Herpetology
Undergraduate Snake Enthusiast Rescues Ratsnake
We just received this report from undergraduate herper Kyle Atkins-Weltman about a recent snake encounter in Lawrence: "As I came back to my apartment from campus, someone from the maintenance crew saw me and asked me if I was the "snake guy," and when I said yes they told me they had found a snake while cleaning an empty apartment and asked if I could identify it. It turned out to be an absolutely BEAUTIFUL Pantherophis emoryi - cute little bugger, too! My guess is that it got in there to escape cold nights or perhaps there were some tasty vittles lying around. I'm going to release it back to the wild in a minute."
Tag Cloud:
A. Townsend Peterson
administration
Andrew Short
antarctica2014
Caroline Chaboo
Chris Beard
entomology
fossil
grant
Herpetology
herps
ichthyology
identification
informatics
Leonard Krishtalka
Leo Smith
Michael Engel
museum
Natural History Museum
ornithology
paleobotany
Paul Selden
Philippines
Philippines 2009
Philippines 2010
Philippines 2012
Rafe Brown
research
ssar2015
vertebrate-paleontology
Biodiversity Blogs
Scott Travers in the Solomon Islands
PhD student Scott Travers just reported back from the Solomon Islands, where he is in the midst of a National Geographic funded expedition. As you can see from the image above, Scott has already seen one of earth's most amazing lizards - the prehensile tailed skink (Corucia zebrata). Because it is so unusual, Corucia is one of those species that just about every herpetologist knows about. They have amazing tails capable of movement in nearly any dimension, a topic that was the focus of one of my first scientific papers. To the right of Scott, you can see Rafe trying to recreate Scott's moment using a plastic lizard.
Tag Cloud:
A. Townsend Peterson
administration
Andrew Short
antarctica2014
Caroline Chaboo
Chris Beard
entomology
fossil
grant
Herpetology
herps
ichthyology
identification
informatics
Leonard Krishtalka
Leo Smith
Michael Engel
museum
Natural History Museum
ornithology
paleobotany
Paul Selden
Philippines
Philippines 2009
Philippines 2010
Philippines 2012
Rafe Brown
research
ssar2015
vertebrate-paleontology
Biodiversity Blogs
Identify This Johnson County Basement Invader
The 8-10" long snake pictured above was just found in a basement in rural Johnson County, Kansas. Anybody know what it is?
Tag Cloud:
A. Townsend Peterson
administration
Andrew Short
antarctica2014
Caroline Chaboo
Chris Beard
entomology
fossil
grant
Herpetology
herps
ichthyology
identification
informatics
Leonard Krishtalka
Leo Smith
Michael Engel
museum
Natural History Museum
ornithology
paleobotany
Paul Selden
Philippines
Philippines 2009
Philippines 2010
Philippines 2012
Rafe Brown
research
ssar2015
vertebrate-paleontology
Biodiversity Blogs
Herpetology Lunch Begins for Fall Term
We are having a great start with our Friday Herpetology Lunch meetings for the Fall term. Our lunch on Friday, August 29th included 18 individuals representing seven countries (USA, Brazil, India, Malaysia, China/Tibet, Ecuador, Taiwan). Curator Rich Glor discussed how to assist with development of the division's new website and curatorial assistant Matt Buehler shared some examples of problematic specimens recovered during an assessment of the snake collection.
Tag Cloud:
A. Townsend Peterson
administration
Andrew Short
antarctica2014
Caroline Chaboo
Chris Beard
entomology
fossil
grant
Herpetology
herps
ichthyology
identification
informatics
Leonard Krishtalka
Leo Smith
Michael Engel
museum
Natural History Museum
ornithology
paleobotany
Paul Selden
Philippines
Philippines 2009
Philippines 2010
Philippines 2012
Rafe Brown
research
ssar2015
vertebrate-paleontology
Biodiversity Blogs
Spiderman Lizard Reported in Lenexa Kansas
A resident of Lenexa, KS took the photographs above of a lizard on the side of his house in mid-August of 2014. It looks somewhat like a lizard dressed in a spiderman costume. Who can identify the species? Is this a species that has ever been reported in Kansas previously? Is it likely to be a permanent resident of our state?
Tag Cloud:
A. Townsend Peterson
administration
Andrew Short
antarctica2014
Caroline Chaboo
Chris Beard
entomology
fossil
grant
Herpetology
herps
ichthyology
identification
informatics
Leonard Krishtalka
Leo Smith
Michael Engel
museum
Natural History Museum
ornithology
paleobotany
Paul Selden
Philippines
Philippines 2009
Philippines 2010
Philippines 2012
Rafe Brown
research
ssar2015
vertebrate-paleontology
Biodiversity Blogs
Undergratuate Researcher Catherine Chen Presents Results of Project on Lizard Behavior
Undergraduate researcher Catherine Chen recently presented the results of her research at the Summer Undergraduate Research Poster Session in the KU Union. Catherine's work investigated stereotypical display behavior in the lizard Anolis distichus.
Tag Cloud:
A. Townsend Peterson
administration
Andrew Short
antarctica2014
Caroline Chaboo
Chris Beard
entomology
fossil
grant
Herpetology
herps
ichthyology
identification
informatics
Leonard Krishtalka
Leo Smith
Michael Engel
museum
Natural History Museum
ornithology
paleobotany
Paul Selden
Philippines
Philippines 2009
Philippines 2010
Philippines 2012
Rafe Brown
research
ssar2015
vertebrate-paleontology
Biodiversity Blogs
Help Identify this Philippine Snake
A friend of KU Herpetology just sent the photos above and noted that the snake in these images "fell off a roof at ocean adventure" in Subic Bay, Luzon, Philippines. Anybody know what species it is? Both photos copyright William Ross from Ocean Adventure, Subic, Luzon.
Tag Cloud:
A. Townsend Peterson
administration
Andrew Short
antarctica2014
Caroline Chaboo
Chris Beard
entomology
fossil
grant
Herpetology
herps
ichthyology
identification
informatics
Leonard Krishtalka
Leo Smith
Michael Engel
museum
Natural History Museum
ornithology
paleobotany
Paul Selden
Philippines
Philippines 2009
Philippines 2010
Philippines 2012
Rafe Brown
research
ssar2015
vertebrate-paleontology
Biodiversity Blogs
Dominican Naturalist Miguel Landestoy Visits KU Herpetology
Dominican naturalist, photographer, and professional guide Miguel Landestoy visited KU Herpetology for several days in early June to view specimens and records from the late Albert Schwartz. Miguel is working to track down some of Schwartz's most unusual discoveries and came to KU primarily to familiarize himself with a few species that are particularly well-represented in Schwartz's material, but rare elsewhere. Check out Miguel's photos on Flickr.
Tag Cloud:
A. Townsend Peterson
administration
Andrew Short
antarctica2014
Caroline Chaboo
Chris Beard
entomology
fossil
grant
Herpetology
herps
ichthyology
identification
informatics
Leonard Krishtalka
Leo Smith
Michael Engel
museum
Natural History Museum
ornithology
paleobotany
Paul Selden
Philippines
Philippines 2009
Philippines 2010
Philippines 2012
Rafe Brown
research
ssar2015
vertebrate-paleontology
Biodiversity Blogs
Snake Skin Identification Challenge
A friend of KU Herpetology in the Endowment office would like to know if we have any thoughts on the identify of the snake whose shed skin was found by some kids heading into a hole near her garage. The sender notes that while the images are reasonably well-lit and in-focus compared to the photos we usually receive that the basket weave chair may have been included to challenge us. Best guess wins a point in the KU Center for Herpetological Accuracy's Annual herp identification contest.
Tag Cloud:
A. Townsend Peterson
administration
Andrew Short
antarctica2014
Caroline Chaboo
Chris Beard
entomology
fossil
grant
Herpetology
herps
ichthyology
identification
informatics
Leonard Krishtalka
Leo Smith
Michael Engel
museum
Natural History Museum
ornithology
paleobotany
Paul Selden
Philippines
Philippines 2009
Philippines 2010
Philippines 2012
Rafe Brown
research
ssar2015
vertebrate-paleontology