Damian Lettoof
@lettsgetsnakes.bsky.social
Herpetology | Snakes | Ecotoxicology | Wildlife heath | Postdoc at CSIRO
Our study ‘The #global #human impact on #biodiversity’ is out in @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🌍🌐🐟🌿🪲 Unprecedented synthesis of >2000 studies led by @francoiskeck.bsky.social shows humans are not only shrinking species numbers—but reshaping entire communities across the planet. 🧵1/5
We’re looking for another ecologist here in SA. Please share widely and check if out yourself. Happy to chat to anyone interested and suitably qualified. Come join the team! nrmjobs.com.au/jobs/2025/20...
Ecologist
Bush Heritage Australia - Arid Rangelands or Evelyn Downs Reserve, SA
nrmjobs.com.au
New in the shop! Physical copies of my SKINKS! Zone blackmudpuppy.myshopify.com/products/pre...
Skink zine! Physical copy
Skinks! These incredible reptiles are one of the most diverse families of lizards, with well over 1,000 known species coming in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Ethan drew a bunch in October (Skinktober...
blackmudpuppy.myshopify.com
Non-native cane toads accumulate PFAS and legacy metals that impact metabolic pathways. A new paper led by @lettsgetsnakes.bsky.social looks at what this means for their health and how it can guide managing urban pollution and impacts on biodiversity. 🧪🌏🌐 #bioinvasions doi.org/10.1016/j.en... (OA)
Great piece on our new research highlighting the severe impact of using second generation anticoagulant rodenticides. We are killing quolls snd Tasmanian devils when we poison rats. www.watoday.com.au/national/wes...
Australia-first study finds rat poison in rare Perth Hills chuditch
New evidence shows the first confirmed cases of rat poisoning in native Australian marsupial carnivores.
watoday.com.au
Thrilled to announce Dr. Hiral Naik @hiralnaik.bsky.social as our new Research & Conservation Manager on #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience! Hiral, whose work you may know from South Africa, will lead our global conservation efforts after completing her PhD. Learn more ⬇️
From volunteer to conservation manager: An exciting new chapter for Save The Snakes - Save The Snakes
Snakes play an important role in our ecosystems and there are several threats that they face within those systems, including climate change, habitat loss and human persecution. Save The Snakes works t...
savethesnakes.org
Despite what some folks claim, Nebraska does have venomous Copperheads—but only in the far southeast corner of the state. They’re ambush predators, relying on camouflage rather than aggression, so most bites happen when someone steps on or grabs them by accident, though bites are extremely rare. 🐍
I'm contractually obligated to regularly post this picture of the smallest known jumping spider species in the world (Neonella camillae) on the head of a pin; so, here we are. #EmotionalSupportSpood Goodnight y'all 🖤
Here’s a long-nosed potoroo from Bruny Island in Tasmania 🥰 #WildOz
High altitude echidnas in Tasmania are so fluffy and friendly! A top tier Aussie native 😍 #WildOz
High altitude echidnas in Tasmania are so fluffy and friendly! A top tier Aussie native 😍 #WildOz
The INCREDIBLE Pipe Snake!🧡🖤 These COLOURS on this snake are just so mind-blowing, it is by far the most stunning snake I've ever seen!🐍 Even with intense colouration, the Pipe Snake is a non-venomous snake that is mimicking a coral snake in the rainforests of South America!🌳
Young Cyclodomorphus (this one is C. casuarinae) often act like little snakes! Very convincing! 😰
The Tasmanian tree frog (Litoria burrowsae), a now rare frog that breeds in isolated pool deep in the heath. So awesome to find! #WildOz
Young Cyclodomorphus (this one is C. casuarinae) often act like little snakes! Very convincing! 😰
The Tasmanian tree frog (Litoria burrowsae), a now rare frog that breeds in isolated pool deep in the heath. So awesome to find! #WildOz
Where are all the field studies? This ⬇️ important but rather depressing paper describes how conducting, & crucially initiating, field studies is becoming harder & rarer. A short 🧵 (and a call for more fieldwork) www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...
Extinction of experience among ecologists
Fieldwork-based research and education in ecology are under multiple threats and are progressively declining. We call for greater attention to this ongoing loss of direct field experience within the ecology community, as it could have widespread consequences for science and education, ultimately hindering efforts to address the ongoing biodiversity crisis.
cell.com
The Frog 🐸 of the Week is the Painted Reed Frog (Hyperolius marmoratus) from southern Africa. The frog comes in a variety of colors from black and brown to yellow and green with stripes, spots, or blotches. 📸 Gavin Falck, Bart Wursten, and Jessica Myburgh learn more at https://buff.ly/4fVsyF0
Went searching for a now rare Tasmanian frog and was surprised seeing this tiger in ambush at night, hunting the same frogs we were! #WildOz
Extinction of experience among ecologists dlvr.it/THHFk2
Extinction of experience among ecologists
Fieldwork-based research and education in ecology are under multiple threats and are progressively declining. We call for greater attention to this ongoing loss of direct field experience within the ecology community, as it could have widespread consequences for science and education, ultimately hindering efforts to address the ongoing biodiversity crisis.
dlvr.it
Cape Coral Snake (Aspidelaps lubricus), venomous. #snakesofsa #snakesofza #snakesofsouthafrica #herpingsa #herpingza #reptiles #snakes #wildlifephotography #africa #animalphotography #herps #snaketheworldsmarter #herpingtheglobe #africawildlife #africanwildlife #southafrica
Skinks on a Plane! For invasive species to be successful, they must be able to cope with transportation. Third-year student Jaclyn (@jaclynharris.bsky.social) exposed invasive delicate skinks to air and car transport to see if it impacted their behaviour. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Skinks on a Plane: Does Human‐Mediated Transportation Impact the Behaviour of an Invasive Lizard?
In order for invasive species to successfully establish in the non-native region, they must survive the journey and arrive in good condition; however, few studies have investigated the impact of huma....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
A #platypus works her way through a couple of natural dams made by fallen trees, foraging as she goes. The first one looks like a perfect platypus water-slide. #Tasmania ##MammalWatching #WildOz #platypuses
The last paper coming from my #PhD thesis has just been published in the Journal of Morphology! 🐸 We use #diceCT and @fountainscholar.bsky.social 's GoodFibes package to examine how muscle fibre architecture varies across #frogs specialising in jumping, walking and swimming: doi.org/10.1002/jmor...
Frog Fibres: What Muscle Architecture Can Tell Us About Anuran Locomotor Function
Our study utilises a new, automated approach to digitally extracting muscle fibres from μCT data, allowing us to present the first digital analysis of muscle fibre architecture in frogs, including so...
doi.org
The family dog had an unfortunate run in with this small Western Diamondback Rattlesnake the night before we were called out. Dave was able to find the snake, and the dog made a full recovery.
✅ Do you use R or Python? ✅ Are you an ecologist/biologist? Then you might find our website ALA Labs useful! ALA Labs is full of how-to articles to visualise or analyse biodiversity data. Some are for beginners, others are advanced/experimental 😀 labs.ala.org.au 🧪🌏 #rstats #python #quartopub
We're used to seeing holly leaves depicted as exclusively spiny, but most wild holly plants have spiny and smooth leaves Common holly (I. aquifolium) *changes its gene expression* to produce spines in response to damage by herbivores. Each pair here is from the same plant 📷 Herrera & Bazaga 2013
What a cool paper! 🤩 Using @inaturalist.bsky.social observations, Mayer et al. found that there are more melanistic snakes in colder regions than in warmer ones AND that melanistic snakes are more abundant with ⬆️ avian predator density 🐍🐦 Have look at it here: doi.org/10.1111/jbi....
