Happy (slightly belated) World Frog Day! 🐸 Photo: 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴, Madagascar #worldfrogday #frog #Madagascar

I genuinely wish that all snakes would move the way the horned viper does in this figure.

ASIH is soliciting nominations for the 2026 Margaret Stewart Achievement Award for Excellence - to be awarded to a mid-career scientist in Herpetology. Deadline 20 April 2026. Info here: www.asih.org/awards/stewa... 🐸🦎🐊🐍🐢 Please share and repost!

🚨PhD position available!🚨🧪 I am seeking a talented PhD student to join my ERC StG project GEMINI, to explore the exciting world of vertebrate genomics and comparative genomics, seeking to understand the genomics of miniaturisation! 🦇🦎🦜🐸🐟🦈 🤏🧬 Deadline: 4 Jan 2026! employment.ku.dk/phd?show=153...

Don’t forget about the #FindThatLizard Scholarship!! Please share #science #scholarship #funding #herps #HERpers #lizards #snakes #frogs #salamanders #game #challenge #education

Hey @nature.com, have you got an explanation for how the hell THIS happened? & especially why you accepted a paper with such a bizarre piece of genAI slop in it?! & more to the point, why we should take you seriously at all going forward? www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The Natural History Museum Denmark is seeking a new Head of Conservation Unit! The conservation team here works on a wide array of incredible specimens, and are hard at work preparing for the new museum opening in spring 2027! candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationI...

What a fun study to read while preparing my PhD application: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

"Yes, we CAM! First evidence of CAM photosynthesis in a carnivorous plant" super happy to have been part of this work with @njorisfleck.bsky.social Prof Gudrun Kadereit, Andreas Fleischmann and Thibaud Messerschmid! I hope it's the first of many at LMU 👏😁🌵🎶 doi.org/10.1111/plb....

Former lab member @njorisfleck.bsky.social and colleagues just showed that some carnivorous plants do CAM photosynthesis! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 🌱☀️🧪

My first ever lead-author paper got published! 🎉 Many thanks to my supervisors and co-workers! (Also, please note the punny title)

+++ Hissscord🐍 NEWS +++ Hissscord just reached 100 members! 🎉 That's an international assembly of 100 scientists of various career stages working in herpetology, all joined in one server to network and to support each other. Wanna join? Send me a message! (Free, not my attempt to finance my PhD)

A new post about the three #newspecies of toad we have just described from Tanzania, feat @christianthrane.bsky.social, Simon Loader, @alicepetzold.bsky.social, John Lyakurwa, and Michele Menegon! 🧪🐸🇹🇿 www.markscherz.com/archives/6208

Happy Halloween!🍂🍬 We found this stunning Mossy Leaf-tail Gecko (Uroplatus sikorae Boettger, 1913) ⁣shedding its skin in Madagascar, 2024. I waited a whole year to post this photo for Halloween! 👻

Ever hear a snake heartbeat? 🐍 🫀 (Sound UP) Our vets have noticed some irregular heart activity in Arroyo, the California King snake, so they’re using a doppler ultrasound machine, which allows them to hear the heart rate easily and count the amount of time between heartbeats.

📢📢📢 #YSF2025 ABSTRACT SUBMISSION CLOSES THIS SATURDAY OCT 25TH 11:59PM GMT+1 📢📢📢 If you are a student or early career researcher working on phylogenetics/taxonomy/systematics, join us online on Nov 14th for this year's (free!) Young Systematists' Forum! REGISTER: tinyurl.com/2w5n3e8

Applications for the MEME programme (www.evobio.eu ) are now open! MEME is a research- and mobility-oriented master’s in evolutionary biology (& I’m a proud alumna!), jointly run by the Unis of Groningen, Uppsala, Montpellier, and LMU Munich, with Harvard and Lausanne as partners. Spread the word!

🚨 Postdoc in evolutionary genomics of heat stress adaptation position at @ucddublin.bsky.social. 📍 Dublin, Ireland Closes: 15th Oct 2025 🔗 www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOV094/u...

Join us Nov 14th for #YSF2025, a completely free, online conference where postgraduate students (and other early career researchers) present their work on systematics, taxonomy and/or phylogenetics. Abstract submission closes Oct 25th! REGISTER: tinyurl.com/2fvmmthc systass.org/young-system...

+++ Hissscord🐍 NEWS +++ Second call for joining our server! 🐸 Hissscord is open to everyone in the scientific herpetological community, from students to established researchers. 💬 DM me for an invite to the Discord channel, or reach out via email: hissscord[at]gmail.com Please share!📣

Having a diffuse research group means that I rarely get to spend any time with my group in 3D. It was a great delight therefore to be joined by @collinbos.bsky.social @alicepetzold.bsky.social @njorisfleck.bsky.social and @clarakeusgen.bsky.social together in Bonn for the #SEH2025! 🧪🐸🦎🐍🧬

+++ Hissscord🐍 NEWS +++ Our new server is live! 🐍 A free space for young and experienced herpetologists to connect, collaborate, and get quick help. 💬 DM me here on Bluesky or elsewhere for an invite to the Discord channel! Please feel free to share and repost! #Herpetology #SEH2025 #Hissscord

We are hiring!! 🦎🧠🐍 2 year postdoc to work on on the evolution of brains in snakes and lizards (on our current ARC Discovery project). Applications close 25th March 2025! careers.adelaide.edu.au/cw/en/job/51...

I’m setting up a Discord server for young herpetologists, derived from an idea at #SEH2025. The goal is to create a space for quick help, collaboration, and networking. If you’d like to give input or get involved, let me know! #herpetology

I’ve been spending A LOT of time in scientific collections. Outside, the weather keeps changing. Inside? Permanent chill. 35°C? I’m freezing my butt off in the collections. -4°C? Still freezing my butt off in the collections. The only constant in my life right now is museum-grade air conditioning.

An Italian wall lizard (Podarcis siculus) found in Castiglione della Pescaia, Italy #Herpetology #lizard #herping

The CORPS team has won the 2025 Teaching Award from #LMU ’s Faculty of Biology! 🏆 What began with preparing bird specimens in my living room is now the faculty’s first student-led, -organized, and -taught course. We are incredibly happy! Thank you all—here’s to CORPS 2025! @lmumuenchen.bsky.social

Ordering primers for the first time and can't shake the feeling that an adult should probably look it over before I hit “order.” #science #labwork #genetics

Had the pleasure of visiting the @smnstuttgart.bsky.social and getting an awesome tour of part of their collection from the amazing @michela-johnson.bsky.social — thanks so much, Michela! 📸 Holotype of the extinct crocodyliform Machimosaurus buffetauti Young et al., 2014 #paleontology #FossilFriday

Gluing a completely disintegrated lizard skull back together is about as much fun as it sounds. And yes, I'm using a toothbrush taped to a bucket for assistance. Not elegant, but at least it's creative. Sue me. #herps #bones #Gallotia #lizard #herpetology #LMU

Nothing matches the feeling of finishing a manuscript, while an epic movie soundtrack is climaxing in the background.

Interesting #illustration of a green #iguana in one of my favorite old #books. W. Lackowitz (1899) Das Buch der Tierwelt. Verlag von W. Herlet, Berlin, Germany. #history #library #oldbook #biology #herpetology

It's crazy how much housework I get done in a day when I need to finish a manuscript.

That's my new favourite way of short-term labelling #hummingbirds and other long-beaked #birds.

I finally finished another photo editing session. This time, a #macro shot of a #tongue-flicking 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘴 (Günther, 1880) from #Madagascar.

Am I the only one who measures how close to home I am by the fraction of roadside plants I can identify to species level?

Found a little Common Tree #Frog (Hyla arborea) in #Munich, Germany, on the street at night!

I'm trying to be a bit more active on this platform, since the other ones become increasingly annoying. I've (again) started working on the pictures I took on my last research field trip to #Madagascar a few months ago. This is a stunningly beautiful #𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘴!

High fi...! Ugh, never mind. This tiny hand belongs to a tiny specimen of the tiny #frog species #Stumpffia madagascariensis, endemic to #Madagascar. This hand is less than 4 mm long!