Required reading: What are we going to do about saving salamanders?

The fungi are coming for all the animals I love.

Frogs have declined across the world. Bats are disappearing from North America. Even snakes! From the outside looking in, our American biodiversity is a hodgepodge of invasive species surrounding smaller and smaller pockets of protected native flora and fauna. 

And now, you may be able to add salamanders to the list. Nooo!

Eastern Newt in red eft phase (Notopthalmus viridescens)

A recent publication in the journal Science describes the threat of a skin fungus that causes massive die offs of salamanders in Europe. Like the fungal pathogens that have caused declines in frogs and bats, this fungus has been introduced into areas where the local wildlife has no evolutionary history with the pathogen, and therefore lacks a natural defense with no time to develop one. In this case, the salamander fungus has an Asian origin and has recently been introduced to naive European salamanders.

So this fungus isn't even in North America? Right, not yet. However, the danger is a real one. North America is THE place for salamanders. We are the Amazon for these animals. You can walk across a few hills in Georgia and see more salamander species than you could find in a coast-to-coast trek across Costa Rica.

Credit to Clinton Jenkins

Here is your required reading if you want to know how to help and potentially make a difference:

1. This news article from the New York Times
2. This excellent editorial by Drs. Karen Lips and Joe Mendelson

Cumberland Plateau Salamander (Plethodon kentucki)

Old Man of the Forest

Our department's graduate students took our fall camping trip over the weekend to southern Ohio, and we were treated to a really special animal:

That's a big timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) hiding out under some fall leaves. This endangered species is both secretive and well camouflaged, so you could easily walk right past one of these bad boys even if you were lucky enough to be near one.

This particular snake is part of a long-term study to understand the movements and behavior of these snakes in Ohio. A radio transmitter guided the volunteers who track these snakes directly to this individual, and we were lucky enough to follow along.

My lab mate Matt Holding was asked to get DNA samples from this snake over the summer, and he remembered this individual fondly. Here is a photo of Matt with this same snake so you can get a sense of scale. The volunteers said that their last measurement of this individual was 54 inches, and it could very well be 15-25 years old.

So next time you are hiking around in timber rattlesnake country, keep an eye out and you may get to appreciate one of these incredible animals for yourself.

I mean really keep an eye out!

Small rattles, big personalities

In the dark recesses of Aronoff laboratory, many are surprised to know that our lab has an entire room filled with rattlesnakes. In fact, most visitors don't believe us until we show them. Behind a plain, gray door lives a group of dusky pigmy rattlesnakes (Sistrurus miliarius barbouri). This group of animals has been one of the main sources of data for our lab's efforts in studying pit viper venom and how it relates to these animals diets and behavior. This work is currently being done by our principal investigator, Dr. Lisle Gibbs, and current PhD student Sarah Smiley. 

Right now, one of our undergraduate students (Hardy Kern) is finishing a project examining how these snakes, which have been eating the same type of food for months (either mice or frogs), differ in their interest in other food items. Since some of the snakes were born in the lab, the question is pretty simple: do these animals prefer the only food they've ever known or do they have a preference? I'm sure Hardy will come by at some point to write about his project here, but until then I thought I'd share some photos of the pigmy rattlesnakes that we took as part of Hardy's graduation gift from the grad students. 

The photos show these venomous snakes as we see them: beautiful, gentle, and curious animals.

If seeing snakes in their natural habitat is more your thing, here are some photos of pigmy rattlesnakes we found last summer during a lab trip to Florida:

Wherever you see one, these reclusive snakes are always a treat.

Scenes from the OSU Museum of Biological Diversity Open House

Earlier this month, I was happy to again participate in the Ohio State Museum of Biological Diversity Open House, our department's biggest outreach event. We had more than 2,200 visitors from all parts of Ohio and elsewhere. This year, Matt Holding and I teamed with two fantastic undergraduates who work in our lab (Meghan Parsley and Paul Hudson) to go even bigger than we did last year. Since this year's theme was all about how scientists use technology to discover and classify biodiversity, we put together a booth that showed visitors how our lab uses technology across all aspects of our science, from catching animals to analyzing their DNA.

We had an absolute blast at this event. Apparently, so did a whole bunch of other people!

Here are some photos I took frantically between showing salamanders to (big and little) kids:

And here are some photos of our booth, some of our materials, and some of the great visitors we met!

 

At the end of the tables, we had a few animals on display that showcased some ways that DNA can reveal biological differences between organisms. Included among these animals was the eastern glass lizard that we brought back from Florida last year, and I was astounded at the number of kids that could immediately identify it! The little "flip quizzes" at the end of the booth sparked a lot of discussions with both adults and children.

 

This is a great event and I highly recommend it if you are a local. All the faculty, staff, and students are so excited to meet the citizens of Ohio and share their passion. For more pictures and information, I'd recommend the Museum of Biological Diversity Facebook page here.

A research lab that herps together, works together

Back in August before the semester began, a good portion of the Gibbs lab headed down to Florida for a week of science and reptiles/amphibians. We were visiting some colleagues/collaborators at Florida State University as well as helping Sarah Smiley catch pigmy rattlesnakes for her thesis research.

Believe it or not, I've just recently downloaded the photos from my camera. Here are some of the interesting things we did and interesting creatures we found:

I almost ordered two slices because I didn't believe that they were "as big as your head".

David and Lisle appreciating the alligators

Sarah took us swimming at Wakulla Springs. We were all brave enough to high dive. 

There I was, expecting a honky-tonk. What a disappointment.

A lifer for me: Pig Frog (Lithobates Grylio)

A handsome juvenile Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus)

Matt demonstrating the art form of laying out "rock snakes" to trick other cars searching for snakes at night. Classic.

The snake we were after: The Pigmy Rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius)

Sarah studies how these snakes' venom is locally adapted to their prey

Pigmy is a good descriptor. Here are four adult snakes at the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket.

Another lifer for me: Little Grass Frog (Pseudacris ocularis). I thought the first one I saw was an insect jumping through the grass.

Sarah gets the royal treatment during the half of the year she spends in Florida at Stetson University.

It was hot and humid, but we found snakes. Left to right: David Salazar, Sarah Smiley, Terry Farrell, Lisle Gibbs, Matt Holding, Rob Denton