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Herpetological Highlights

by Herpetological Highlights

Bringing you the recent scientific advancements in the field of Herpetology.

Latest episodes

Showing 20 · updated from the feed

247 Big Brains Ain't Free

Big brains are very useful, but they cost ENERGY and RESOURCES, at least for mammals and birds. Now a new study has shed light on what determines whether reptiles and amp

May 12
36 min

246 Salamanders vs Volcanoes

This week we delve into the evolutionary history of a fascinating little salamander from North America: the cascade torrent salamander. Volcanoes and flooding have shaped

May 6
39 min

245 A Vegetation Investigation

This week we're diving into two reptile papers: the first is about desert lizards being secret nutritional strategists, timing what they eat across the year to nail matin

Apr 14
32 min

244 Frogs Bringing the Pain

Bradykinin is a hormone that is released naturally in response to tissue damage, so if you hurt yourself, it makes it hurt. Quite a few animals from wildly different evol

Apr 10
40 min

243 Pythons are Seed Pipelines

Invasive species are well known to damage ecosystems by directly eating other animals and disrupting the food chain. But their impacts can go much deeper, as a new study

Mar 10
25 min

242 Spot the Viper to Survive

Pitvipers of the genus Bothrops are famed for their camouflage and for being deadly ambush predators. New insights from snake CCTV have revealed that these snakes can onl

Mar 3
36 min

241 Poison Frog Parents

Mimic poison frogs are utterly amazing, famous for mimicking multiple different frog species, and like other dart frogs they demonstrate bi-parental care where both male

Feb 17
36 min

240 Small Homes for Small Gators

Chinese conservationists have worked hard to protect the critically endangered Chinese alligator, creating new habitats for them after significant alterations made most o

Feb 14
40 min

239 Side Effects of Albinism

Common knowledge suggests that albino animals are rare in the wild because they stick out like a sore thumb and get eaten by predators, but studies supporting this are re

Dec 23 2025
31 min

238 Antivenom Breakthrough

New methods in antivenom technology may yield a treatment that works on most of the cobras in Africa, thanks to the blood of alpacas and some very clever scientists. Then

Dec 17 2025
30 min

237 City Slickin' Wall Lizards

Urban areas represent both opportunities and risks for animals, and they adapt their behaviour in many ways to cope with this fast-paced lifestyle. Now, a new study has d

Nov 25 2025
34 min

236 Grippy Australian Geckos

Research from Asian geckos generally suggests that sticky pads are used for smooth surfaces, while claws help grip onto rougher surfaces like wood and rocks. But a new st

Nov 17 2025
28 min

235 Magnetoad Goes Home

Toads continue to amaze us - this time they are using their sense of the Earth's magnetic field to find their way home. But how important this sense is for cane toads as

Sep 9 2025
34 min

234 Hot Dragons, Cold Dragons

We recap some of our recent travels, and then chat about bearded dragons. A new study shows that these lizards are making decisions about how they maintain their body tem

Sep 5 2025
46 min

233 Colour-matching chameleons

In this episode we are talking chameleons, one of nature's most famous colour changers. But despite their famous status, very few studies have actually demonstrated that

Aug 6 2025
35 min

232 The Glass is Half-full for Tortoises

The minds of reptiles remain largely mysterious to us, and we often wonder what kind of emotions they are capable of feeling. In this episode we dig into a new study whic

Jul 31 2025
37 min

231 Hotter Times for Desert Lizards

A monumental new study has addressed the likely impacts of climate change on the activity of desert lizards in Africa and Australia. Hotter temperatures will likely ‘sque

Jul 1 2025
28 min

230 Bats Listen to Hear Which Frog is Tastiest

Bats have famously good hearing, and fringe-lipped bats in Panama have tuned theirs to listen out for frogs calling out for mates. But these bats are quite particular abo

Jun 29 2025
31 min

229 Tokay Geckos Will Remember You

New research suggests that tokay geckos can distinguish between different people, shedding further light on the intelligence of lizards. We delve into this study and voic

Jun 3 2025
23 min

228 Why do pythons have heat pits?

Almost all pythons and some boas have heat pits on their faces. This extraordinary adaptation lets these snakes 'see' the heat signature of their unsuspecting prey. A new

May 30 2025
30 min

Chart trend

Position in the Nature chart (US), last 90 days.

#56
all-time peak
104
days in the top 100 since Nov 2024

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Where Herpetological Highlights ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 28, 2026).

#101 ▲ 82 Nature US

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