Herpetology at Austin Peay State University

https://www.science.org/content/article/microscopic-spikes-snakeskin-block-bacterial-buildup

Microscopic spikes on snakeskin block bacterial buildup Structures on python scales could inspire chemical-free antimicrobial designs

https://hitchcockproject.org/research-highlights-conservation-challenges-for-nevada-gila-monsters/

Research highlights conservation challenges for Nevada Gila monsters Gila monsters face escalating conservation challenges in Nevada amid limited habitat protection and pressures from climate change. By Alanna Garcia.

Happy Giladays!!

It was really great to get together with lab alumni and current students at the TN Herpetological Society Meetings.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/gila-monsters-struggle-climate-change

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.71008

Gila monsters may struggle to survive climate change The Mojave Desert may lose and gain suitable habitat for Gila monsters. But the unathletic reptiles might be mostly stuck in the waning oases.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/02/texas-endangered-dunes-sagebrush-lizard-oil-gas-endangered-species-act-donald-trump-drill-baby/

The tiny reptile testing the “drill, baby, drill” agenda In the oil-rich Permian Basin, the dunes sagebrush lizard faces extinction. Will Donald Trump finally do it in?

APSU alum Kris Wild is kind of a big deal! Awesome work on one of the most important scientific problems of our time.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adq4372?

Climate change and the cost-of-living squeeze in desert lizards Climate warming can induce a cost-of-living “squeeze” in ectotherms by increasing energetic expenditures while reducing foraging gains. We used biophysical models (validated by 2685 field observations) to test this hypothesis for 10 ecologically diverse ...

Happy Gila-days everyone!