University of Santo Tomas - Herpetological Research Collection

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🐍 After nearly 𝟕𝟎 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 of hiding in the shadows, the rare blindsnake 𝘙𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘩𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘹𝘪 has been rediscovered! This elusive serpent is the crown jewel of a new biodiversity survey of Samar Natural Park (SINP) and Samar Island recently published in our journal.

🔍 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞:
• 79 Total Species
• 39 New Records
• A new foundation for SINP to make the UNESCO World Heritage List

📖 Want to dive deeper into these findings? Check out our 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭, written by the researchers themselves: https://blog.pensoft.net/2026/04/09/lost-hidden-and-found-the-herpetofauna-of-samars-karst-labyrinth/

🔗 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲: doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1269.173854



UST Department of Biological Sciences
University of Santo Tomas
ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity

Undergraduate students accomplishing their thesis under the UST-HRC have been awarded 1st and 3rd places in the 2026 Science Week Poster Competition for their respective studies, "A Bioacoustic Study of Bat Diversity in Camarines Cave, Marinduque, Philippines", and "Morphology and Natural History of 𝘊𝘶𝘰𝘳𝘢 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴 (Blanck, Gaillard, Protiva, Wheatley, Shi, Liu, & Anders, 2023) in Marinduque Island.

Congratulations to our dear undergraduates!

Representatives from the UST-HRC host an exhibit today, 25 March 2026, for the Science and Technology Summit at the Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Building, showcasing the collection's specimens and research 🐸🐢🦎🐍