The first discovery on record from a Cambodian national is a cryptic species of legless lizards that was originally mistaken for a snake.

From Fauna and Flora International:

“At first I thought it was a common species”, said Thy, who works as a herpetologist with the Ministry of Environment and Fauna & Flora International (FFI), “but looking closer I realised it was something I didn’t recognise.”

These cryptic species of reptile are easily overlooked and previous to this discovery there are no records for blind lizards occurring in Cambodia. The species was finally named the Dalai Mountain blind lizard Dibamus dalaiensis, after the mountain on which it was found.
....
“For one of our national colleagues to discover this unusual species and make the description is particularly satisfying,” said Berry Mulligan, FFI’s Cambodia operations manager. “It shows that the capacity of Cambodian scientists is now reaching an international standard.”

To read the full article, click here.

Love the myriad of species with which we share the world? There's an iPhone app for that.

From National Geographic:

Holding up a coastal horned lizard, (Phrynosoma coronatum) Scott asks:

“If I wanted to know where this lizard survives and where it doesn’t, I’d go to a museum and look at all the specimens collected over the last 100 years or so. It used to live in most of the chaparral around here, in the Bay Area of San Francisco.”

“But this is one of those species that is rapidly disappearing. And we’re not exactly sure why. It may be climate change. It may be changes to the ants that make up its diet. It might be the urban sprawl that is isolating its habitat. “

“We need to know exactly where this species persists. And, we need more data.”

Scott’s solution is not an army of well-funded professionals with sophisticated equipment. That isn’t going to happen. He wants you — the citizen scientist and a piece of equipment you likely already own — your iPhone. And, of course the app.

The app is called iNaturalist and can be downloaded here.

The impact of the crashing economy is causing many animals to become abandoned. According to the Phoenix Herp Society, the biggest impact is the Sonoran Desert Tortoise.

From AZCentral.com:

Over the past few years, the Phoenix Herpetological Society has been keeping ever larger numbers of desert tortoises, said Wendy Cassidy, tortoise-program coordinator. As more natural desert habitat is lost to development, people find the tortoises and drop them off at the reptile sanctuary in north Scottsdale.

But lately, many people who had kept tortoises in their yards have lost their homes and are moving away or into apartments, she said.

"So many tortoises are abandoned," she said. "A lot of Realtors call and say they have them. These tortoises can't live in an apartment."

Cassidy said the society is eager to adopt out the creatures, which cannot be released into the wild once they've been in captivity. This is a good time to begin the adoption process, she said, because the animals have just come out of hibernation and will have plenty of time to adjust to a new habitat before hibernating again in October.

Because the tortoises are protected, and each is implanted with a microchip and registered with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the adoption process is lengthy, requiring an application and interview.

For the full article, click here.

In one of the worst tragedies to affect the endangered Olive Ridley Turtles, 150 were pulled up in a single net, dead.

From the Deccan Chronicle:

In one of the worst disasters, around 150 Olive Ridley turtles got trapped in a single net and found dead on Kothapeta beach under Vajrapukotturu mandal in Srikakulam district on Friday.

The village sarpanch, Mr Ambati Raju, said he never saw so many dead turtles in his life and blamed the fishermen from Visakhapatnam for not taking preventive measures.

He defended that the local fishermen never used such nets in which the turtles get trapped and dead.

The founder chairman of Visakha society for prevention and care of animals, Mr Pradeep Nath, said the disaster took place as the mechanised boats and trawlers did not using turtle excluding devices.

To read the original article, click here.

Higher than normal mortality rates are impacting the known bog turtles in the tracked habitats in the Northeast.

From ScienceDaily:

The Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo veterinarians, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program have joined forces to answer a perplexing wildlife question: Why are bog turtles getting sick?

The dilemma shines a light on North America's smallest turtle; an adult bog turtle reaches only 4.5 inches in length and as many ounces. Wildlife managers working in a few known bog turtle habitats in the Northeast have reported higher than average mortality rates for these threatened reptiles in the past few years.

To determine the cause of the increase in mortality at some sites and identify the baseline health condition at other sites, WCS's Global Health Program -- based at the Bronx Zoo -- is lending its expertise in wildlife health assessments. WCS health experts have joined federal and state wildlife managers in the field at locations in New York State and Massachusetts.

To read the full article, click here.

The first known bite of a human by an American Croc may have been recorded recently in Florida.

From MSNBC:

While state officials are trying to confirm the alleged attack, which happened Thursday morning in the Upper Keys, the couple says they have the bite and scratch marks to prove it.

Gregory, 23, and 20-year-old Poulson were kayaking at around 3:30 a.m. after a night of partying when they're vessel was flipped, they said.
As they scrambled to get back to the kayak, each was bitten on the leg. Poulson also suffered scratch marks on her side.

"I was saying how pretty it was out there and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else because I am from Ohio and then the boat just flipped," said Poulson, who moved to the Keys to study marine biology at Florida Keys Community College. "I was screaming 'Oh my God!'"

[....]

Unlike people's usually view of the croc based off the prehistoric-looking, aggressive saltwater crocodiles of Africa, American crocs are fairly shy and prefer flight over a fight, Mazzotti said.
He said Thursday's incident wasn't by a man-eating predator, but a scared reptile who was minding its own business.

"I wouldn't describe it as an attack. It was an escape attempt by the crocodile,” Mazzotti said.

"They are not grabbing you to eat you. They are giving a warning, 'Don’t mess with me.'"

A crocodilian attack story with the attacked parties mentioned "out partying" always leaves me with a bit of room for speculation. To read the full article, click here. And please don't drink and kayak in Florida.