Happy Monday & #NewPaper on the phylogenetic position and morphology of Thornton Peak Calyptotis! Having split from its congeners in the early Miocene, we redescribe Calyptotis and erect a new genus, Calorodius, for this high-elevation paleoendemic 🦎👍
doi.org/10.1111/zsc.12550
A decade ago @SnakeOutBris was started, serving wildlife and community in the western suburbs. How time flies! Deepest thanks to all who lent a hand along the way, and to our talented team of snake charmers 😁 Here's to another decade! 🐍
#tenyears#adecadeofsnakes#Brisbane#QLD
Interested in the hidden sensory superpowers of limb-reduced skinks? Look no further than our new publication on the inner ears of these critters! doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/z…
Our new paper is out in Molecular Ecology! "Notes from the taxonomic disaster zone: Evolutionary drivers of intractable species boundaries in an Australian lizard clade (Scincidae: Ctenotus)". Fun collaboration with tweep @dan_rabosky. Find PDF copy at ivanprates.org/publications.
Weirdly awesome little lizard 😁 Ophioscincus ophioscincus, the Yolk-Bellied Snake Skink, a rainforest specialist and one of many limb-reduced #sphenomorphine skinks. These #wormybois wriggle and push through decomposing leaf-litter and soil on the rainforest floor. #WildOz
Their close relatives, the Coeranoscincus, have recurved teeth for eating earthworms, while Ophios have recurved teeth with flared bicuspid crowns, maybe some dietary differences but I think there's no dietary data on these. Happy to be proven wrong!
#WTFdothesethingseat
💚🐸It's World Frog Day!🐸💚
#Frogs & other amphibians are the most threatened group of vertebrates on earth- almost half are threatened with extinction.
Want to help? Improve local frog habitat, keep cats inside, avoid pesticide use, contribute to @FrogIDAus! #WorldFrogDay
Check out some of our work on Australia’s best animal: the Thorny Devil.
And keep us in mind while you road-trip WA. We’re still looking for more samples btwn Geraldton and Shark Bay!
abc.net.au/news/2023-03-13/t…
There's still so much to learn about Australia's biodiversity - especially in the north!
New species of leaf-tailed gecko discovered on Scawfell Island in Great Barrier Reef abc.net.au/news/2023-03-03/q… via @ABCaustralia
Food in Canberra was good but dayum I've missed my kitchen/garden, and making breakfast for my girl! Home eggs poached with DIY hollandaise, arugula, basil pesto, on toast with pancetta, grilled Baharat and pepper paste. Sunday, off to a good start! #breakfast#goodtobehome#more
One small tube, 192 samples, around 105 described sphenomorphine skinks. Up to 5453 genomic loci per sample, each at least 120 base pairs. Call it ~200bp average, that's 209,395,200bp of DNA sequence data in <0.1mL of fluid 😁🦎 @Keogh_Lab#ANU#griffithuni#qldmuseum#PhDthings