05-20-2020, 11:54 PM
HerpDigest Volume # 23 Issue #24 5/19/20
FREE NEWSLETTER COVERING THE LATEST NEWS ON REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS
_________________________________________
HERPDIGEST IS A NON-PROFIT 501 C 3 CORPORATION- Is supported by your donations. Publication in HerpDigest does not reflect an endorsement of what is said or implied in said article. HD’s mission is to try to supply the herp community with relevant, interesting information on the conservation, science and different cultural attitudes toward herps around the world.
______________________________________________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. The Carnegie Museum of Natural History's (CMNH) Section of Amphibians and Reptiles invites proposals for a post-doctoral researcher.
2) Twenty-Three rare Royal Turtles hatch in natural habitat in SW Cambodia
3) These Large Carnivorous Lizards Are Right Where They Belong
Monitor lizards, believed to be invasive species on some Pacific islands, got there long before humans, a new study says.
4) With the World on Pause, Salamanders Own the Road—Traffic is down, thanks to the pandemic. That’s good news for amphibians looking to migrate safely.
_____________________________________________________________
1) The Carnegie Museum of Natural History's (CMNH) Section of Amphibians and Reptiles invites proposals for a post-doctoral researcher. The successful applicant will work with the Curator on a combination of collections-based research and field work, with some potential for molecular work.
Carnegie Museums of Natural History, one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, is among the top natural history museums in the country. It maintains, preserves, and interprets an extraordinary collection of artifacts, objects, and scientific specimens used to broaden understanding of evolution, conservation, and biodiversity. Carnegie Museum of Natural History generates new scientific knowledge, advances science literacy, and inspires visitors of all ages to become passionate about science, nature, and world cultures. Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh is interested in candidates who, through their experience and collaborations, will contribute to diversity and excellence of the Carnegie Museums community.
The successful applicant will both contribute to existing projects and work together with the curator (Jennifer A Sheridan) to develop additional research projects. Research funds will support local (Pennsylvania) field work, but funding for molecular work is limited, so applicants should focus on field projects and collections-based research. Two existing projects that the applicant will lead are detailed below. In addition, the successful applicant should include in their cover letter ideas for using the museum collections to address questions of climate change or land use change (impacts of climate on morphology, distribution, or diet, for example).
EXISTING FIELD PROJECTS
1. Pitfall trapping amphibians and reptiles at CMNHâÃÂÃÂs Powdermill Research Station. This project aims to compare current abundance and diversity with similar data from the mid-1980s, to assess the impact of fine-scale land use change and forest cover, using complementary GIS data. Applicants should have experience with pitfall trapping or similar methods, as well as handling, identifying, and preserving amphibians and reptiles. Experience using GIS to assess changes in land use and forest cover would be advantageous.
2. Physiology and microbiome of amphibians and reptiles in urban and rural areas. This project aims to determine intra-specific differences in thermal tolerance of amphibians and reptiles that occur in both urban and rural areas in Pennsylvania, and will include collecting of microbiome samples for later analyses. Ideal candidates will have some knowledge of testing thermal tolerance of herps, but a keen interest and ability to learn relevant techniques independently will also be considered.
The section of amphibians and reptiles currently has a diverse array of student volunteers from three area universities, and the post-doc is expected to be a constructive member of the team and mentor students as appropriate. As this is a museum-based post-doc, involvement in citizen science programs or other outreach related to the chosen project is encouraged.
Appointment is available for 16 to 17 months, depending on exact start date. If desired, candidate and curator can work together to secure additional funding to extend the tenure of this position. Salary is commensurate with experience and includes benefits and employee health insurance. Start date is expected to be mid-June 2020, pending successful background check of the selected candidate. Pittsburgh is a vibrant city with numerous unique and affordable neighborhoods, an excellent fine arts scene, and a burgeoning international food scene.
Please provide a CV with contact information for three academic references, and a cover letter (up to 2 pages) addressing your interest in this position and detailing potential additional research project ideas based on CMNH's collections.
Application materials should be compiled into a single document (word or pdf) and uploaded to the museum's website (the portal does not allow for multiple documents to be uploaded). Applications may be uploaded here: https://usr57.dayforcehcm.com/CandidatePortal/en-US/car/Posting/View/2392
Review of applications will begin 18 May and short-listed candidates will be contacted for a skype or zoom interview shortly thereafter.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
-PhD in Ecology, Conservation Biology, Evolutionary Biology, or related field
-Demonstrable knowledge of amphibian and reptile ecology
-Record of peer-reviewed publications, including lead-author papers in research relevant to the position
KNOWLEDGE SKILLS AND ABILITIES
-Demonstrable knowledge of amphibian and reptile ecology
-Applicants should have experience with pitfall trapping or similar methods, as well as handling, identifying, and preserving amphibians & reptiles. Experience using GIS to assess changes in land use and forest cover would be advantageous.
• Ideal candidates will have some knowledge of testing thermal tolerance of herps, but a keen interest and ability to learn relevant techniques independently will also be considered.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
This position requires significant amounts of field work during the herp season (March-October), with extended periods of time spent camping or at field stations, often in isolation. Successful candidate must be willing and able to meet the physical demands of the projects outlined above, including digging, hauling equipment, equipment maintenance and repair, hiking, and other activities traditionally associated with field work.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND ACCOUNTABILITIES
The principal responsibilities of the postdoctoral researcher include executing the field projects outlined above, applying for relevant research permits, managing field data, maintaining effective communication on progress with the curator, mentoring students as appropriate, and producing peer-reviewed publications in collaboration with the curator.
The following PA Act 153 clearances, or proof of application of clearances, are required beginning employment and as a condition of continued employment:
Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance
Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Record Check
FBI Fingerprint Criminal Background Check
Obtaining the required clearances is completed as part of the new hire process.
TO APPLY PLEASE SEE HERE: https://usr57.dayforcehcm.com/CandidatePortal/en-US/car/Posting/View/2392 />
__________________________________________________________
2) Twenty-Three rare Royal Turtles hatch in natural habitat in SW Cambodia
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 18:15:16|Editor: huaxia
Photo released by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) on May 19, 2020 shows a conservationist measuring the length of a newly-hatched Royal Turtle in Koh Kong province, Cambodia. Twenty-three Cambodia's nearly-extinct Royal Turtles have hatched from their nests in the Sre Ambel River in southwest Koh Kong province this year, a conservationist group said on Tuesday. (Wildlife Conservation Society/Handout via Xinhua)
PHNOM PENH, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-three Cambodia's nearly-extinct Royal Turtles have hatched from their nests in the Sre Ambel River in southwest Koh Kong province this year, a conservationist group said on Tuesday.
The number of the species hatchlings this year was more than the total number hatched in the previous three years combined, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Cambodia said in a press statement.
The 23 hatchlings were from three Royal Turtle nests, found and protected by a community nest protection team on two sand beaches along the river, the statement said, adding that among the total of 51 eggs, 23 eggs hatched and it is not known why the other eggs failed.
WCS attributed this success to conservation efforts by the local community, the ban on sand dredging along the river and the inclusion of the river as a fisheries management and conservation area for Royal Turtle and Siamese Crocodile, it said.
"This increase in the number of hatchlings shows that conservationists, working with local communities and government partners, can achieve measurable conservation successes," Ken Sereyrotha, WCS country program director said.
"With ongoing support and cooperation, we are hopeful that the number of Royal Turtles will continue to increase in the coming years," he added.
The Royal Turtle, also known as Southern River Terrapin (Batagur affinis), is one of the world's 25 most threatened freshwater turtles and tortoises, the statement said, adding that it is listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as critically endangered and was designated as Cambodia's National Reptile by a Royal Decree issued in 2005.
Ouk Vibol, director of Fisheries Conservation Department of the Fisheries Administration, said he was really happy that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries issued an edict last year to ban all fishing and sand dredging activities along the river.
"The Fisheries Administration actively worked with WCS to conserve Royal Turtles through habitat and beach protection, research and monitoring, nest protection program, establishment of fishery communities, and improvement of community's livelihood," he said.
The Royal Turtle was believed extinct in Cambodia until 2000 when a small population was rediscovered by the Fisheries Administration and WCS in the Sre Ambel River, the statement said, adding that after the discovery, WCS initiated a community-based nest protection program which employed former egg collectors to search for and protect nests, instead of harvesting them.
________________________________________________________
3) These Large Carnivorous Lizards Are Right Where They Belong
Monitor lizards, believed to be invasive species on some Pacific islands, got there long before humans, a new study says.
A young specimen of Varanus bennetti, a newly described species of monitor lizard on Losiep Island, Micronesia.
Photos Credit.-James Reardon
By Marion Renault
5/15/20 New York Times
You can’t accuse a monitor lizard of being a picky eater.
The carnivorous, fork-tongued reptiles feed on insects, spiders, bird eggs, mollusks, crabs, fish, amphibians and rodents — dead or alive. Deer represent a large portion of the diets of the Komodo dragon, the largest monitor lizard species, which is native to eastern Indonesia.
“They’ll feed at garbage piles and eat chicken bones. Whatever’s available,” said Fred Kraus, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Michigan. “They probably would take puppies too, if they get them.”
Monitor lizards have been found living on the most far-flung islands of Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean. For decades, people assumed humans dropped off these unfussy carnivores, turning them into especially threatening ecological invaders. But a study published Wednesday in Royal Society Open Science refutes this presumption, demonstrating that the monitor lizards of Palau, the Western Caroline Islands and the Mariana Islands are previously undescribed species native to those islands.
The team of scientists argues that the lizards likely rode ocean currents up to 1,500 miles in some cases, from Indonesia northeastward, where they naturally colonized these Pacific islands hundreds of thousands of years ago.
“Some of those islands are so remote. It’s pretty difficult to explain how they got there,” said Valter Weijola, a biologist at Finland’s University of Turku and lead author of the study. But his team’s research shows they made this ocean crossing without help from humans. And since their disembarkment, they’ve evolved into two distinct species.
Researchers examined more than 50 Micronesian monitor lizard specimens from museums around the world. First, they compared physical characteristics, measuring and noting details like body proportions, scale pattern and tongue color.
Then they ran molecular tests on tissue samples. DNA sequencing and analysis revealed two Micronesian species were genetically distinct from other known monitor lizards in the Asia-Pacific region. It also suggested each evolved in geographic and genetic isolation long before any humans arrived in Micronesia.
Used this way, DNA analysis can be a bit like looking at an ecological question through a microscope and a telescope simultaneously.
“It takes you back in time and allows you to see things in greater detail,” said Julie Lockwood, a Rutgers University ecologist and invasive species biologist who was not involved in the study.
__________________________________________________________
4) With the World on Pause, Salamanders Own the Road—Traffic is down, thanks to the pandemic. That’s good news for amphibians looking to migrate safely.
By Brandon Keim
Photographs by Greta Rybus
May 18, 2020, New York Times
Greg LeClair, who coordinates the Maine Amphibian Migration Monitoring project, helping to move a spotted salamander across a roadway.
Out they come on warm, wet spring nights, from beneath leaves and under logs and inside burrows where they have hibernated since fall: a veritable army of amphibians embarking on one of nature’s great migrations, albeit largely hidden from human sight and all too often ending beneath automobile tires.
It is an ignominious fate for creatures with life histories that read like fairy tales. And although nobody knows exactly how many frogs and salamanders are killed while crossing roads, scientists say that even moderate traffic at the wrong time can wipe out entire populations in a few years.
This year, however, amphibian migrations in the northeastern United States coincide with the Covid-19 pandemic. Social distancing and shelter-in-place orders have caused vehicular traffic to decline, turning this spring into an unintended, large-scale experiment.
“It’s really exciting to see what might come of this year,” said Greg LeClair, a graduate herpetology student at the University of Maine. He is the founder of Big Night Maine, a statewide network of citizen scientists who help amphibians cross roads and count them in the process. “It’s not too often that we get this opportunity to explore the true impacts that human activity can have on road-crossing amphibians,” Mr. LeClair said.
A wood frog crossing a roadway between two vernal pools.
Image
Mr. LeClair, a herpetology graduate student, coordinates a network of citizen scientists.
So far this spring, Mr. LeClair’s network has rescued 1,487 amphibians across Maine and found another 335 dead. That is roughly four living amphibians for every one run over, double last year’s two-to-one ratio.
On a night in early May, Mr. LeClair and his girlfriend, Samantha Grimaldi, patrolled a stretch of wooded road in the central Maine town of Unity. (They took turns carrying their 10-month-old daughter, Audrey, who was clad in a dinosaur-print face mask and a “Future Herpetologist” onesie.) On each side of the road was a vernal pool. Unknowing eyes might dismiss these ephemeral springtime ponds as large puddles, but they are founts of woodland life.
The air resonated with the trilling of spring peepers seeking mates; a pool may contain thousands. Two of these fingertip-size frogs were the first amphibians spotted on the road. Frozen solid on a forest floor just months earlier, they were now headed to a bacchanal. Mr. LeClair and Ms. Grimaldi set them by the pool.
Farther along on his journey was a wood frog, evidently returning home after mating. His mottled brown skin helped him hide on the forest floor but offered little camouflage on the tarmac. The round trip could easily span a quarter-mile — not much to a human pedestrian, but an epic journey for a ground-level, three-inch-long frog.
“Large animals who migrate a lot and are highly visible doing so tend to get some attention,” Robert Baldwin, a conservation biologist at Clemson University, said in an email. “But when you consider what a wood frog has to negotiate, it’s kind of mind-boggling. Nighttime and rain, giant logs to get around, sticks and leaves, snakes.”
When the distance of the frogs’ migration is calculated as a function of weight, as Dr. Baldwin has done, it is comparable to the trek undertaken by caribou between Arctic tundra and boreal forest. The frogs make documentary-darling wildebeest migrations look like weekend hikes.
Many pool-breeding amphibians cover equally dramatic distances, Dr. Baldwin said. The next road-crosser that night was a juvenile eastern newt, the length of a finger and luminously orange under headlamps. After losing their larval gills, the newts crawl to upland forests a half-mile or more away, returning years later as adults to aquatic life. The outbound sojourn alone can take a year.
Mr. LeClair inspecting a vernal pool for signs of migrating and mating amphibians.
Eggs of a spotted salamander in a culvert area.
Mr. LeClair and Samantha Grimaldi tending to their 10-month-old daughter, Audrey.
One study of salamanders in Massachusetts found that cars killed 17 percent of those migrating just 100 meters and 37 percent of those traveling 500 meters. To Mr. LeClair, each death is tragic, but his mind also turns to population consequences and lost ecological interactions.
This eastern newt, like many salamanders, will live on a forest floor, consuming minuscule leaf-eating invertebrates — a tiny niche, yet vast when considering that, in many forests, the total biomass of salamanders may eclipse that of birds and small mammals combined.
With the populations of detritivores regulated by salamanders, soils can be nourished by slowly decomposing leaves, making forests more resilient and slowing the release of carbon into the atmosphere.
Salamanders are also eaten by many other creatures, thus becoming conduits of energy and nutrients between pools and the surrounding forests.
“I like to think of the annual vernal pool cycle as a breathing cycle,” Mr. LeClair said. “It inhales water in the spring and exhales salamanders in the summer.”
Mr. LeClair found a pulverized wood frog identifiable only by its foot, and then, beside the road, an animal he had been looking for all night: a spotted salamander, about six inches long, purple-black with bright yellow spots, the charismatic megafauna of northeastern amphibians.
Apart from being beautiful, spotted salamanders are the world’s only photosynthetic vertebrate. Algae living inside the cells of larvae supply the animals with oxygen, a symbiosis that ends as the salamanders mature. Within two years they attain adult size, Mr. LeClair said, so this one was anywhere from 2 to 30 years old, potentially born years before him.
The salamander’s cheeks pumped as he rested in Mr. LeClair’s hand. This was another ancient trait, a form of breathing ancestrally derived from fish and suggesting an evolutionary lineage that traced directly to the earliest terrestrial vertebrates.
A juvenile eastern newt, in the bright orange “red eft” stage.
Image
Mr. LeClair documenting a frog fatality on the roadway.
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FREE NEWSLETTER COVERING THE LATEST NEWS ON REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS
_________________________________________
HERPDIGEST IS A NON-PROFIT 501 C 3 CORPORATION- Is supported by your donations. Publication in HerpDigest does not reflect an endorsement of what is said or implied in said article. HD’s mission is to try to supply the herp community with relevant, interesting information on the conservation, science and different cultural attitudes toward herps around the world.
______________________________________________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. The Carnegie Museum of Natural History's (CMNH) Section of Amphibians and Reptiles invites proposals for a post-doctoral researcher.
2) Twenty-Three rare Royal Turtles hatch in natural habitat in SW Cambodia
3) These Large Carnivorous Lizards Are Right Where They Belong
Monitor lizards, believed to be invasive species on some Pacific islands, got there long before humans, a new study says.
4) With the World on Pause, Salamanders Own the Road—Traffic is down, thanks to the pandemic. That’s good news for amphibians looking to migrate safely.
_____________________________________________________________
1) The Carnegie Museum of Natural History's (CMNH) Section of Amphibians and Reptiles invites proposals for a post-doctoral researcher. The successful applicant will work with the Curator on a combination of collections-based research and field work, with some potential for molecular work.
Carnegie Museums of Natural History, one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, is among the top natural history museums in the country. It maintains, preserves, and interprets an extraordinary collection of artifacts, objects, and scientific specimens used to broaden understanding of evolution, conservation, and biodiversity. Carnegie Museum of Natural History generates new scientific knowledge, advances science literacy, and inspires visitors of all ages to become passionate about science, nature, and world cultures. Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh is interested in candidates who, through their experience and collaborations, will contribute to diversity and excellence of the Carnegie Museums community.
The successful applicant will both contribute to existing projects and work together with the curator (Jennifer A Sheridan) to develop additional research projects. Research funds will support local (Pennsylvania) field work, but funding for molecular work is limited, so applicants should focus on field projects and collections-based research. Two existing projects that the applicant will lead are detailed below. In addition, the successful applicant should include in their cover letter ideas for using the museum collections to address questions of climate change or land use change (impacts of climate on morphology, distribution, or diet, for example).
EXISTING FIELD PROJECTS
1. Pitfall trapping amphibians and reptiles at CMNHâÃÂÃÂs Powdermill Research Station. This project aims to compare current abundance and diversity with similar data from the mid-1980s, to assess the impact of fine-scale land use change and forest cover, using complementary GIS data. Applicants should have experience with pitfall trapping or similar methods, as well as handling, identifying, and preserving amphibians and reptiles. Experience using GIS to assess changes in land use and forest cover would be advantageous.
2. Physiology and microbiome of amphibians and reptiles in urban and rural areas. This project aims to determine intra-specific differences in thermal tolerance of amphibians and reptiles that occur in both urban and rural areas in Pennsylvania, and will include collecting of microbiome samples for later analyses. Ideal candidates will have some knowledge of testing thermal tolerance of herps, but a keen interest and ability to learn relevant techniques independently will also be considered.
The section of amphibians and reptiles currently has a diverse array of student volunteers from three area universities, and the post-doc is expected to be a constructive member of the team and mentor students as appropriate. As this is a museum-based post-doc, involvement in citizen science programs or other outreach related to the chosen project is encouraged.
Appointment is available for 16 to 17 months, depending on exact start date. If desired, candidate and curator can work together to secure additional funding to extend the tenure of this position. Salary is commensurate with experience and includes benefits and employee health insurance. Start date is expected to be mid-June 2020, pending successful background check of the selected candidate. Pittsburgh is a vibrant city with numerous unique and affordable neighborhoods, an excellent fine arts scene, and a burgeoning international food scene.
Please provide a CV with contact information for three academic references, and a cover letter (up to 2 pages) addressing your interest in this position and detailing potential additional research project ideas based on CMNH's collections.
Application materials should be compiled into a single document (word or pdf) and uploaded to the museum's website (the portal does not allow for multiple documents to be uploaded). Applications may be uploaded here: https://usr57.dayforcehcm.com/CandidatePortal/en-US/car/Posting/View/2392
Review of applications will begin 18 May and short-listed candidates will be contacted for a skype or zoom interview shortly thereafter.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
-PhD in Ecology, Conservation Biology, Evolutionary Biology, or related field
-Demonstrable knowledge of amphibian and reptile ecology
-Record of peer-reviewed publications, including lead-author papers in research relevant to the position
KNOWLEDGE SKILLS AND ABILITIES
-Demonstrable knowledge of amphibian and reptile ecology
-Applicants should have experience with pitfall trapping or similar methods, as well as handling, identifying, and preserving amphibians & reptiles. Experience using GIS to assess changes in land use and forest cover would be advantageous.
• Ideal candidates will have some knowledge of testing thermal tolerance of herps, but a keen interest and ability to learn relevant techniques independently will also be considered.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
This position requires significant amounts of field work during the herp season (March-October), with extended periods of time spent camping or at field stations, often in isolation. Successful candidate must be willing and able to meet the physical demands of the projects outlined above, including digging, hauling equipment, equipment maintenance and repair, hiking, and other activities traditionally associated with field work.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND ACCOUNTABILITIES
The principal responsibilities of the postdoctoral researcher include executing the field projects outlined above, applying for relevant research permits, managing field data, maintaining effective communication on progress with the curator, mentoring students as appropriate, and producing peer-reviewed publications in collaboration with the curator.
The following PA Act 153 clearances, or proof of application of clearances, are required beginning employment and as a condition of continued employment:
Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance
Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Record Check
FBI Fingerprint Criminal Background Check
Obtaining the required clearances is completed as part of the new hire process.
TO APPLY PLEASE SEE HERE: https://usr57.dayforcehcm.com/CandidatePortal/en-US/car/Posting/View/2392 />
__________________________________________________________
2) Twenty-Three rare Royal Turtles hatch in natural habitat in SW Cambodia
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 18:15:16|Editor: huaxia
Photo released by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) on May 19, 2020 shows a conservationist measuring the length of a newly-hatched Royal Turtle in Koh Kong province, Cambodia. Twenty-three Cambodia's nearly-extinct Royal Turtles have hatched from their nests in the Sre Ambel River in southwest Koh Kong province this year, a conservationist group said on Tuesday. (Wildlife Conservation Society/Handout via Xinhua)
PHNOM PENH, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-three Cambodia's nearly-extinct Royal Turtles have hatched from their nests in the Sre Ambel River in southwest Koh Kong province this year, a conservationist group said on Tuesday.
The number of the species hatchlings this year was more than the total number hatched in the previous three years combined, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Cambodia said in a press statement.
The 23 hatchlings were from three Royal Turtle nests, found and protected by a community nest protection team on two sand beaches along the river, the statement said, adding that among the total of 51 eggs, 23 eggs hatched and it is not known why the other eggs failed.
WCS attributed this success to conservation efforts by the local community, the ban on sand dredging along the river and the inclusion of the river as a fisheries management and conservation area for Royal Turtle and Siamese Crocodile, it said.
"This increase in the number of hatchlings shows that conservationists, working with local communities and government partners, can achieve measurable conservation successes," Ken Sereyrotha, WCS country program director said.
"With ongoing support and cooperation, we are hopeful that the number of Royal Turtles will continue to increase in the coming years," he added.
The Royal Turtle, also known as Southern River Terrapin (Batagur affinis), is one of the world's 25 most threatened freshwater turtles and tortoises, the statement said, adding that it is listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as critically endangered and was designated as Cambodia's National Reptile by a Royal Decree issued in 2005.
Ouk Vibol, director of Fisheries Conservation Department of the Fisheries Administration, said he was really happy that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries issued an edict last year to ban all fishing and sand dredging activities along the river.
"The Fisheries Administration actively worked with WCS to conserve Royal Turtles through habitat and beach protection, research and monitoring, nest protection program, establishment of fishery communities, and improvement of community's livelihood," he said.
The Royal Turtle was believed extinct in Cambodia until 2000 when a small population was rediscovered by the Fisheries Administration and WCS in the Sre Ambel River, the statement said, adding that after the discovery, WCS initiated a community-based nest protection program which employed former egg collectors to search for and protect nests, instead of harvesting them.
________________________________________________________
3) These Large Carnivorous Lizards Are Right Where They Belong
Monitor lizards, believed to be invasive species on some Pacific islands, got there long before humans, a new study says.
A young specimen of Varanus bennetti, a newly described species of monitor lizard on Losiep Island, Micronesia.
Photos Credit.-James Reardon
By Marion Renault
5/15/20 New York Times
You can’t accuse a monitor lizard of being a picky eater.
The carnivorous, fork-tongued reptiles feed on insects, spiders, bird eggs, mollusks, crabs, fish, amphibians and rodents — dead or alive. Deer represent a large portion of the diets of the Komodo dragon, the largest monitor lizard species, which is native to eastern Indonesia.
“They’ll feed at garbage piles and eat chicken bones. Whatever’s available,” said Fred Kraus, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Michigan. “They probably would take puppies too, if they get them.”
Monitor lizards have been found living on the most far-flung islands of Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean. For decades, people assumed humans dropped off these unfussy carnivores, turning them into especially threatening ecological invaders. But a study published Wednesday in Royal Society Open Science refutes this presumption, demonstrating that the monitor lizards of Palau, the Western Caroline Islands and the Mariana Islands are previously undescribed species native to those islands.
The team of scientists argues that the lizards likely rode ocean currents up to 1,500 miles in some cases, from Indonesia northeastward, where they naturally colonized these Pacific islands hundreds of thousands of years ago.
“Some of those islands are so remote. It’s pretty difficult to explain how they got there,” said Valter Weijola, a biologist at Finland’s University of Turku and lead author of the study. But his team’s research shows they made this ocean crossing without help from humans. And since their disembarkment, they’ve evolved into two distinct species.
Researchers examined more than 50 Micronesian monitor lizard specimens from museums around the world. First, they compared physical characteristics, measuring and noting details like body proportions, scale pattern and tongue color.
Then they ran molecular tests on tissue samples. DNA sequencing and analysis revealed two Micronesian species were genetically distinct from other known monitor lizards in the Asia-Pacific region. It also suggested each evolved in geographic and genetic isolation long before any humans arrived in Micronesia.
Used this way, DNA analysis can be a bit like looking at an ecological question through a microscope and a telescope simultaneously.
“It takes you back in time and allows you to see things in greater detail,” said Julie Lockwood, a Rutgers University ecologist and invasive species biologist who was not involved in the study.
__________________________________________________________
4) With the World on Pause, Salamanders Own the Road—Traffic is down, thanks to the pandemic. That’s good news for amphibians looking to migrate safely.
By Brandon Keim
Photographs by Greta Rybus
May 18, 2020, New York Times
Greg LeClair, who coordinates the Maine Amphibian Migration Monitoring project, helping to move a spotted salamander across a roadway.
Out they come on warm, wet spring nights, from beneath leaves and under logs and inside burrows where they have hibernated since fall: a veritable army of amphibians embarking on one of nature’s great migrations, albeit largely hidden from human sight and all too often ending beneath automobile tires.
It is an ignominious fate for creatures with life histories that read like fairy tales. And although nobody knows exactly how many frogs and salamanders are killed while crossing roads, scientists say that even moderate traffic at the wrong time can wipe out entire populations in a few years.
This year, however, amphibian migrations in the northeastern United States coincide with the Covid-19 pandemic. Social distancing and shelter-in-place orders have caused vehicular traffic to decline, turning this spring into an unintended, large-scale experiment.
“It’s really exciting to see what might come of this year,” said Greg LeClair, a graduate herpetology student at the University of Maine. He is the founder of Big Night Maine, a statewide network of citizen scientists who help amphibians cross roads and count them in the process. “It’s not too often that we get this opportunity to explore the true impacts that human activity can have on road-crossing amphibians,” Mr. LeClair said.
A wood frog crossing a roadway between two vernal pools.
Image
Mr. LeClair, a herpetology graduate student, coordinates a network of citizen scientists.
So far this spring, Mr. LeClair’s network has rescued 1,487 amphibians across Maine and found another 335 dead. That is roughly four living amphibians for every one run over, double last year’s two-to-one ratio.
On a night in early May, Mr. LeClair and his girlfriend, Samantha Grimaldi, patrolled a stretch of wooded road in the central Maine town of Unity. (They took turns carrying their 10-month-old daughter, Audrey, who was clad in a dinosaur-print face mask and a “Future Herpetologist” onesie.) On each side of the road was a vernal pool. Unknowing eyes might dismiss these ephemeral springtime ponds as large puddles, but they are founts of woodland life.
The air resonated with the trilling of spring peepers seeking mates; a pool may contain thousands. Two of these fingertip-size frogs were the first amphibians spotted on the road. Frozen solid on a forest floor just months earlier, they were now headed to a bacchanal. Mr. LeClair and Ms. Grimaldi set them by the pool.
Farther along on his journey was a wood frog, evidently returning home after mating. His mottled brown skin helped him hide on the forest floor but offered little camouflage on the tarmac. The round trip could easily span a quarter-mile — not much to a human pedestrian, but an epic journey for a ground-level, three-inch-long frog.
“Large animals who migrate a lot and are highly visible doing so tend to get some attention,” Robert Baldwin, a conservation biologist at Clemson University, said in an email. “But when you consider what a wood frog has to negotiate, it’s kind of mind-boggling. Nighttime and rain, giant logs to get around, sticks and leaves, snakes.”
When the distance of the frogs’ migration is calculated as a function of weight, as Dr. Baldwin has done, it is comparable to the trek undertaken by caribou between Arctic tundra and boreal forest. The frogs make documentary-darling wildebeest migrations look like weekend hikes.
Many pool-breeding amphibians cover equally dramatic distances, Dr. Baldwin said. The next road-crosser that night was a juvenile eastern newt, the length of a finger and luminously orange under headlamps. After losing their larval gills, the newts crawl to upland forests a half-mile or more away, returning years later as adults to aquatic life. The outbound sojourn alone can take a year.
Mr. LeClair inspecting a vernal pool for signs of migrating and mating amphibians.
Eggs of a spotted salamander in a culvert area.
Mr. LeClair and Samantha Grimaldi tending to their 10-month-old daughter, Audrey.
One study of salamanders in Massachusetts found that cars killed 17 percent of those migrating just 100 meters and 37 percent of those traveling 500 meters. To Mr. LeClair, each death is tragic, but his mind also turns to population consequences and lost ecological interactions.
This eastern newt, like many salamanders, will live on a forest floor, consuming minuscule leaf-eating invertebrates — a tiny niche, yet vast when considering that, in many forests, the total biomass of salamanders may eclipse that of birds and small mammals combined.
With the populations of detritivores regulated by salamanders, soils can be nourished by slowly decomposing leaves, making forests more resilient and slowing the release of carbon into the atmosphere.
Salamanders are also eaten by many other creatures, thus becoming conduits of energy and nutrients between pools and the surrounding forests.
“I like to think of the annual vernal pool cycle as a breathing cycle,” Mr. LeClair said. “It inhales water in the spring and exhales salamanders in the summer.”
Mr. LeClair found a pulverized wood frog identifiable only by its foot, and then, beside the road, an animal he had been looking for all night: a spotted salamander, about six inches long, purple-black with bright yellow spots, the charismatic megafauna of northeastern amphibians.
Apart from being beautiful, spotted salamanders are the world’s only photosynthetic vertebrate. Algae living inside the cells of larvae supply the animals with oxygen, a symbiosis that ends as the salamanders mature. Within two years they attain adult size, Mr. LeClair said, so this one was anywhere from 2 to 30 years old, potentially born years before him.
The salamander’s cheeks pumped as he rested in Mr. LeClair’s hand. This was another ancient trait, a form of breathing ancestrally derived from fish and suggesting an evolutionary lineage that traced directly to the earliest terrestrial vertebrates.
A juvenile eastern newt, in the bright orange “red eft” stage.
Image
Mr. LeClair documenting a frog fatality on the roadway.
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