Herpetological Highlights
Episodes
045.5 Question - Snake Eyes
07 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A surprise episode to tackle some of Patreon questions. A long ramble about ourselves changes into a chat about sea snake tongue flicking followed by ...
045 King Among Cobras
26 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
All snakes all episode this fortnight, but not just any snakes. We are talking about snake-eaters. King amongst the snake-eaters is the king cobra, wh...
044 Where Those Herps At?
12 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is all about how hard it is to find herpetofauna, and the difficulty that causes when you try to understand their populations. We finish ...
043 Lazy Dragons, Lazy Newts
29 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This fortnight is a real mix of papers. We cover Komodo dragon dispersal, newts crossing (or not) roads, and a paper looking at reptilian brains. FULL...
042 A Christmas Miracle
15 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Discussions of the reptiles of Christmas Island(s) abound in episode 42. We kick off with a paper about juvenile snake sizes and follow up with some i...
041 Learned Lizards
11 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Smart lizards!? Traditionally, lizards are thought of as simple, but this episode we look at some smart skinks whose intelligence allows them to learn...
040 Complications of Captivity
27 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This episode we are talking about the pet trade - from the livelihoods of people who collect wild reptiles and amphibians in Madagascar and through to...
039 An Appetite for Arboreality
17 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Snakes, they’ve adapted to all sorts of environments. But what exactly has changed to allow them to take to the trees? This episode we check out wha...
038 A Frog Over Troubled Water
10 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The News Niche strikes again. A varied podcast starting with some new frog research and moving onto a truly horrifying thunderdome. FULL REFERENCE ...
037 Chameleon Comeback
16 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Chameleons -- perhaps one of the most instantly identifiable herps out there. But beyond their strange morphological adaptations what do we know about...
036 Crocodiles of the Mekong
07 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Revisiting the world of crocodilians, we take a look at the habitat shared by two Southeast Asian species, and discuss Siamese crocodile conservation....
035 Caecilians Caecilians Caecilians
18 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This fortnight we are delving into the peculiar world of caecilians. Fossorial amphibians that seldom show their faces on the surface. We chat about c...
034 Hybrid Pythons
04 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The News Niche has come again. This episode we talk about invasive python genetics (just what are they?) and new conservation tools, with a Species of...
033 Lost in Translocation
21 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Translocation is a popular method for reducing human-wildlife conflict, but does it work for snakes? We delve into a couple of new papers about transl...
032 Duplicitous Dendrobatids
24 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Frogs come in loads of crazy colours - but the reasons why can be quite complicated. We try to get to grips with some fascinating new research which s...
031 From Tortoise Brutality to Snail-eating Snakes
11 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Another News Niche episode! We talk about all sorts of things this fortnight: Anolis rebuttals, tortoise criminality, mollusc munching snakes and a li...
030 Attack of the Toxic Toads
26 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Generally speaking, toads are laid back, easy-going creatures. But every so often a species will find itself an invader in a new land and wreak total ...
029 Striking Snakes
12 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Vipers, sedentary and slow, until it matters most. But how fast can vipers strike? And how do other snakes compare? We check out a couple of papers an...
028 Indigo Snakes
29 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Some snakes are equal parts impressive and mysterious. The indigo snakes are one such group. In this episode we talk about Drymarchon conservation con...
027 The Curious Case of the Collapsed Chelonian
15 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Back to the news niche! This fortnight we’re talking about a collection of papers ranging from crocodile colours to frog personalities, as well as t...
026 Assortment of Anoles
01 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Long-time friends of herpetologists, anoles have proven a fruitful area of research for decades. This bi-week we discuss a couple of papers examining ...
025 Return of the Invertebrates
17 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We back for another invertebrate versus amphibian episode. But this time we’re focusing on carabid beetles and their relentless consumption all amph...
024 News Niche - Crabs and p-values
03 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This bi-week we decided to do things a little differently. No main theme, we just read random stuff and chatted about it. Featuring some exciting new ...
023 Some smooth, some grassy, all hungry
20 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We kick off this episode with the announcement of our move onto Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/herphighlights . Research chat this time is all Briti...
022 The Ebb and Flow of Water Snakes
06 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Unsurprisingly, water snakes love water. But what happens when this precious resource dries out? This week we discuss the effects of drought on variou...
021 Frugivorous Monitors
20 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Monitor lizards are renowned savengers... or so is widely thought. There are a few species that have cast aside the scavenger ways of their compatriot...
020 The Magnificent Vipers
06 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Vipers, vipers everywhere. In this episode we muddle our way through some venom research, and learn about the methods employed working out how widespr...
019 Invertebrates Strike Back
23 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We usually think of invertebrates as a frog’s favourite meal. But in this episode we explore the times when the tables turn and frogs fall victim to...
018 Big Trouble in Little Chameleons
09 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There is no denying that chameleons are fascinating lizards, but why should the tree-dwelling ones get all the credit? In this episode we unearth some...
017 ANACONDAS
26 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s episode is all about the bulkiest snake beast of them all – the ANACONDA. First we look into what neonate anacondas get up to. Then mo...
016 Slimy Salamander Sociality
12 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Salamanders feature in episode 16, especially North American ones. We chat about the unusual inheritance strategies of Ambystoma, and territorial beha...
The Interviews 002 - Steve Allain
05 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Tom caught up with renowned amphibian man and Imperial College master's student Steve Allain at Venom Day 2017 at Bangor University. Steve's midwife t...
015 Serpents of the Sea
28 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Snakes of the sea. Yellow, striped, you name it. We look into some factors changing their colours, and how has the yellow-bellied sea snake become so ...
014 Crocs
19 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Crocodylians have been around for a while and they know what they’re doing. In this episode we discuss what they do when they’re ticked off, and h...
013 Frog Fungus
31 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone's favourite fungus is the topic of this week’s episode – Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, otherwise known as Bd or Chytrid. We discuss som...
012 Geckos Down Under
17 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Following on from our interview with John McGrath, Australian geckos are our focus for episode 12. We talk about the influences on starred knob tail ...
The Interviews 001 - John 'Gecko Wrangler' McGrath
10 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In our first ever interview episode we talk to John McGrath, publisher of digital magazine iHerp Australia. We chat about his experiences in the magaz...
011 Survival of the Vipers
03 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Vipers are found in numerous corners of the globe, and in this episode we explore a little about how they’ve managed it. Starting with pit viper’s...
010 Armoured Lizards
19 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Episode 10 is all about Southern African armoured lizards of the family Cordylidae. Some live in groups - why? Why are they so damn spikey? These and ...
009 The Golden Mantella
05 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Golden Mantella frog is the subject of this fortnights episode. Starting with a little bit about how they live in the wilds of Madagascar; followe...
008 Deceptive Snakes
22 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Snakes! Episode eight is all about snakes, specifically those snakes that employ mimicry to fool other animals. We talk about spider tailed vipers, c...
007 Fossorial Frogs
08 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This week is a fully frog podcast, dedicated to those frogs who dig. We touch on how the climate can induce fossorial adaptations and limit frog’s a...
006 Turtle Tides
25 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In episode six of our herpetology podcast we investigate the majestic sea turtles. To begin with we dive into the dispersal capabilities of Leatherba...
005 Monsters and Dragons
11 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is focused on venomous lizards. The first half is all about the desert specialist and ultra-efficient Gila Monster. With the latter porti...
004 Day Gecko Invasion
27 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Episode four is all about day geckos. We get into the lifestyles of these handsome creatures – first exploring Mauritian lowland forest day gecko’...
003 Bodacious Boas
13 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This fortnight’s episode is dedicated to boas. The first portion looks into how boas hunt; their ability to subdue prey and potentially hunt in a “...
002 Frog Noise and Snake Space
13 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In episode two of Herpetological Highlights we delve into the world of frogs and how they deal with noisy environments. Followed up by a pair of radio...
001 Cool Colours and Cryptic Camo
27 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
On this inaugural episode of Herpetological Highlights we discuss colour changing Bearded Dragons, the temperature efficiency of Bluetongue Skinks, an...