SquaMates SquaMates

In this episode we talk about the breaking news that caecilians produce milk‽, and get into some recent taxonomic works on anacondas and eyelash palm-pitvipers. Content warning: this episode contains several Hot Takes™.

Episode notes sometimes get clipped on your device or by your podcast provider; for full (extensive) notes (and references), go to http://www.squamatespod.com

Episode Citations

Wake, M.H. (2024) Amphibian hatchlings find mother’s milk. Science, 383(6687):1060–1061. DOI: 10.1126/science.ado2094

Mailho-Fontana, P.L., Antoniazzi, M.M., Coelho, G.R., Pimenta, D.C., Fernandes, L.P., Kupfer, A., Brodie, E.D. & Jared, C. (2024) Milk provisioning in oviparous caecilian amphibians. Science, 383(6687):1092–1095. DOI: 10.1126/science.adi5379

Arteaga, A., Pyron, R.A., Batista, A., Vieira, J., Meneses Pelayo, E., Smith, E.N., Barrio Amorós, C.L., Koch, C., Agne, S., Valencia, J.H., Bustamante, L. & Harris, K.J. (2024) Systematic revision of the Eyelash Palm-Pitviper Bothriechis schlegelii (Serpentes, Viperidae), with the description of five new species and revalidation of three. Evolutionary Systematics, 8:15–64.

Rivas, J.A., De La Quintana, P., Mancuso, M., Pacheco, L.F., Rivas, G.A., Mariotto, S., Salazar-Valenzuela, D., Baihua, M.T., Baihua, P., Burghardt, G.M., Vonk, F.J., Hernandez, E., García-Pérez, J.E., Fry, B.G. & Corey-Rivas, S. (2024) Disentangling the Anacondas: Revealing a New Green Species and Rethinking Yellows. Diversity, 16(2) DOI: 10.3390/d16020127

Shout-outs:

Lingthusiasm Podcast

Follow the show and the hosts on social media!

SquaMates: website • twitter • instagram • facebook • youtube

Mark D. Scherz: website • twitter • instagram • tumblr • facebook • researchgate • redbubble • bluesky

Gabriel Ugueto: website • twitter • instagram • facebook • redbubble • bluesky

Ethan Kocak: personal website • a href="http://www.blackmudpuppy.

The Mates are back after two and a half years of hiatus! They talk about all that’s happened in the intervening time, and where we are going from here!

Episode notes can get clipped on your device or by your podcast provider; for full (extensive) notes (and references and beautiful pictures), go to http://www.squamatespod.com

Get yourself a copy of Ethan’s book, Moistly Harmless!



Hiral is featured in this phenomenal book on Women in Herpetology! Go check out the Global Women in Herpetology project, over at https://www.womeninherpetology.com/.



Mark wants you to check out itaxotools.org for your taxonomy needs!

Follow the show and the hosts on social media!

SquaMates: website • twitter • instagram • facebook • youtube

Mark D. Scherz: website • twitter • instagram • tumblr • facebook • researchgate • redbubble • bluesky

Gabriel Ugueto: website • twitter • instagram • facebook • redbubble • bluesky

Ethan Kocak: personal website • comic • twitter • tumblr • facebook • patreon • bluesky

Hiral Naik: a href="https://hiralnaik.

The Mates get into the evolution of Ambystoma, whether or not to use subspecies, and the fantastically diverse and oft maligned gymnophthalmids (gymmies!).

Episode notes can get clipped on your device or by your podcast provider; for full (extensive) notes (and references and beautiful pictures), go to http://www.squamatespod.com

Episode Citations

Boccia, C.K., Swierk, L., Ayala-Varela, F.P., Boccia, J., Borges, I.L., Estupiñán, C.A., Martin, A.M., Martínez-Grimaldo, R.E., Ovalle, S., Senthivasan, S., Toyama, K.S., del Rosario Castañeda, M., García, A., Glor, R.E. & Mahler, D.L. Repeated evolution of underwater rebreathing in diving Anolis lizards. Current Biology: DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.04.040

de Queiroz, K. (2007) Species concepts and species delimitation. Systematic Biology, 56(6):879–886. DOI: 10.1080/10635150701701083

de Queiroz, K. (2020) An updated concept of subspecies resolves a dispute about the taxonomy of incompletely separated lineages. Herpetological Review, 51(3):459–461.

Everson, K.M., Gray, L.N., Jones, A.G., Lawrence, N.M., Foley, M.E., Sovacool, K.L., Kratovil, J.D., Hotaling, S., Hime, P.M., Storfer, A., Parra-Olea, G., Percino-Daniel, R., Aguilar-Miguel, X., O’Neill, E.M., Zambrano, L., Shaffer, H.B. & Weisrock, D.W. (2021) Geography is more important than life history in the recent diversification of the tiger salamander complex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 118(17):e2014719118. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2014719118

Gymnophthalmids

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Mark D. Scherz: website • twitter • instagram • tumblr • facebook • researchgate • redbubble

Gabriel Ugueto: website • twitter • instagram • facebook • redbubble

Ethan Kocak: personal website • comic • twitter • tumblr • facebook • p...

The Mates are joined this month by Hiral Naik, a snake ecologist from South Africa! We talk turtles, skinks, crocodiles, neocolonialism in science, and Lamprophiidae!

Episode notes can get clipped on your device or by your podcast provider; for full (extensive) notes (and references and beautiful pictures), go to http://www.squamatespod.com

Episode Citations

Thomson, R.C., Spinks, P.Q. & Shaffer, H.B. (2021) A global phylogeny of turtles reveals a burst of climate-associated diversification on continental margins. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(7):e2012215118. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2012215118

Chapple, D.G., Roll, U., Böhm, M., Aguilar, R., Amey, A.P., Austin, C.C., Baling, M., Barley, A.J., Bates, M.F., Bauer, A.M., Blackburn, D.G., Bowles, P., Brown, R.M., Chandramouli, S.R., Chirio, L., Cogger, H., Colli, G.R., Conradie, W., Couper, P.J., Cowan, M.A., Craig, M.D., Das, I., Datta-Roy, A., Dickman, C.R., Ellis, R.J., Fenner, A.L., Ford, S., Ganesh, S.R., Gardner, M.G., Geissler, P., Gillespie, G.R., Glaw, F., Greenlees, M.J., Griffith, O.W., Grismer, L.L., Haines, M.L., Harris, D.J., Hedges, S.B., Hitchmough, R.A., Hoskin, C.J., Hutchinson, M.N., Ineich, I., Janssen, J., Johnston, G.R., Karin, B.R., Keogh, J.S., Kraus, F., LeBreton, M., Lymberakis, P., Masroor, R., McDonald, P.J., Mecke, S., Melville, J., Melzer, S., Michael, D.R., Miralles, A., Mitchell, N.J., Nelson, N.J., Nguyen, T.Q., de Campos Nogueira, C., Ota, H., Pafilis, P., Pauwels, O.S.G., Perera, A., Pincheira-Donoso, D., Reed, R.N., Ribeiro-Júnior, M.A., Riley, J.L., Rocha, S., Rutherford, P.L., Sadlier, R.A., Shacham, B., Shea, G.M., Shine, R., Slavenko, A., Stow, A., Sumner, J., Tallowin, O.J.S., Teale, R., Torres-Carvajal, O., Trape, J.-F., Uetz, P., Ukuwela, K.D.B., Valentine, L., Van Dyke, J.U., van Winkel, D., Vasconcelos, R., Vences, M., Wagner, P., Wapstra, E., While, G.M., Whiting, M.J., Whittington, C.M., Wilson, S., Ziegler, T., Tingley, R. & Meiri, S. (2021) Conservation status of the world’s skinks (Scincidae): Taxonomic and geographic patterns in extinction risk. Biological Conservation, 257:109101. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109101

Hekkala, E., Gatesy, J., Narechania, A., Meredith, R., Russello, M., Aardema, M.L., Jensen, E., Montanari, S., Brochu, C., Norell, M. & Amato, G. (2021) Paleogenomics illuminates the evolutionary history of the extinct Holocene “horned” crocodile of Madagascar, Voay robustus. Communications Biology, 4(1):505. DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02017-0

Naik, H., Kgaditse, M. M. & Alexander, G. J. (2021) Ancestral Reconstruction of Diet and Fang Condition in the Lamprophiidae: Implications for the Evolution of Venom Systems in Snakes. Journal of Herpetology, 55(1):1–10. DOI: 10.1670/19-071 [x]

Shout-outs

Liam Revell’s PhyTools blog

Follow the show and the hosts on social media!

SquaMates: website • twitter • instagram • facebook

Mark D. Scherz: a href="http://markscherz.

After a corona-induced hiatus, the Mates are back with a looser format and some deep dives on tiny chameleons, glowing geckos, and the much debated Lacey act!

Episode notes sometimes get clipped on your device or by your podcast provider; for full (extensive) notes (and references and beautiful pictures), go to http://www.squamatespod.com

Works in Froggress

National Geographic Article featuring Gabriel’s illustrations



Get ready for the superstars of the story of life ⏲🌍

The first three books in @Ben_garrod‘s #Extinct series are out on 13th May! Fantastically illustrated by @SerpenIllus.

Pre-order here & support independent bookshops: https://t.co/SSIy6oxgwM pic.twitter.com/jN1hJWZWb7

— Zephyr Books (@_ZephyrBooks) April 10, 2021



Episode Citations

Scherz, M.D., Schmidt, L., Crottini, A., Miralles, A., Rakotoarison, A., Raselimanana, A.P., Köhler, J., Glaw, F. & Vences, M. (2021) Into the Chamber of Horrors: A proposal for the resolution of nomenclatural chaos in the Scaphiophryne calcarata complex (Anura: Microhylidae), with a new species-level phylogenetic hypothesis for Scaphiophryninae. Zootaxa, 4938(1):392–420. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4938.4.2

Glaw, F., Köhler, J., Hawlitschek, O., Ratsoavina, F.M., Rakotoarison, A., Scherz, M.D. & Vences, M. (2021) Extreme miniaturization of a new amniote vertebrate and insights into the evolution of genital size in chameleons. Scientific Reports, 11:2522. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-80955-1

Prötzel, D., Heß, M., Schwager, M., Glaw, F. & Scherz, M.D. (2021) Neon-green fluorescence in the desert gecko Pachydactylus rangei caused by iridophores. Scientific Reports, 11:297. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-79706-z

Jowers, M.J., Othman, S.N., Borzée, A., Rivas, G.A., Sánchez-Ramírez, S., Auguste, J., Downie, J.R., Read, M. & Murphy, J.C. (2021) Unraveling unique island colonization events in Elachistocleis frogs: phylogeography, cryptic divergence, and taxonomical implications. Organisms Diversity & Evolution 21:189–206. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13127-021-00487-y

Dal Vechio, F., Prates, I., Grazziotin, F.G., Graboski, R. & Rodrigues, M.T. (2021) Molecular and phenotypic data reveal a new Amazonian species of pit vipers (Serpentes: Viperidae: Bothrops). Journal of Natural History 54(37–38):2415–2437. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00222933.2020.1845835

Marshall, B.M., Strine, C. & Hughes, A.C. (2020) Thousands of reptile species threatened by under-regulated global trade. Nature Communications 11:4738. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18523-4 

Shout-outs

a href="https://chameleonacademy.

Here’s episode 18, a Works in Froggress episode, featuring the Mates, Dr Mark D. Scherz, Gabriel Ugueto, and Ethan Kocak, talking about what’s going on in their new lives stuck inside—Ethan’s setting off on a freelancing lifestyle, Gabriel has been tweaking the same illustration forever, and Mark is working on FIIIIIIIIIISH! The Mates then dive into a discussion about Uroplatus geckos!

Episode notes sometimes get clipped on your device or by your podcast provider; for full (extensive) notes (and references and beautiful pictures), go to http://www.squamatespod.com

A note: this episode was recorded on the 24th of April 2020, a time when most of humanity seemed united in their fight against a common enemy, the coronavirus COVID-19. In the meantime, another enemy of humanity has been brought into the limelight that, by its very nature, divides. That enemy is racism. The experiences of Christian Cooper highlight how people of colour may be treated when engaging in field sciences like ornithology or herpetology, and similar stories are being heard from people of colour across social media (e.g. see the #BlackInNature tag on twitter). We must strive to make field-based sciences like herpetology inclusive of people of colour, and to fight racism wherever we encounter it in order to disassemble the systematic discrimination that plagues our fields and our societies. We at the SquaMates podcast stand firmly behind the BlackLivesMatter movement.

Check out Ethan’s new professional website, www.ethankocak.com!

Episode Citations

Glaw, F., Scherz, M.D., Rakotoarison, A., Crottini, A., Raselimanana, A.P., Andreone, F., Köhler, J. & Vences, M. (2020) Genetic variability and partial integrative revision of Platypelis frogs (Microhylidae) with red flash marks from eastern Madagascar. Vertebrate Zoology, 70(2):141–156. DOI: 10.26049/VZ70-2-2020-04 [pdf]

Miralles, A., Bruy, T., Wolcott, K., Scherz, M.D., Begerow, D., Beszteri, B., Bonkowski, M., Felden, J., Gemeinholzer, B., Glaw, F., Glöckner, F.O., Hawlitschek, O., Kostadinov, I., Nattkemper, T.W., Printzen, C., Renz, J., Rybalka, N., Stadler, M., Weibulat, T., Wilke, T., Renner, S.S. & Vences, M. (2020) Repositories for taxonomic data: where we are and what is missing. Systematic Biology, syaa026. DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syaa026 (online ahead of print)

Rancilhac, L., Bruy, T., Scherz, M.D., Pereira, E.A., Preick, M., Straube, N., Lyra, M., Ohler, A., Streicher, J.W., Andreone, F., Crottini, A., Hutter, C.R., Randrianantoandro, J.C., Rakotoarison, A., Glaw, F., Hofreiter, M. & Vences, M. (in press) Target-enriched DNA sequencing from historical type material enables a partial revision of the Madagascar giant stream frogs (genus Mantidactylus). Journal of Natural History. DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2020.1748243 (online ahead of print) [Request PDF]

Rakotoarison, A., Scherz, M.D., Köhler, J., Ratsoavina, F.M., Hawlitschek, O., Megson, S., Vences, M. & Glaw, F.