Herpetological Highlights
In Herpetological Highlights we will explore the recent scientific discoveries in the field of Herpetology. We'll cover everything from lizards to frogs, snakes, and toads. Every episode we'll be digging into the biology and ecology of these reptiles and amphibians in an attempt to disentangle the science. Hosted by Tom Major and Ben Marshall. Like us on facebook: www.facebook.com/herphighlights
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 49 minutes
- Episodes
- 238
- Years Active
- 2017 - 2025
215 How Snakes Tackle Scorpions
Despite their boring name, ground snakes exhibit a variety of gnarly behaviours to help them take down invertebrate prey like spiders, scorpions and centipedes.
214 Stinky Worm Lizards
Worm lizards are strange legless animals that live underground. Turns out they communicate by smell and are able to pass on surprisingly complex messages. There's also a brand new species of these su…
213 Can you sex a blue-tongued skink?
In this Patreon-selected double bill we investigate the tricky task of sexing blue-tongued skinks and the strange underworld of olms.
212 King Cobra Species Split
We chat about vipers hissing before hitting on some massive news with multiple new species of king cobra being described.
211 Babies Crying Attracts Crocodiles
Crocodiles and apes have a long history together, and they might have been dining on our young...
210 Box Turtle Personality
Turtles have personalities and these can be influenced by the environments they live in, with urban environments seemingly changing the way turtle populations behave. Plus we talk about a chunky new …
209 Eggs, Tails, and Leucistic Snakes
A bunch of new research up for discussion with frogs building nests, two-tailed geckos jogging about, and a leucistic snake that's venomous and poisonous.
208 Smoked Out Lizards
Are lizards from fire-prone areas more savvy to smoke? New research suggests they are, plus we chat about a newly discovered green frog whose beautiful call (probably) resembles a flute.
207 Monitor Lizards Munching Manky Marsupials
In Australia rotten meat is a valuable commodity that monitor lizards compete for against dingoes and red foxes. Plus new work from a team including ZSL has discovered a key ingredient to some lizard…
206 Lizards on Red Alert
We talk about tourists intimidating lizards, pythons eating each other, and some fun skink action including a brand new dragon-like skink.
205 SquaMates Podcast Crossover
At the World Congress of Herpetology in Borneo we had the pleasure of meeting Mark and Hiral from the SquaMates Podcast, and took the opportunity to record an episode together. You can watch the vide…
204 World Congress of Herpetology
Back from the World Congress in Borneo, we catch up about the experience, and finish with the recording of the mini podcast we did in front of a live audience. Special thanks to the Singapore Herpeto…
203 Impulsive Skinks
This episode is all behaviour, looking at whether Australian lizards can exercise inhibitory control.
202 Homeward Hopping Frogs
This episode we are looking at egg-feeding poison frogs and their ability to find their way back to their home territory. Species of the Bi-week is a fresh mud snake.
201 Toxic Toe-tapping Frogs
Popular pets, dart frogs are known to tap their toes, but the precise reasoning behind it has eluded scientists until now.
200 Episode 200
To celebrate 200 episodes we test each other on how well we remember them, before diving in to a paper about urban water snakes.
199 Frog Saunas Save Lives
Frogs are being severely impacted by Bd fungus, but in this episode we look at a paper highlighting a potential buffer that may protect them –heat.
198 Ultra-violet Snakes
This episode is all about why snakes have UV colouration. We have a blue-headed lizard for the Species of the Bi-week.
197 The Fortitude of Dragons
Bearded dragons are big and slow, so they can't run from venomous snakes. Instead, they have evolved venom resistance to take the bites and keep on moving.
196 Geckos on the Frontline
Bombs are terrifying for humans. Scientists have accidentally discovered that geckos probably find them scary too.