This photograph was taken by Cameron D. Siler on a recent expedition to the eastern Philippines.  The Philippine species of these beautiful vipers are actually quite easy to photograph, and once settled in a position are quite docile, allowing for great macro photography!...

This common tree snake was photographed by Cameron D. Siler on a recent expedition to the eastern Philippines.  It took quite a few shots to get the tongue in focus....

This colorful vine snake was photographed by Cameron D. Siler on a recent trip to the eastern Philippines....

Background Aposematic Batesian mimicry occurs when one relatively harmless species has a close resemblance to a dangerous or poisonous different species. Over time, as the two species live in close proximity, the individuals of the harmless species that more closely resemble the dangerous species will have higher survival and reproduction rates, leading to a population that appears dangerous. This mimicry is often...

The diverse group of Asian wolf snakes of the genus Lycodon represents one of many poorly understood radiations of advanced snakes in the superfamily Colubroidea. Outside of three species having previously been represented in higher-level phylogenetic analyses, nothing is known of the relationships among species in this unique, moderately diverse, group. The genus occurs widely from central to Southeast Asia, and contains...

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We report 35 new amphibian and reptile distribution records for two regions within the southern Sierra Madre Mountain Range, Aurora Province, central Luzon Island, Philippines. Together with results of our previous survey work in Aurora, our new data result in a total of 82 amphibian and reptile species for the area. These results highlight the degree to which the island’s biodiversity continues...

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In this note, we question the hypothesis of a widespread case of mimicry, report on additional observations of the sympatric association of Bracca and Hemibungarus , and compare banding and color patterns between two subspecies of Hemibungarus  and the sympatric lepidopteran from Luzon Island, Philippines.  These observations suggest that a mismatch in color and pattern exists between the model (snake) and potential...