In what is likely to be the first of a number of reptilian additions the Black Pine Snake, Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi, has been added to the USFWS Threatened and Endangered Species List. Found in southwestern Alabama through southeastern Mississippi into eastern Louisiana, Black Pine Snakes are the only melanistic pine snake, ranging in coloration from an overall black and brown banded snake to a nearly jet-black animal. A threatened designation means a species is at risk of becoming endangered within the foreseeable future. The snake’s threatened status allows the USFWS to include exemptions allowing certain management activities to continue to occur with protection from the loss, injury or harassment.

“We crafted the exemptions to provide landowners flexibility to manage for their objectives while still affording conservation benefits to the black pinesnake,” - Cindy Dohner, USFWS Southeast Regional Director.

The Black Pine Snake’s decline is primarily attributed to the loss and degradation of the longleaf pine ecosystem because of habitat fragmentation, fire suppression, conversion of natural pine forests to densely stocked pine plantations, and agricultural and urban development. Other threats to the snake’s survival include road mortality and killing by humans.

The Black Pine Snake was added to the US Fish and Wildlife Services list of candidates for federal protection in 1999, and the Service published a proposed rule to list the black pinesnake as threatened on October 7, 2014. The black pinesnake final listing becomes effective on November 5, 2015 which is 30 days after its publication in the Federal Register on October 6, 2015. The decision is part of the Service’s effort to implement a court-approved settlement under an agreement aimed at significantly reducing it's current litigation-driven workload.

To read the USFWS Press Release click here. Gallery photo by user noMad627

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is initiating status reviews for 14 petitions that presented substantial information that the species may warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act . The Service will initiate a review of the status of each of the reptile and amphibian species listed below. To ensure that these reviews are comprehensive, the Service is requesting scientific and commercial data and other information for each species. Based on the status reviews, the Service will address whether the petitioned action is warranted.

To see the listing and the information request, click on a species link below.

Cascade torrent salamander Columbia torrent salamander Inyo Mountains salamander Kern Plateau salamander Lesser slender salamander Limestone salamander Peaks of Otter salamander

Shasta salamander Florida pine snake Short-tailed snake Southern rubber boa Panamint alligator lizard Yuman desert fringe-toed Lizard Wood turtle

The official notice was published in the Federal Register on September 18, 2015, and is available at https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection by clicking on the 2015 Notices link under Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants. Information can be submitted on species for which a status review is being initiated, using the specified docket number, beginning upon publication in the Federal Register, for 60 days until November 17, 2015.

kingsnake.com gallery photo by Leo

According to scientists at Arizona State University, climate change will be very hard on many species of lizards, driving many species to, or over, the brink of extinction. Biologists led by ASU investigators determined that lizard embryos die when subjected to high temperatures(110 degrees F) even for a few minutes.

“Lizards put all of their eggs in one basket, so a single heat wave can kill an entire group of eggs,” Ofir Levy - lead investigator

Embryonic lizards are immobile in their eggs and cannot seek shade or cool off when their surrounding soil becomes hot. Given the potential impacts of climate change on embryos, many more places in the United States could become uninhabitable for existing lizard populations than previously expected.

To read more check out the article on the ASU News site. Gallery photo by stevereecy

The Arizona Game & Fish Department is planning a large adoption event Sept. 5th to help find new homes for about 60 desert tortoises. They've had about 300 tortoises end up at their center over the past year, so many that they don't have names, but rather numbers to keep track of them all. To help make room, Game and Fish started an adoption program for the tortoises.

"We've been having an issue with people breeding in their homes or people need to surrender their tortoise, and they have nowhere to go," Tegan Wolf - Tortoise Adoption Specialist

There is no fee, but there is an application and certain requirements you have to meet, including having an appropriate habitat and burrow. Starting in December it's going to be illegal for captive desert tortoises to be bred in the home. For more info, click here to read the story at KPHO
kingsnake.com gallery photo by TonyC130

A California man may lose his hand after an attempt to take a 'selfie" with a rattlesnake went wrong. Alex Gomez, 36, spotted the four-foot snake in a field by his family’s ranch. Alex’s nephew, Ronnie, who was with him says the reptile gave plenty of warning.

“It was really thick and had ten rattles on it, it was rattling,” “It was pretty mad.” - Ronnie

After being bitten, Gomez experienced excruciating pain, his hand swelled up and his body started to tingle.

To read more check out the story and video at kcal9
Photo: kcal9

Scientists at Oregon State University are currently studying a baby salamander encased in an amber sample found in an amber mine in the Dominican Republic. There are no salamanders living on islands in the Caribbean today, but the amber-coated amphibian found shows there once were.

"There are very few salamander fossils of any type, and no one has ever found a salamander preserved in amber," - OSU Professor Emeritus George Poinar, Jr.

The sample containing the salamander hatchling measures under an inch in length is an extinct, and the amphibian is a previously undiscovered species, now named Palaeoplethodon hispaniolae, that dates back to between 20 million and 30 million years. For more details check out the paper published online in the journal Palaeodiversity.
Photo: George Poinar, Jr., Oregon State University