Pesticides are useful for killing weeds (herbicides), fungi (fungicides), insect pests in agriculture and fleas in pets (insecticides). They are also used to reduce the numbers of biting insects in urban and rural environments. We have recently studied the indirect health effects on frogs of a biopesticide that has been in use for several decades, mainly to reduce the number of bothersome mosquitoes. Leer más.

Hutchemys walkerorum • A Softshell Turtle (Testudines: Trionychidae: Plastomeninae) from the uppermost Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Hell Creek Formation, North Dakota, USA, with Implications for the Evolutionary Relationships of Plastomenines and Other Trionychids

Plastomeninae, a clade of fossil turtles that has recently undergone significant revision, are currently known from the Late Cretaceous to the Eocene, with some genera known to survive the end-Cretaceous mass extinction (e.g., Hutchemys). Only one taxon survives past the Paleocene into the Eocene (Plastomenus thomasii). Leer más.

Stenocercus diploauris & S. nigrobarbatus • Two New Sympatric Species of Stenocercus (Iguania: Tropiduridae) from the inter-Andean Valley of the Mantaro River, Peru

We describe two new sympatric species of Stenocercus from the seasonally dry forest of the inter-Andean valley of the Mantaro River (Huancavelica department) in the Central Andes of central-southern Peru, at elevations of 1,693 to 2,920 m asl. Leer más.

One-Third of Amphibian Species at Risk of Imminent Extinction

Herpetologists first noticed that the global frog population and other amphibian species were declining abnormally fast during the 1980s and began working tirelessly to identify the causational factors. Knowing why amphibians are dying off, and studying the unique characteristics found in those that are persevering, may give humans the key to saving these essential species. Leer más.