Alsophis antiguae

Number of Pages: 3Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Deconstructing compassionate conservation

Compassionate conservation focuses on 4 tenets: first, do no harm; individuals matter; inclusivity of individual animals; and peaceful coexistence between humans and animals. Recently, compassionate conservation has been promoted as an alternative to conventional conservation philosophy. We believe examples presented by compassionate conservationists are deliberately or arbitrarily chosen to focus on mammals; inherently not compassionate; and offer ineffective conservation solutions. Compassionate conservation arbitrarily focuses on charismatic species, notably large predators and megaherbivores. The philosophy is not compassionate when it leaves invasive predators in the environment to cause harm to vastly more individuals of native species or uses the fear of harm by apex predators to terrorize mesopredators. Hindering the control of exotic species (megafauna, predators) in situ will not improve the conservation condition of the majority of biodiversity. The positions taken by so-called compassionate conservationists on particular species and on conservation actions could be extended to hinder other forms of conservation, including translocations, conservation fencing, and fertility control. Animal welfare is incredibly important to conservation, but ironically compassionate conservation does not offer the best welfare outcomes to animals and is often ineffective in achieving conservation goals. Consequently, compassionate conservation may threaten public and governmental support for conservation because of the limited understanding of conservation problems by the general public

Citizen science and online data: Opportunities and challenges for snake ecology and action against snakebite

The secretive behavior and life history of snakes makes studying their biology, distribution, and the epidemiology of venomous snakebite challenging. One of the most useful, most versatile, and easiest to collect types of biological data are photographs, particularly those that are connected with geographic location and date-time metadata. Photos verify occurrence records, provide data on phenotypes and ecology, and are often used to illustrate new species descriptions, field guides and identification keys, as well as in training humans and computer vision algorithms to identify snakes. We scoured eleven online and two offline sources of snake photos in an attempt to collect as many photos of as many snake species as possible, and attempt to explain some of the inter-species variation in photograph quantity among global regions and taxonomic groups, and with regard to medical importance, human population density, and range size. We collected a total of 725,565 photos—between 1 and 48,696 photos of 3098 of the world's 3879 snake species (79.9%), leaving 781 “most wanted” species with no photos (20.1% of all currently-described species as of the December 2020 release of The Reptile Database). We provide a list of most wanted species sortable by family, continent, authority, and medical importance, and encourage snake photographers worldwide to submit photos and associated metadata, particularly of “missing” species, to the most permanent and useful online archives: The Reptile Database, iNaturalist, and HerpMapper.ISSN:2590-171

Testing a global standard for quantifying species recovery and assessing conservation impact.

Recognizing the imperative to evaluate species recovery and conservation impact, in 2012 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) called for development of a "Green List of Species" (now the IUCN Green Status of Species). A draft Green Status framework for assessing species' progress toward recovery, published in 2018, proposed 2 separate but interlinked components: a standardized method (i.e., measurement against benchmarks of species' viability, functionality, and preimpact distribution) to determine current species recovery status (herein species recovery score) and application of that method to estimate past and potential future impacts of conservation based on 4 metrics (conservation legacy, conservation dependence, conservation gain, and recovery potential). We tested the framework with 181 species representing diverse taxa, life histories, biomes, and IUCN Red List categories (extinction risk). Based on the observed distribution of species' recovery scores, we propose the following species recovery categories: fully recovered, slightly depleted, moderately depleted, largely depleted, critically depleted, extinct in the wild, and indeterminate. Fifty-nine percent of tested species were considered largely or critically depleted. Although there was a negative relationship between extinction risk and species recovery score, variation was considerable. Some species in lower risk categories were assessed as farther from recovery than those at higher risk. This emphasizes that species recovery is conceptually different from extinction risk and reinforces the utility of the IUCN Green Status of Species to more fully understand species conservation status. Although extinction risk did not predict conservation legacy, conservation dependence, or conservation gain, it was positively correlated with recovery potential. Only 1.7% of tested species were categorized as zero across all 4 of these conservation impact metrics, indicating that conservation has, or will, play a role in improving or maintaining species status for the vast majority of these species. Based on our results, we devised an updated assessment framework that introduces the option of using a dynamic baseline to assess future impacts of conservation over the short term to avoid misleading results which were generated in a small number of cases, and redefines short term as 10 years to better align with conservation planning. These changes are reflected in the IUCN Green Status of Species Standard

Urgent International Action Needed to Tackle Illegal Pet Trade in Caribbean <i>Iguana</i> Populations

Lizards in the Neotropical genus Iguana are heavily traded for the international pet trade, with unusual colour morphs and rare species commanding high prices. Recent research aimed to understand the taxonomy and phenotypic variation of Iguana in the Lesser Antilles, with those populations now severely threatened by this trade. Although the entire Iguana genus has been on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix II since 1977, current levels of trade regulation are proving to be inadequate for the Caribbean Iguana populations, which are declining. This paper presents the case for immediately halting regional commercial trade to safeguard the most vulnerable island populations. We further provide recommendations for trade regulations of other species complexes where the nomenclature used in legislation and the trade industry fall temporarily out of step with new taxonomic changes

Urgent International Action Needed to Tackle Illegal Pet Trade in Caribbean Iguana Populations

Lizards in the Neotropical genus Iguana are heavily traded for the international pet trade, with unusual colour morphs and rare species commanding high prices. Recent research aimed to understand the taxonomy and phenotypic variation of Iguana in the Lesser Antilles, with those populations now severely threatened by this trade. Although the entire Iguana genus has been on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix II since 1977, current levels of trade regulation are proving to be inadequate for the Caribbean Iguana populations, which are declining. This paper presents the case for immediately halting regional commercial trade to safeguard the most vulnerable island populations. We further provide recommendations for trade regulations of other species complexes where the nomenclature used in legislation and the trade industry fall temporarily out of step with new taxonomic changes

Iguana iguana subsp. insularis Breuil & Vuillaume & Schikorski & Krauss & Morton & Haynes & Daltry & Corry & Gaymes & Gaymes & Bech & Jelić & Grandjean 2019, nov. ssp.

&lt;i&gt;Iguana iguana insularis&lt;/i&gt; nov. ssp. &lt;p&gt;Grenadines horned iguana, pink rhino iguana&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Figs. 3&ndash;6.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Holotype.&lt;/b&gt; The holotype of &lt;i&gt;Iguana iguana insularis&lt;/i&gt; housed in MCZ under the numbers X-17620/R-79057 (Fig. 3). This specimen was caught by James Lazell on Bequia, St Vincent &amp; the Grenadines (10 April 1964).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt; &lt;i&gt;Sex&lt;/i&gt;:&lt;/b&gt; Undetermined.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt; &lt;i&gt;Age&lt;/i&gt;:&lt;/b&gt; Young, possibly 2 years old, based on its size.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt; &lt;i&gt;Morphological measurements&lt;/i&gt;:&lt;/b&gt; Total length: 51.5 cm, SVL: 13.5 cm, tail length: 38 cm. Height and width of the left subtympanic plate: 3.2 mm, 4.3 mm.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt; &lt;i&gt;Meristics&lt;/i&gt;:&lt;/b&gt; Number of gular spikes, 5 medium + 2 small. Number of dorsal spikes to cloaca: 54 &plusmn; 1.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Paratypes.&lt;/b&gt; Two other young specimens MCZ X-17619/R-79056 and X-17621/R-79058) from the same location and the same collector.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt; Diagnosis of &lt;i&gt;Iguana iguana insularis&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; (Figs 4, 5). We define the typical morphology of this new taxon based on our own observations on both adults and juvenile specimens on Palm and Union Islands (St Vincent &amp; the Grenadines), complemented by the specimens from MCZ R-79056-57-58 collected on Bequia (also in St Vincent &amp; the Grenadines) and R-79747 from Sandy Bay, Grenada. The latter four are young individuals with SVL from 128 mm to 135 mm, and thus lack some details specific to adults.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; The iguanas from the Grenada Bank, including the Grenadines, are characterised by the following association of characters in adults compared with iguanas from Saint Lucia (&lt;i&gt;I. iguana sanctaluciae&lt;/i&gt; ssp. nov., see below).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&ndash; In most old adults (both males and females), the green colouration and black bands fade to an almost uniform light cream to nearly white, except on the posterior end of the tail where the black banding persists;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&ndash; In old adults, the head is nearly light cream to white;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&ndash; The dewlap is predominantly white but may have some black scales;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&ndash; There are no black margins on the subtympanic plate and on the sublabial scales;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&ndash; The snout has 2 to 5 median horns (usually 3 or 4) and 2 to 6 less developed lateral horns on each side;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&ndash; The horns may or may not remain black throughout the animal&rsquo;s life;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&ndash; There are light yellow scales on the head and on the dewlap in old adults;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&ndash; The tips of the dorsal spikes of mature adults during the breeding season are light yellow to light orange;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&ndash; The anterior part of the dewlap is rounded.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Size.&lt;/b&gt; The largest purebred &lt;i&gt;I. iguana insularis&lt;/i&gt; measured by the authors had an SVL of 45 cm (IGU77, an adult male on Palm Island, Fig. 4). Its tail was incomplete.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Another large individual fitting the morphology of this subspecies (but not genetically tested) on Petit Bateau had a total length of 136 cm.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Geographical distribution&lt;/b&gt; (Fig. 6). Of the c. 30 islands of Grenada Bank, including the Grenadine islands and the main island of Grenada, 26 have been reported to have iguanas (Henderson &amp; Powell 2018). The entire bank is inferred to have been originally inhabited by &lt;i&gt;I. iguana insularis&lt;/i&gt; but morphological (&lt;i&gt;e.g.&lt;/i&gt; Henderson &amp; Powell 2018, photograph p. 50) and genetic data indicate that several islands, including the main island of Grenada, have had incursions of iguanas from South American and/or Central American lineages.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; From our collection of photographs of specimens captured by the authors and obtained from internet searches, it is clear that most Grenadine islands still have the indigenous white, horned and more or less black-banded phenotype, but there is the Central America phenotype with various hybrids among them that make it difficult to confirm which islands still have purebred populations of this subspecies. Further genetic testing is required to accurately map the present distribution of &lt;i&gt;I. iguana insularis&lt;/i&gt; and invasive iguanas.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Etymology.&lt;/b&gt; The subspecific name refers to the numerous islands in the southern Lesser Antilles where the new subspecies lives.&lt;/p&gt;Published as part of &lt;i&gt;Breuil, Michel, Vuillaume, Barbara, Schikorski, David, Krauss, Ulrike, Morton, Matthew N., Haynes, Pius, Daltry, Jennifer C., Corry, Elizabeth, Gaymes, Glenroy, Gaymes, Joanne, Bech, Nicolas, Jelić, Mišel &amp; Grandjean, Frédéric, 2019, A story of nasal horns: two new subspecies of Iguana Laurenti, 1768 (Squamata, Iguanidae) in Saint Lucia, St Vincent &amp; the Grenadines, and Grenada (southern Lesser Antilles), pp. 201-232 in Zootaxa 4608 (2)&lt;/i&gt; on pages 208-212, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4608.2.1, &lt;a href="http://zenodo.org/record/3055184"&gt;http://zenodo.org/record/3055184&lt;/a&gt

A story of nasal horns: two new subspecies of Iguana Laurenti, 1768 (Squamata, Iguanidae) in Saint Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, and Grenada (southern Lesser Antilles)

Breuil, Michel, Vuillaume, Barbara, Schikorski, David, Krauss, Ulrike, Morton, Matthew N., Haynes, Pius, Daltry, Jennifer C., Corry, Elizabeth, Gaymes, Glenroy, Gaymes, Joanne, Bech, Nicolas, Jelić, Mišel, Grandjean, Frédéric (2019): A story of nasal horns: two new subspecies of Iguana Laurenti, 1768 (Squamata, Iguanidae) in Saint Lucia, St Vincent &amp; the Grenadines, and Grenada (southern Lesser Antilles). Zootaxa 4608 (2): 201-232, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4608.2.