Studies of speciation and taxon delimitation are usually decoupled. Combining these methods provides a stronger theoretical ground for recognizing new taxa and understanding processes of speciation. Using coalescent methods, we examine speciation, post-speciation population demographics, and taxon delimitation in the Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (Lampropeltis pyromelana), a species restricted to high elevations in southwestern United States and northern Mexico (SW). These methods provide a solid foundation for understanding how biogeographic barriers operate at the regional scale in the SW. Bayesian species delimitation methods, using three loci from samples of L. pyromelana taken throughout their range, show strong support for the existence of two species that are separated by low elevation habitats found between the Colorado Plateau/ Mogollon Rim and the Sierra Madre Occidental. Leer más.
A crocodile conservation programme initiated by the Sabah Wildlife Department should help reduce attacks on humans working in plantations. Leer más.
Luke Yeomans, 47, kept a collection of 20 adult and four juvenile cobras in a compound behind his house in the village of Eastwood, in Nottinghamshire, and had been planning to open it to the public this weekend to educate people about what he called an amazing species. Leer más.
Police in Ipswich have warned parents to keep their children and pets indoors after a seven-and-a-half foot long «hungry and unfriendly» Boa Constrictor escaped. Leer más.
Un processó formada per unes 150 tortugues ha obligat a tancar una de les pistes d’aterratge de l’aeroport internacional John F. Kennedy de Nova York i ha provocat retards de més de 30 minuts en una desena de vols aquest dimecres. Les invasions d’aquests animals en aquesta infraestructura de Nova York, però, són un fenomen habitual que té lloc cada estiu. Leer más.
