say there used to be more, until development encroached on the shoreline.
"We used to have a population on the Winooski River. That one doesn't exist anymore," Parren said.
An estimated 98 percent of hatchlings never make it to breeding age and many are picked off while they're small and vulnerable. And so Parren and ECHO Lake Aquarium staff are aiming to give these map turtle and softshell babies a head start by collecting them in the fall after they hatch, and then allowing them to grow indoors through the winter instead of hibernating.
"They are the same age. This one was kind of in suspension for about five-six months. So this guy got an extra, well, he's got an extra six months of growth, but it was six months of pampered growth," Parren said.
When these hatchlings were collected in September, they were about the size of a quarter. They don't look much bigger now, but every bit counts as they take their first steps into the lake.
A group of turtle enthusiasts gathered for the big send-off Wednesday, ready to release the youngsters into the waiting waters.
"I love turtles and plus I can't wait for them to be free!" said Logan Martin of Northfield.
Biologists don't know how many will ultimately survive, but they hope their efforts will give these tiny turtles a fighting chance.
"We just know they've won the first round," Parren said.
ECHO staff and biologists requested that we not tell you where the turtles were released, that way they are less likely to be disturbed or accidentally trampled by humans.
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9) Tropical Storm Debby's pounding waves wiped out turtle nests as well as beaches
By Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, June 30, 2012
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Tropical Storm Debby did more than just wipe some of Pinellas County's beaches off the map. The storm's pounding waves also destroyed scores of sea turtle nests, potentially ruining what had been a record-breaking nesting season.
"Obviously there's a lot of devastation," said David Yates of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which coordinates sea turtle nesting surveys on most of Pinellas' beaches. "We were having the best year in 15 years, and now we've had a substantial washing away."
Sea turtle guardians still are compiling the numbers to chart the losses, but early estimates are that they will be large. Fort De Soto Park supervisor Jim Wilson figures about one-third of the nests there were wiped out.
David Godfrey of the Sea Turtle Conservancy, the world's oldest sea turtle research and conservation group, said that along the gulf coast up to the Panhandle, "so far we're hearing that as many as half or more were lost."
However, state sea turtle biologist Anne Meylan said those estimates may be based on the loss of nest markers, not the nests.
"Losing your stakes isn't the same thing as losing the nests," noted Meylan, who works for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg. As a result, she said, "It's premature to have any estimate of an impact."
She also pointed out that several months still remain in turtle nesting season, so, "We still have time to make up any losses."
From May until September, thousands of female sea turtles — loggerheads and other species — crawl up on Florida beaches, dig a hole and drop in a clutch of eggs, then cover it back up and swim away.
The turtles that lay the eggs are returning to the beaches where they themselves hatched out some 30 years before.
Until this week, volunteers roving along the state's beaches were reporting record high nest numbers, Godfrey said. And the nesting had begun earlier than usual, too, he said.
But then Debby arrived, producing record rainfall and pounding waves that washed away beaches, as well as the nests beneath them.
"Up to that point, we were way ahead of last year," Meylan said.
South of the Tampa Bay area, researchers from Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota checking on the 1,367 nests they had marked before the storm between Longboat Key and Venice found markers remained for only 244 nests. That means as many as 82 percent of local nests lost the yellow stakes placed for identification — although it does not necessarily mean the nests are gone.
State biologists have been charting sea turtle nesting for more than 20 years. During that time, the nesting of loggerheads — the most common sea turtle species, but still rare enough to be classified as "threatened" — has been going downhill. The decline has been steepest since a high of 59,918 nests were counted in 1998.
Last year, however, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission documented a record-high nest count for green turtles. Leatherback turtles also had a high number of nests. Loggerhead nesting was close to its five-year average.
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HERP BOOKS ON SALE-ALL PROCEEDS GO TO HERPDIGEST
The Lizard King, by Bryan Christy, 256 Pages, Hardcover-List Price $25.00 Sale $12.00 per book. $6.00 for S&H. (Only 3 copies left)
Albino pythons, endangered lizards and other reptiles are the currency of an underworld as dangerous and lucrative as the drug trade. Freelance writer Christy's debut is an enthusiastic chronicle of the rise and fall of a lizard kingpin and the federal agent who pursued him. Mike Van Nostrand inherited Strictly Reptiles, an import-export business in Florida, from his father, Ray, turning it into a multimillion-dollar smuggling operation. Van Nostrand imported reptiles of all shapes and sizes, usually concealed in the suitcases or clothing of his mules, and sold them to collectors and pet stores. He exploited loopholes in the international treaty on endangered-species trade and paid off corrupt officials._____________
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Malformed Frogs: The Collapse of Aquatic Ecosystems [Hardcover]
by Michael Lannoo, University of California Press, 288 Pages
List Price $65.00 Sale Price $30.00
Plus $6.00 for S&H (Only 1 copy left)
The widespread appearance of frogs with deformed bodies has generated much press coverage over the past decade. Frogs with extra limbs or digits, missing limbs or digits, or misaligned appendages raise an alarming question: "Are deformed humans next?" Taking a fresh look at this disturbing environmental problem, this reference provides a balanced overview of the science behind the malformed frog phenomenon. Bringing together data from ecology, parasitology, and other disciplines, Michael Lannoo considers the possible causes of these deformities, tells which frogs have been affected, and addresses questions about what these malformations might mean to human populations. Featuring high-quality radiographic images, Malformed Frogs suggests that our focus should be on finding practical solutions, a key component of which will be controlling chemical, nutrient, and pesticide runoff into wetlands.
Editorial Reviews
"The 1995 discovery of malformed frogs in a Minnesota wetland is one of a few singular events in the history of environmental awareness that has forever changed our views regarding the plight of global biodiversity. Lannoo's book offers a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the malformed frog phenomenon and its likely causes, as well as its possible relation to environmentally mediated malformations in humans. It immediately ranks as a definitive source for information regarding malformed frogs in the larger context of global amphibian declines."--James Hanken, Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, Curator in Herpetology, and Director, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University
"Lannoo's book is unequivocally the definitive work on frog malformations, with broad relevance to the global decline of amphibians, the degradation of natural wetlands, and our own environmental legacy. This scholarly presentation by a top-rate scientist focuses on an irrefutable phenomenon in which frogs are serving as sentinels to which all of society should be listening."--J. Whitfield Gibbons, Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia
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Self-Portrait with Turtles: A Memoir [Paperback]
By David M. Carroll
Mariner Books-Imprint Houghton Mifflin Press -192 Pages Paperback List Price $13.99
Sale Price $8.00 Plus $6.00 S&H
(Only 3 copies left)
McArthur Genius Award Winner, renowned artist, author, and naturalist, David M. Carroll is exceptionally skilled at capturing nature on the page. In Self-Portrait with Turtles, he reflects on his own life, recounting the crucial moments that shaped his passions and abilities. Beginning with his first sighting of a wild turtle at age eight, Carroll describes his lifelong fascination with swamps and the creatures that inhabit them. He also traces his evolution as an artist, from the words of encouragement he received in high school to his college days in Boston to his life with his wife and family. Self-Portrait with Turtles is a remarkable memoir, a marvelous and exhilarating account of a life well lived.
EDITORIAL REVIEWS
From Booklist
Author-naturalist Carroll spent his early years in the city. When he was eight, his family moved to a town with woods, streams, ponds, and a salt marsh within walking distance. When Carroll saw his first turtle on his first outing through the wetlands, he was hooked. When a high-school art teacher declared that art was the only thing that lasts, the author then had the two guides for his life's work. A degree from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston led to turtles in the Fens and the woman who became his wife. Bouts of teaching are interspersed with rambling in search of turtles, and a final move to New Hampshire settles the author and his family in a landscape that comes complete with chelonian denizens. In a wonderful blend of natural history, memoir, and drawings, the author leads us through his life and how it has been shaped by his love of nature and turtles. This beautifully illustrated memoir will be sought out by lovers of good nature writing. Nancy Bent.
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Firefly Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians by Chris Mattison Hardcover - List Price $49.95
Sale Price $25.00 Plus $12.00 for S&H
(Only 3 copies left)
This highly acclaimed encyclopedia combines authoritative, easy-to-read essays with exciting photographs showing reptiles and amphibians in their natural habitats. Illustrations explain anatomy and biological features, and maps show world distribution of species. Commissioned articles by scientists, zoologists and researchers provide the latest findings and interpretations of data.
Each species listing has a "factfile" of essential data: scientific order and population; distribution (with a color-coded map) and habitat; size and color; reproduction and life cycle; longevity and conservation status.
All status descriptions have been updated in this revised edition, which also includes:
Descriptions of all new families of amphibians and reptiles
Updated range maps for all families
Revised family relationship diagrams in light of current taxonomic understanding
New species and genus totals for all groups.
Authoritative, comprehensive and beautiful.
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Turtles of the United States and Canada by Carl H. Ernst and Jeffrey E. Lovich
List Price: $98.00, (Hardcover) 840 pages
The Johns Hopkins University Press; Second edition
Our Price is cheaper than Amazon
$75.00 plus $13 for S&H. (it’s 8 pounds and worth every ounce)
and all profits goes to keep HerpDigest alive
Reviews
[A] monumental work... the standard reference to North American turtles for the next generation of biologists. Every serious vertebrate biologist on the continent will want a copy. (Herpetological Review )
The most comprehensive compilation on North American turtles ever attempted and achieved.(Herpetofauna )
In 1972, C. H. Ernst completed the daunting task of compiling a sequel to A. F. Carr's (1952) landmark Handbook of Turtles. Two decades later, Ernst, this time with assistance from former student and fellow cheloniophile J. E. Lovich, has done it again. (Copeia )
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Invasive Pythons in the United States- Ecology of an Introduced
Predator
Michael E. Dorcas and John D. Willson, Foreword by Whit Gibbons
The first detailed, comprehensive study of this invasive predator
Page count: 176, 188 color photos, 8 maps, 1 table, 7 figures
Paperback, c2011,
Was $25.00 Now Just $15.00 plus add $6.00 for shipping and handling.
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Diamonds in the Marsh - A Natural History of the Diamondback Terrapin
Barbara Brennessel
University Press of New England
2006 - 236 pp. 24 Color Illus. 35 B&W illus. 4 Tables. 6 x 9"
Was $15.00 Now $10.00 plus $6.00 S&H.
The first book-length investigation of a fascinating reptile
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