Newly described aquatic salamander Siren reticulata (SE US) – via Herp Digest

By Mindy Weisberger, Senior Writer | December 5, 2018, Live Science

Newly described aquatic salamander Siren reticulata — reticulated siren — has a spotted, eel-like body and no hind limbs.

A sinuous swamp salamander with spots like a leopard and Christmas-tree-shaped fronds growing from its head hid from scientists for decades. But researchers have finally described this elusive and two-legged aquatic oddity. 

Dubbed Siren reticulata — reticulated siren — the animal bears a closer resemblance to an eel than a salamander, with a long body and no hind limbs. In fact, its body shape and spotted pattern previously earned it the name "leopard eel," scientists reported in a new study. 

Only recently did researchers confirm that the slippery salamander is a new species. Like other sirens (a group of aquatic salamanders) the newfound species is huge — it measures up to 2 feet (60 centimeters) in length, and is one of the largest animals with backbones described in the U.S. in more than a century, according to the study. 

Unlike many other types of salamanders, sirens have extremely elongated bodies, are entirely aquatic and only have front legs. Their heads are crowned with branching external gills — structures that help them extract oxygen from the water, study co-author David Steen, a research ecologist with the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, told Live Science. 

Sirens were first described in the 18th and 19th centuries, but they remain poorly understood; the group has flown under the scientific radar for so long primarily because they're tricky to detect and observe in the murky streams and ponds of their swamp habitats in the southeastern United States, Steen explained.Frond-like structures in the siren's external gills help it to breathe underwater 

To determine if the spotted siren was indeed a new species, the researchers needed specimens. Steen caught one in 2009, and it wasn't until 2014 when scientists captured three more. 

Evaluation of these sirens — along with preserved museum specimens — enabled the study authors to perform detailed analysis of the animals' DNA and body structures, determining that they were genetically and physically distinct from known siren species that live in the area: the greater siren and the lesser siren.Patterns of dark spots on the reticulated siren's back inspired the animal's previous common name of "leopard eel," though it is "neither a leopard nor an eel," according to the study authors.

Natural predators for the reticulated sirens likely include snakes, herons, egrets and predatory fish, Steen told Live Science. But the giant salamanders face a more dire threat from human activity, such as development that encroaches on their habitat. Because little is known about the extent of the sirens' range, it's possible that wetlands where sirens lived are already being drained, Steen said. 

Identifying this giant salamander also serves as a reminder that there are new species to be discovered "right in our own backyards," Steen said. 

"This is a big animal, and it's only being described in 2018. There's probably a lot more species for us to learn about — and we should do it quick, before these things disappear."

Lizards adapt to invasive fire ants, reversing geographical patterns of lizard traits

Date:  November 29, 2018

Source:  Penn State

Some lizards in the eastern U.S. have adapted to invasive fire ants -- which can bite, sting, and kill lizards -- reversing geographical trends in behavioral and physical traits used to avoid predators. A new study describing this reversal appears online on November 29, 2018, in the journal Global Change Biology and reveals that new environmental challenges can override the historical influences that originally determined geographical trends in traits.

"Rapid environmental change, be it from changing climate or the introduction of invasive species, is putting a lot of pressure on native species," said Christopher Thawley, graduate student at Penn State at the time of the study and first author of the paper. "Usually when researchers look at how native species might respond to these kinds of threats, they might measure one characteristic of the animal and at one or a few sites. In this study, we looked at three separate characteristics of eastern fence lizards from thirteen sites spanning a thousand miles and found that these lizards are capable of adapting in a concerted way to meet the threat of invasive fire ants, and in a relatively short time frame."

Some behavioral and physical characteristics within a species change gradually across geographical space, for example animals at one end of the range may have relatively short limbs that, as you move across the range, are longer. These geographical "clines" may be related to changes in temperature, precipitation, or other environmental factors that also change across the geographical range, often with latitude.

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Cheeky turtles catch a free ride on the back of a giant hippo in South Africa – via Herp Digest

The comical scene was captured by Simon Smith, 35, whilst visiting the Kruger National Park in August

December 11, 2018, by Thea Jacobs, Irish Sun

It's a hippo-pot-a-bus - a group of cheeky turtles have caught a free ride on a the back of a giant hippo. 

Simon Smith, 35, caught the group of turtles - also known as terrapins - riding on the back of a hippo while visiting the Kruger National Park, South Africa. 

The property consultant from Durban believes the terrapins were looking for a spot to sunbathe when they spotted the hippo.

And it seems the hippo is unfazed by his little passengers who are enjoying their free ride. 

Simon, who took the images in August, added: "I think what made this particular sighting unique is the sheer number of terrapin on the back of the hippo, as well as how close I was to the sighting.

"The terrapins, being ectothermic, were looking to warm their bodies in the sun.

A future for red wolves may be found on Galveston Island, Texas

Date:  December 11, 2018

Source:  Michigan Technological University

The American red wolf is one of United States' greatest wildlife conservation stories. Red wolves were on the brink of extinction along the American Gulf Coast during the late 1970s when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) made a bold decision to purposely remove all remaining red wolves from the wild.

But over the past few years the wild population is once again dwindling (from about 130 individuals in the wild to a mere 30) amongst political controversy and pressure from a number of landowners to be able to shoot the wolves on their land.

In addition to the wild population, there are approximately 200 red wolves in captivity.

The entire red wolf population descends from 14 individual animals, of which only 12 are genetically represented.

"Our discovery that red wolf genes have persisted in Texas -- after being declared extinct in the wild -- was very surprising," said Brzeski, assistant professor in the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science. "It introduces both positive opportunities for additional conservation action and difficult policy challenges."

Brzeski and her coauthors published their findings, "Rediscovery of Red Wolf Ghost Alleles in a Canid Population Along the American Gulf Coast" Dec. 10, 2018 in the journal Genes.

The researchers obtained tissue samples from two roadkill canids on Galveston Island and conducted analyses with genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism and mitochondrial DNA from 60 animals that represented all potential sources of ancestry for the Galveston Island canids: coyotes, red wolves and gray wolves. Brzeski and others found that the Galveston Island canids have both red wolf and coyote alleles, likely related to species interbreeding during the 1970s as coyote populations expanded across North America.

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Lung lavage as new test method improves tuberculosis diagnosis in rhinoceros

Date:  December 12, 2018

Source:  Forschungsverbund Berlin

Diseases and tuberculosis in particular can pose considerable challenges for wildlife. In order to avoid epidemics within populations or to treat individual animals belonging to highly endangered species, fast and reliable tests are paramount. However present tuberculosis testing in rhinos relies on skin tests developed in the 1960s and designed for cattle bearing high risk of false diagnosis in rhinos. To improve diagnostic standards an international team of scientists led by institutes in Berlin and Jena, Germany, performed repeated lung lavage as a new approach for tuberculosis diagnosis in rhinoceros. Subsequent genetic tests reliably identified mycobacteria in the animals' respiratory fluids -- with minimal stress and risk for the rhinos. The study has been published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Conventional immunological tests for tuberculosis in rhinoceros are substantially insecure and bear high risk of false negative or false positive diagnosis with sometimes fatal consequences for the animal. At present only examinations carried out on deceased animals allow a reliable tuberculosis diagnosis. This situation has been the starting point for the team of scientists at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) and the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (Federal Research Agency for Animal Health, FLI) to genetically analyse lung lavage fluids for mycobacteria as a new approach for tuberculosis diagnosis in these two-tonne animals. This required a short standing sedation, endoscopic exploration of the rhinoceros lung and collection of respiratory fluids. The collected fluids were tested for the presence of genetic material from mycobacteria in general and tuberculosis pathogens in particular. In parallel, the samples were cultured under special conditions to foster the growth of viable mycobacteria.

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