A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the importatiion of various injurious species of constrictor snakes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. IMPORTATION OR SHIPMENT OF INJURIOUS SPECIES.
Section 42(a)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended in the first sentence by inserting after ‘‘polymorpha;’’ the following: ‘‘of the Indian python of the species Python molurus, including the Burmese python of the species Python molurus bivittatus; of the reticulated python of the species Broghammerus reticulatus or Python reticulatus; of the Northern African python of the species Python sebae; of the Southern African python of the species Python natalensis; of the boa constrictor of the species Boa constrictor; of the yellow anaconda of the species Eunectes notaeus; of the DeSchauensee’s anaconda of the species Eunectes deschauenseei; of the green anaconda of the species Eunectes murinus; of the Beni anaconda of the species Eunectes beniensis;’’

Some blue-tongue lizards in eastern Australia can dine on the cane toads and live, though. Oddly enough, they might owe their immunity to another invasive species.

An ornamental plant native to Madagascar called mother-of-millions (Bryophyllum delagoense) is common in eastern Australia, and has also become part of the lizards' diet. The plants' flowers contain a poison similar to bufadienolide. Rick Shine at the University of Sydney, Australia, suspected that lizards which have already gained immunity to this toxin might be in a better position to withstand the toad toxin too.

His team caught 75 lizards that lived in areas containing either the toad and the ornamental plant, just one of the two, or neither of the toxic invaders. Shine injected toad poison into the lizards, administering a dose high enough to provoke a reaction, but not enough to kill the animal. His team then timed how fast the lizards could swim 50 centimetres.

Blue-tongue lizards from areas containing mother-of-millions were affected to a lesser degree than any others. This was true even for lizards that lived in regions of eastern Australia that contain no cane toads.

The snake has been given the scientific name Hydrophis donaldii to honour Associate Professor Fry's long-time boat captain David Donald.

“Quite simply we would not have found this snake without Dave's unique knowledge of the area. I told him we wanted to survey as many distinct types of habitat as possible and he guided us to the perfect spots,” Associate Professor Fry said.

The snake has been given the common-name ‘rough-scaled sea snake' to reflect the unique scalation.

“We don't know why it has been evolutionarily selected to have such unique scalation, but we will next study its ecology to learn more about it.”

These amphibians live below the soil and their discovery was after extensive research of five years. “The new family of amphibians from northeast India has ancient links to Africa,” said a study done by SD Biju of University of Delhi with co-researchers from the Natural History Museum, London and Vrije University, Brussels.

Biju said the remarkable discovery came following an unprecedented fieldwork effort of soil-digging surveys in about 250 localities spread over five years (2006-2010) in various parts of every Northeast Indian states (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim and Darjeeling district of West Bengal). “The work is the most extensive systematic program of dedicated caecilian surveys ever attempted”.

The legless amphibians lead a secretive lifestyle under soil making it extremely challenging to find them. They are reclusive and can be seen normally during rainy days.
It is believed that they separated from other species of caecilians more than 140 million years ago at the break-up of the southern continents (Gondwana). Their DNA was tested to reach this conclusion.

A new species of gecko, first found on a wall at Junagadh’s Vagheshwari Mata Temple, in the Girnar Hills, has earned Gujarat the distinction of having a lizard named after it.
But those who discovered the gecko say the state may host more new species while simultaneously warning human activity, especially tourism, could increase pressure on habitats.
The Hemidactylus Gujaratensis — which typically measures a little shorter than five-inches in length — was found in October 2007 by Raju Vyas and Sunny Patil, who are both members of one of India’s most prestigious nature organisations, the Bombay Natural History Society.

Germán Chávez and Diego Vásquez from the Centro de Ornitología y Biodiversidad (CORBIDI) in Peru have discovered a new colorful lizard which they named Potamites montanicola, or “mountain dweller”. The new species was found in Cordillera de Vilcabamba and Apurimac river valley, the Cusco Region of Peru at altitude ranging from 1,600 to 2,100 meters. Their study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

“The new discovery raises some questions”, say the authors. This is the only member of the genus known to live at such altitude. It is yet unknown what biological mechanisms help the lizard to survive in this harsh environment, much colder than what it’s relatives in the genus prefer. Scientists also believe the lizard may be nocturnal, which raises the question of how it maintains its body temperature during night time. In some cases, individuals were observed swimming in streams, which is rather unusual behavior for the members this genus.

"They bring balance to the ecosystem, and they are part of our history in Pennsylvania and worth preserving," Ryan Miller, a zoologist with the conservancy, said about the snakes.

Miller wouldn't disclose the exact location of the property, only saying it was in the northwestern corner of Venango County. The conservancy said the property contains more than 12 acres of wetlands and 1,600 feet of stream.

"We know (the snakes) are in the area," Miller said. "They're very hard to find, they stay hidden in the grass."

Miller said it's unknown how many of the rattlers live on the Venango County land or in three other sites in Venango and Butler counties, but the numbers have been dwindling.

"One place is just a 2-acre area of grass," Miller said. "They are barely hanging on."

He added that the conservancy has tagged about 300 of the rattlers statewide with microchips, so they can be tracked. Miller said poaching is a concern, and law enforcement will be able to track the snakes with the microchips. He said some people believe that snake venom can help with medical problems, and has been explored for treatment of arthritis, polio and multiple sclerosis.

Miller said the snakes eat mice and rodents, which help balance out the ecosystem.

"Amphibians were the first land animals and have a 350-million-year history. They are an environmental barometer and we can analyse the quality of our environment by studying them. We cannot imagine life without frogs. If there are no frogs, it would not be possible to grow anything in our fields," (researcher Dr. Sathyabhama Das) Biju says.

Biju, who works in the Systematics Lab of DU's Environmental Studies department, has been spending seven months a year in the forests of the Northeast and the Western Ghats for the past two decades. It's with this experience that he says the 'dream forest' cover of the Northeast will be lost forever in 20 years' time if urgent interventions are not made.

The scientist then makes a staggering claim: "India is yet to identify 50% of its flora and fauna." Many species of animals will become extinct, he says, without our even knowing they exist.

"For instance, 63 out of 350 amphibian species are no longer found. Amphibian conservation is less about money and more about rapid identification and management and creation of wetland and marshy areas. But we need to do this on a priority," he says. Biju is at present working on 28 new species of frogs which are yet to be described.