SquaMates

Happy World Lizard Day! Today we talk about the biggest lizards that ever roamed the Earth: mosasaurs! These giant aquatic lizards are often forgotten when we talk about shape diversity in squamates, but they were some of the most specialised and remarkable lizards ever. We dive into their diversity, history, origins, and extinction in this… Read more The post SquaMates Ep. 36: Is this a mosasaur? first appeared on SquaMates.

Happy World Snake Day! Today, we talk about snake ecosystem services, human-snake conflicts, and opine on various snake-related outreach personalities you probably know from television or youtube. Be prepared for some hot takes as we finally address the elephant trunk snake in the room! Remember that you can watch the full episode with video at… Read more The post SquaMates Ep. 35: The Elephant Trunk Snake in the Room first appeared on SquaMates.

We dive into one of the most popular pet reptiles in the trade: Pogona vitticeps, the bearded dragon—its relatives, origins in the trade, and popularity. Remember that you can watch the full episode with video at youtube.com/@squamatespod! Episode notes sometimes get clipped on your device or by your podcast provider; for full notes and references,… Read more The post SquaMates Ep. 34: M-m-m-my Pogona! first appeared on SquaMates.

What is this‽ Two episodes in one week‽ That’s right! It’s May 9th, International Chameleon Day! In this episode, we give a deep dive into chameleon diversity, ecology, and evolution, and chameleon analogues across the world! Remember that you can watch the full episode with video at youtube.com/@squamatespod! Episode notes sometimes get clipped on your… Read more The post SquaMates Ep. 33: Chameleon Day Bonanza! first appeared on SquaMates.

Hiral is a Doctor of Science now, Mark is about to become an Associate Professor, and the art world continues to be mad and heavily affected by changes to the social media landscape! In this episode, we talk about art and scientific illustration, hemipenes, ectothermy, snake and salamander courtship and reproduction, and what you can… Read more The post SquaMates Ep. 32: It was only a (cloacal) kiss, how did it end up like this? first appeared on SquaMates.

Happy World Frog Day! In this episode we answer a couple questions from listeners: why are there no neotenic frogs, and what books we recommend for people interested in herpetology (fair warning: it’s a lot!) Remember that you can watch the full episode with video at youtube.com/@squamatespod! Episode notes sometimes get clipped on your device… Read more The post SquaMates Ep. 31: I do it for the gills first appeared on SquaMates.

In this episode we talk about how many people are getting bitten by venomous snakes in South Africa, and how reporting encounters like this can help to reduce morbidity and mortality from snakebite: all the topic of a new paper by co-host Hiral Naik! Remember that you can watch the full episode with video at… Read more The post SquaMates Ep. 30: Nolite te serpentes biteyouonyourbum first appeared on SquaMates.

In this episode we drop some HOT OFF THE PRESS news about seven new species of frogs from Madagascar that Mark has been involved in describing that are named after seven Star Trek captains. We also cover some exciting recent research on Gymmie phylogeography and diving anoles! Plus, Hiral is submitting her PhD thesis! Wow!… Read more The post SquaMates Ep. 29: Frog Trek first appeared on SquaMates.

An unexpected crossover is afoot! Hiral and Mark met up with Dr Tom Major and Benjamin M. Marshall of the Herpetological Hightlights Podcast while they were at the 10th World Congress of Herpetology in Kuching, Malaysia. We sat down together and talked about the amazing conference, podcasts, and the herpetological community at large. We had… Read more The post SquaMates Ep. 28: All day and all of the night (feat. Herpetological Highlights!) first appeared on SquaMates.

In this episode we talk about everyone’s favourite frogs, rain frogs of the family Brevicipitidae! We go over their diversity, ecology, and anatomy, as well as their fun adhesive properties! Remember that you can watch the full episode with video at youtube.com/@squamatespod! Episode notes sometimes get clipped on your device or by your podcast provider;… Read more The post SquaMates Ep. 27: I’m only hoppy when it rains first appeared on SquaMates.