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What can snakes on Madagascar teach us about evolution?

November 2, 2020

Arianna Kuhn, PhD Candidate, City University of New York, American Museum of Natural History As a  PhD candidate at the City University of New York, my current work aims to understand the evolutionary events that cause new species to form, but my career in herpetology actually began with geckos from Africa! As an undergraduate at Villanova University, I knew that I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Career Profile, Focus on STEM, Herpetology

The Search for Urban Snakes in NJ

July 17, 2020

Written by Tianqi Huang, a PhD student majoring in Ecology and Evolution at Rutgers University - New Brunswick , currently working on urban snake ecology. Tianqi is co-advised by Dr. Peter Morin and Dr. Sara Ruane.         Nowadays, a large proportion of world’s population lives in urban areas, but we know that cities are not only home to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Animal Project Areas, Career Profile, Current Issue, Herpetology, Herpetology, herpetology, STEM Learning

East Brunswick, NJ Shuts Down Road For Salamander Migration

March 18, 2020

Originally posted February 11, 2020 | Updated Feb 12, 2020 at Patch.com.   Re-posted with permission from author, Carly Baldwin, Patch Staff. Yup, you read that correctly. One of the earliest signs of spring in central New Jersey is the annual salamander and frog migration. EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — New Jersey residents are used to roads closing for flooding, downed trees … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Current Issue, Herpetology

Poachers and habitat loss are endangering these N.J. snakes. This professor works to keep the reptiles safe.

January 25, 2020

Originally posted Sep 29, 2019 at NJ.com.   Re-posted with permission from author, Avalon Zoppo, NJ Advance Media. Deep in the Pine Barrens, poachers can wander for hours at a time. Their eyes scan the forest floor for dull orange, camouflaged corn snakes, a state-endangered reptile long threatened by a combination of encroaching development and collectors who sell … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Ask the Expert, Career Profile, Current Issue, Herpetology

Rutgers Herpetologist Shares 2019 Travels!

December 15, 2019

Dr. Sara Ruane, Rutgers Herpetologist and Evolutionary Biologist, shares her awesome 2019 travels with us. Louisiana In April, I went to Louisiana to collect genetic samples from snakes with my former PhD advisor, Frank, a curator at the American Museum of Natural History, and his postdoc, Skip. This collecting was for some projects that we are working on together and to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Animal Project Areas, Career Profile, Herpetology, STEM Learning

Making the World Your Office: Traveling for Research

October 30, 2019

There are many avenues of work that a research-type occupation or program can, and most likely will, take you in. As you enter into a research career, especially one in the realm of biology, you will find yourself in an actual office environment, but you may also find yourself in a lab, trying to get the data that your thesis or dissertation is dependent on (and for graduate … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Career Profile, Herpetology

Virginia Tech paleontologist finds, names new 3-foot-tall relative of Tyrannosaurus rex

September 8, 2019

This article was first published in the May 7, 2019 Virginia Tech News  https://vtnews.vt.edu/ A new relative of the Tyrannosaurus rex – much smaller than the huge, ferocious dinosaur made famous in countless books and films, including, yes, "Jurassic Park" - has been discovered and named by a Virginia Tech paleontologist and an international team of scientists. The … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Animal Project Areas, Ask the Expert, Featured Resource, Herpetology, Herpetology Tagged With: dinosaurs, extinct, suskityrannus hazelae

Paleontologists identify small fossils as that of oldest frog relative found in North America

August 21, 2019

This article was first published in the February 27, 2019 Virginia Tech News  https://vtnews.vt.edu/.   A team of paleontologists led by Virginia Tech’s Michelle Stocker and Sterling Nesbitt of the Department of Geosciences have identified fossil fragments of what are thought to be the oldest known frogs in North America. The fossils are composed of several … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Animal Project Areas, Career Profile, Current Issue, Focus on STEM, Herpetology

How Cool Are These? Extinct Reptiles!

July 14, 2019

Although we have thousands of extant (currently living) reptiles around the globe, there are many interesting extinct ones as well! Here are just a sampling of some of the amazing fossils that have been found of extinct reptiles!   Titanoboa model on display. See the humans in the background for a comparison in size. Photo from Ryan Sommma/flickr.  Titanoboa The 50-Foot … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Animal Project Areas, Featured Resource, Herpetology

How Cool Are These? Extinct Amphibians!

June 20, 2019

Although we have thousands of extant (currently living) amphibians around the globe, there are many interesting extinct ones as well! Here are just a sampling of some of the amazing fossils that have been found of extinct amphibians! Beelzebufo ampinga - The devil frog!  Article from https://www.popsci.com/beelzebufo-devil-frog-bite-force-dinosaur/   Beelzebufo … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Animal Project Areas, Featured Resource, Focus on STEM, Herpetology, Herpetology, herpetology, STEM Learning

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