The ‘Wrangler’ Writes...
Welcome to another issue of
Australia’s premier online reptile
resource! This is the first time we
have had an issue with a special
(loose) theme - venom! It’s an
extremely broad subject, and we
have an amazingly diverse range
of great content.
First, we are proud to feature
an article on sea kraits by a
doyen of Australian herpetology,
Hal Cogger. Hal has worked on
this group of reptiles for many
years, and provides a fascinating insight into the
relationships involved. We also have an update on
King Cobra research at Agumbe in South India,
including a personal perspective from Adam
Sapiano, who travelled to India earlier this year.
Legendary Melbourne herper Ron Waters has
compiled a comprehensive piece on feeding
neonate elapids, and Neville Burns and Michael
Cermak recount their personal experiences with
two of our most feared and respected venomous
snakes, the Eastern Brown Snake and the Coastal
Taipan respectively. Plus our US correspondent
Vickie Lillo made a special trip to one of only five
institutions in the world to display the critically-
endangered Guatemalan Beaded Lizard. Although
estimated to number as few as 200 individuals in
the wild, Vickie reports that a raft of conservation
initiatives in its endemic range are making a real
difference for this exceedingly rare reptile. We also
take a look at the folklore surrounding its cousin,
the Gila Monster, and the amazing pharmacological
potential of its venom.
Last but not least, Kit Prendergast examines what
have been dubbed the ‘most poisonous animals
on earth’ – poison dart frogs. Not only are they
incredibly beautiful, but they also have unusual
life histories and have become very popular with
hobbyists in captivity.
We reckon there is something for everyone in this
special issue, and hope you enjoy it. Don’t forget to
support our advertising partners, because they are
all great businesses, and by doing so, you are also
supporting us.
Happy Herping!
John McGrath
and fellow exhibitor, Bob Withey. Bob had warned
Taken overall, Eastern Brown Snake
me that this was the most dangerous brown to
the most commonly-encountered ma
handle that he had ever encountered. As he is
snakes in New South Wales, and ar
extremely experienced, such a statement was not to much of the east coast. They are eff
d l e i f f o h t l a e w a d e n i b m o c s a h r e g g o C l a H , y g o l o t e p r e h n a i l a r t s u A f o n e y o d
be taken lightly. It said a
lot
that
Bob
claimed
the
but
e h t f o s e u s s i n e v e s g n i d u l c n i , s n o i t a c i l lers
b u p f of
o e rodent
u g o l a t a c populations,
e v i s n e t x e n a h
t i w this
h c r a a
e
snake could not be tailed
t s e r without
e t n i r a l u c the
i t r a p handler
a d l e h g being
n o l s a h e H . diet
a i l a r t may
s u A f o see
s n a them
i b i h p m approach
A d n a s e l i t p human
e R s u o
. . . . s n o i t with
a c o l l a
a c hook;
i p o r t c i l l y d i n i y l than
l a i c e p s some
e – s e k other
a n s a e species.
s g n i t a g i t s Are
e v n i they
n i
bitten, and should only be handled
a
something Bob rarely does.
was
claimed
, s c i p o r t e by
h t n i members
y l t s o m k r o w d l e of
i f g n the
i v l o v n pu
e r a This
d n a s m e snake
t s y s r e v i r e
g r a l n i r o a e s t a s e v i l r i e often
h t
e b n a c and
s e k a n s flighty?
a e s f o y g o l o Sometimes.
c e e h t n o h c r a e s e r As
. a e in
s t a length
g n u o y e v i but
l d e m r with
o f - y l l u f the
g n i p p o
r d , s u o r a p i v Nervous
i v
approximately 1.6 metres
bulk
y n a r o f s b o j g n i y f s i t a s t s o m e h t f o e n o
s e m i t e m o s l l i w d n a , s u o m o n e v y l h g i h o s l a e r a y n a M
of a two-metre specimen. y b The
s r e some
t a w e r u t a r herpetologists
e p m e t - h t a b n i g n i v i D . t s question
i g o l o t e p r e
r e h t i e first
d e r u t p a time
c n e h w I y tipped
l d l i w d n a y l it
m o d n a r e k i r stated,
t s
o r o y t u a e b e t i s i u q x e f o s d n a l s i n o r e h t i e g n i v i l d n
r o s t e n d n a h n i r o s e k a n s l a u d i v i d n i r o f g n i v i d
from a bag at a show it doubled
back and nearly
the n LD50
test when it is applied to v
. s n o o g a l e n e r e s n i t h g i n r e v o d e r o h c n a s p i h s l l a m
s u o r a p i v i v f o s e i c e p s 0 6 t u o b A . s l w a r t l a i c r e m m o c
! e f i l d r a of
h a inj
s ' t
p u o r g e h t d n a , d e s i n g o c e r y l t n e r r u c e r a s e k a n s a e humans,
s
and even the manner
t s a E e l d d i M e h t m o r f , n o i t p e c x e e n o h t i w , s d n e t x e
test
can
y r a v n
a c s e c cause
n e i r e p x e e variable
l b a r u s a e l p e s results.
e h t r e v e w o I
, o g a l e p i h c r A u y k u y R s ' n a p a J d n a a n i h C n r e h t u o s the
o t
s e snake’s
n i r a m f o s d n i level
k e h t o t g of
n i d r danger
o c c a y l b a r e d
i s n o th
o g a l e p i h c r A n a i l a r t s u A - o d n I e h t h g u o r h t h t u o s n e judge
h t e k a n a
by
e u r t e h t f o t a h t s i p u o r g t s e g r a l e h T . d e i d u t s g n i e
s i n o i t p e c x e e h T . s d n a l s I n o m o l o S e h t d n a i j i F o t
) s i m a l e P ( s i h p o r d y H , e k a n S a e S d e i l l e b - w o l l e Y e human
h t
e deaths
n i r a u t s e w e caused
f a m o r f t r a p by
a , h c its
i h w s bites,
e k a n s a e o
f o t s a o c t s a e e h t m o r f s e g n a r h c i h w , s u r u t a l p
l l a d n e p s , s a e r a l a d i t e v o r g n a m n i t n u h t a h t s e i c e p
would
fall well behind many oversea
account for thousands of human dea
Finally, as an indication of the reluct
valuable venom on a human, the lar
Brown Snake I ever captured (two m
the forearm when tailed. At the insis
struck my groin. There were yells and gasps from
at Atherton Hospital I stayed for thre
the crowd as the snake followed one strike with
there were no ill effects. Even under
another, and when a lady reared back in shock at
tailing, this big snake had delivered
the snake’s behaviour it struck up at her at a
45-degree angle. Another experienced handler who
was present said he had never seen anything like it.
iHerp Australia
‘When a lady reared back in
behaviour, it
shock at the snake’s
Issue 12 | May - June 2019
STRUCK UP . 1 AT HER at a 45-
degree angle.’
CONTENTS
The Indo-Pacific’s
Amphibious Sea Kraits.
4
4
Hal Cogger has long held a
by Michael Cermak.
particular interest in sea Image
snakes.
The ‘Chaser!’
The much-maligned
Eastern Brown Snake
(Pseudonaja textilis).
‘One Man’s Poison...’
The amazing properties
of Gila Monster venom.
An audience with the King.
12
12
17
Australia’s
Most Deadly!
22
Part 1: King Cobra field The Coastal Taipan
research at Agumbe. (Oxyuranus scutellatus).
Michael Cermak examines an elapid
Part 2: Once in a lifetime!
with a formidable reputation.
26
What’s New?
iHerp at LARGE.
James Bindoff –
all about interest!
H
istorically, the Coastal Taipan (Oxyuranus
scutellatus) has been regarded as Australia’s
deadliest snake. The term ‘deadly’ is somewhat
ambiguous and is rarely used in herpetological literature
today. However, considering that prior to the develop-
ment of taipan antivenom in 1955, all victims of bites
died, the description is actually quite fitting. George
Rosendale, an Aboriginal man still living in north
Queensland, remained for many years the only person to
survive a taipan bite without the use of specific
antivenom.
30
A Good Book. 1.
33
‘ TERRALOG: Turtles of
the World Volume 5’
34
The Coastal Taipan
Australia’s Most Deadly!
(Oxyuranus scutellatus).
Poison Dart Frogs.
A terrible beauty.
40
46
The critically-endangered
Saving ‘El Escorpión.’
Guatemalan Beaded Lizard.
‘No biting the
hand that feeds!’
54
This record stood until my friend Shane Black took the
lead with not one but two taipan bites; one to his torso
and another one between his index and middle fingers. In
both cases, Shane did not require antivenom and, apart
from relatively mild ‘discomfort’ (according to him), he
soldiered on. Although both bites resulted in envenoma-
tion, it needs to be pointed out that Shane had previously
received many snake bites from different species of
elapids, and it’s reasonable to assume that he has built up
some resistance against snake venom, akin to
Australia’s ‘snake men’ of old. I witnessed the finger
bite, and it was a proper one, leaving some venom on the
Below left: Uakari Poison Frog
(Ranitomeya uakarii) from the
Amazonian lowland rainforest. Image
by Dirk Ercken.
Right: the Golden Poison Frog
(Phyllobates terribilis) is the most
toxic of all dendrbatid species. Image
by Rosa Jay.
Below: the Green-and-black Poison
Dart Frog (Dendrobates auratus) is
Gila
Monster
(Heloderma
suspectum)
native he
to the
tropical
rainforest
of
Central
and South history
America. Image
by
colourful
interwoven
with the
Dirk Ercken.
T
17
has a
colonisation of the American West. Feared and
reviled,
the aposematic
lizard was
reputed
between
colouration
and to have toxic breath, and
toxicity across lethal
species, bite.
whereby
the
an invariably
Accounts
of terrible suffering
most brightly coloured species or
populations are the most toxic. For
example, across 10 populations of
O. pumilio, variation in toxicity was
strongly positively correlated with
frog colouration brightness and
conspicuousness based on avian
vision, indicating that the poison
frog colours were honest signals of
unpalatability to predators, and
creating a strong selective pressure
for the evolution of aposematic
colouration.
But aposematic colouration in
dendrobatids has since undergone
both interspecific and intraspecific
34
and death abound in the period from the
1930s, however, the stories are conflicti
appear to have been greatly exaggerated
of the ‘victims’ were not exactly in prim
the treatment administered for the bites
divergences, producing a wide
variety of colours and patterns. The
taxonomy of dendrobatids has there-
fore been thrown into a state of flux.
Distinguishing a species can be very
taxing, as many species are polymor-
phic, with a wide variation in colour
and pattern, and some forms can
closely resemble other species.
Interestingly, there are two instances
(Allobates zaparo and Hyloxalus
nexipus), in which conspicuous
aposematic colouration has evolved
without being a ‘truthful’ indicator
of toxicity. Tellingly, A. zaparo is
known to be a Batesian mimic of the
toxic species Ameerega bilinguis and
Ameerega parvula with which it is
sympatric. Aposematic species are
often dietary specialists, preying
upon ants, from which they sequester
defensive alkaloids.
Sa
‘It were about three fe
kill I ever heard tell o
off its target.....I got s
the muzzle in its mou
into the river if I had
the body clean in two
from me and swim aw
40
Feeding Neonate Elapids.
Publisher: John McGrath
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Next Issue: July 2019.
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On the cover: a Mulga Snake exhibits an
impressive defensive posture resembling that
of a cobra when approached. In the wild this
behaviour sends a clear message to any potential
predator to back off. Mulga Snake (Pseudechis
australis), Great Victoria Desert, Western Australia.
Image by Ross McGibbon.
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