They all come out at night… In a tropical region, the lush jungle, hot and humid climate, and high volume of rain usually make for the most productive herpetological field surveys, or the best “herping” (searching for reptiles and amphibians). Some people go fishing in their free time, but us “crazy” amphibian and reptile people go herpin’. And some times, as in...

Let’s talk insects So I found myself in an incredible forest at the foot of Mt. Huraw in northern Samar Island (eastern Philippines). The price of beauty for this rarely seen primary and secondary growth forest in the country was definitely the climate and insects. It was either about 100 degrees with 99% humidity, or about 90 degrees with torrential, down-pouring rain...

This is one of the eastern Philippine island populations of crested lizards in the genus Gonocephalus.  Members of the genus in the Philippines are forest obligate species, with three, relatively widespread species currently recognized in the archipelago.  Males develop quite beautiful crests on their heads and backs, and you can’t beat the eye color....

Biodiversity Survey in the Philippines This summer, I was fortunate enough to join a team of international biologists and participate in a four-week biodiversity study on the island of Samar in the southeastern Philippines. This expedition was funded by an NSF RAPID grant and lead by the University of Kansas (KU; my alma mater), and the University of Oklahoma (OU), both of...

A beautiful new species of Pseudogekko (sp. nov.) from the Philippines.  Look for the species description later this year in Herpetological Monographs!...

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We describe two new species of morphologically cryptic monitor lizards (genus Varanus) from the Philippine Archipelago: Varanus dalubhasa sp. nov. and V. bangonorum sp. nov. These two distinct evolutionary lineages are members of the V. salvator species complex, and historically have been considered conspecific with the widespread, northern Philippine V. marmoratus. However, the new species each share closer phylogenetic affinities with V....

We provide the first report on the diversity of amphibians and reptiles of the northern Sierra Madre Mountain Range, northeast Luzon Island, Philippines. Based on new data from extensive previously unpublished surveys, fieldwork, and museum records we can tell that this region is quite diverse. At least 101 herp species are present and now well documented in this region (29 amphibians, 30...

This is one of my favorite photographs of Gekko gigantes, a species of Philippine gecko known only from the tiny islands of North and South Gigantes.  I must have spent nearly an hour trying to catch this fellow licking his eye for a photo....

Some of Southeast Asia’s most enigmatic reptile species include the arboreal (tree-dwelling), frugivorous (fruit-eating) monitor lizards of the central and northern Philippines. Comprised of just three known species, this distinct group has even been assigned to its own subgenus, Philippinosaurus on the basis on cranial features and dentition (characteristics of the teeth). Knowledge on the biology of Philippine frugivorous monitor lizards has...

This past Friday, October 24th, Cameron, Jessa, Elyse, Nick, Alyssa and I took a short trip to Oliver’s Woods to look for herps. The nature area is located at the intersection of Highway 9 and Chautauqua and is owned by the University of Oklahoma. We spent around an hour and a half overturning logs, watching for movement in the fallen leaves, and wandering...