adder

International Men’s Day: male species

October 19, 2023 by admin

Written by Chloe Davey, Transforming Lives Trainee.

Ever since I was a young girl, I’ve always had strong bond with nature. Where did this fascination and passion begin? I’ve quite a few people inspire me growing up, I would watch David Attenborough and Steve Backshall every time they were on tv. However, my biggest influence is my dad. He’d take me out on regular walks around nature reserves, identifying every butterfly, bird and animal we came across. As a thank you to these great men and to celebrate International Men’s Day, I would like to discuss some of our native male reptile and amphibian species.

Amphibians

Great crested newt males are easily identifiable with their long, wavy crest stretching across it’s back and tail. However, this magnificent crest can only be seen during mating season to help attract a female. These sweethearts even perform a special courtship ‘dance’ by standing on their front legs and waving their tail from side to side. Male toads, along with the other amazing creatures I will be discussing are smaller than their female counterparts. In breeding season, the males will migrate to the pond they were born, eagerly waiting for the female’s arrival. Froglife has an amazing project called ‘Toads on Roads’ where you can volunteer and get to see this migration for yourself.

A male great crested newt swimming in a pond

Reptiles

Male reptiles visually differ from their female counterparts as they are more colourful. Male slow worms are easily identifiable as they are mostly pale, but can sometimes have small blue scales. Male adders similarly are also pale in colour, but instead have a dark zig-zag pattern stretched across their back. I must admit my favourite male of our native species is the adder. I love its contrasting design of light grey body with a dark and striking pattern.

Male adders are grey or silver along their sides, unlike females which are brown (Photo: Matt Wilson).

I’m always thrilled to see these wonderful creatures and help maintain their habitats. As I said, my dad has always encouraged my love of nature. Now when we go on nature walks, we teach each other about the animals we’ve seen.

Is there someone who has inspired your love of nature?

The Basics of Scientific Naming

September 28, 2023 by admin

Written by Madeleine Barnes, Transforming Lives Trainee

The scientific names of species seem incomprehensible to many people – but peeling back just one layer of confusion reveals how simple they can be to understand. Despite commonly being called ‘Latin names’ due to the prevalence of Latin-based words and a limit of only using the 26 Latin characters, scientific names can actually be made with any language and can even be complete nonsense. Typically, the names describe a species physically, but may also be the names of people or even simply be jokes (see the frog genus Mini).

The first international rules for naming animals were established in the “International Rules on Zoological Nomenclature” published in 1905. Each scientific name is a binomial name, meaning they are composed of 2 parts: the genus and species of the animal. They are always written in the format Genus species, with an added subspecies for a trinomial name if necessary.

Here are the scientific names of some of the species Froglife protects, and their meanings:

Common Frog – Rana temporaria

Translated directly from Latin as ‘temporary frog’, this name refers to how frogs seem to be absent during the colder months.

Great Crested Newt – Triturus cristatus

‘Triturus’ is Neo-Latin (Renaissance-era Latin) derived from the name “Triton”, a Greek god of the sea. In Latin, ‘crista’ means “plume on a helmet” or “tuft on an animal’s head” (typically referring to chickens), which describes the eponymous Great Crest on these male newts.

Grass Snake – Natrix helvetica

From the Latin ‘natrix’, meaning “water snake” – grass snakes are often spotted on water due to their preferred diet of amphibians. In Neo-Latin, ‘helvetica’ means “Swiss”, referring to this snake’s prevalence in central Europe.

NOTE: the barred grass snake was reclassified in 2017 from its previous classification as a subspecies of Natrix natrix, due to genetic testing marking it as a distinct species.

Adder – Vipera berus

‘Vipera’ is a contraction of the Latin ‘vivus’ (alive) and ‘parere’ (to deliver), indicating a snake that gives birth to live young. ‘Berus’ is a misspelling of the Latin ‘verus’, meaning “true” or “authentic” – this could refer to the adder’s reputation as a historical staple of Europe.

Slow-Worm – Anguis fragilis

Being a legless lizard, ‘anguis’ rather confusingly means “snake” in Latin – 1758 Linnaeus was clearly deceived by their snake-like appearance. ‘Fragilis’ means “fragile”, describing the way in which slow-worms drop their tails when in danger.

To learn more about the rules regarding naming animal species, access the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature online: https://www.iczn.org/the-code/the-code-online/

Reptile Awareness Day

September 28, 2023 by admin

Written by Jade Walton, Transforming Lives Trainee

The 21^st October marks Reptile Awareness Day, and what better way to celebrate than to learn some interesting facts about our six native reptile species!

In the United Kingdom we have six native reptiles, three snakes and three lizards.

Our snakes are:

Grass snakes

Smooth snakes

and adders

Our lizards are:

Common lizards

Sand lizards

and slow-worm

Each of these reptiles have interesting facts about them that easily set them aside from their other reptile counterparts.

Firstly, lets look to our snakes. Adders are our only venomous species, though not particularly dangerous to most humans, it is best to keep your dog on a lead when walking in areas inhabited by adders. Adders are surprisingly small, usually measuring between 60cm and 80cm when fully grown. Females birth live young that are less than 20cm long.

Next, we come to the smooth snake. Just like their adder relatives, smooth snakes are quite short in length, usually growing to around 60-70cm. These are the rarest of our UK reptile species, only to be found in specific heathland sites. Smooth snakes are also the only snake in the UK to constrict their prey.

Our final snake is the grass snake. Easily the UK’s longest snake growing to around 150cm, they are also the only native snake to lay eggs rather than birth live young. This is a contributing factor as to why they are not found in Scotland as they need warm enough temperatures through the summer months for their eggs to incubate.

Our other three reptile species are types of lizard. Sand lizards are another rare UK reptile as their habitats are greatly limited to certain sandy heathlands. The sand lizard is our only lizard in the UK to lay eggs, which they bury under sand in sunny areas to allow for them to incubate. Like our other lizards, they can drop their tails as a defence mechanism against predators.

Common lizards are widespread throughout the UK, though their numbers are thought to be declining due to habitat loss. They are fairly often mistaken for newts as they are quite similar in appearance, the best way to tell the difference is to see the scaly skin of the lizard versus the smooth skin of the newt, they also move a lot faster.

Our final, and perhaps most confusing reptile is the slow-worm. Many could mistake a slow worm for a snake, given they have no legs, but they are, in fact, a lizard. They are distinguished from snakes by their ability to blink and drop their tails when threatened.

Reptiles

August 29, 2023 by admin

Written by Jade Walton, Transforming Lives Trainee

In the UK, there are three resident snake species, the grass snake, the smooth snake, and the adder. Each species has a characteristic that makes it unique. The adder is our only venomous species, the smooth snake our only constrictor, and the grass snake is (rather surprisingly) the only one to lay eggs.

It is a common misconception that all reptiles reproduce by laying eggs, but besides the grass snake, the only other UK resident egg-laying reptile is the sand lizard. In our four other species, the females incubate their eggs internally, then ‘give birth’ to their young. This internal incubation gets rid of the need for nest making and laying on the eggs to keep them warm, which is particularly helpful given the unpredictable weather in the UK.

The need to keep eggs warm is a major factor in grass snakes being absent from Scotland since they rely on warmer temperatures for incubation. The best place for grass snakes to lay their eggs is in piles of rotting vegetation, since the process of rotting creates heat. It is for this reason, grass snakes are often found in compost heaps.

By the end of summer, the eggs will have hatched to reveal juvenile snakes that look exactly like their adult counterparts, except for being only a tenth of their length.

The best way you can help your local grass snake population would be to have a compost heap in your garden for them to lay their eggs, or a wildlife pond in which they can hunt.

You can find lots of tips on how to help grass snakes, as well as our other reptile and amphibian species here.

What our animals are up to this month…

March 27, 2023 by admin

With Spring in the air April is the time our reptiles start to woo their mates. After emerging from brumation around March, they are ready to mate as the weather starts to warm up. This will continue into May.

The territorial adder dances a duel to compete for females this month. These females, like most of the UK’s reptiles, give birth to ‘live young’. The eggs have been incubated internally and this process is called Viviparity. This method of producing young protects the developing eggs from predation, disturbance or just getting too cold in our climate to survive. Only Grass snakes and sand lizards lay eggs. The sand lizard lay their eggs under a sunny patch of sand and the grass snake in rotting vegetation like a compost heap that creates heat during decomposition.

During April, May and September our reptiles are at their most active so now is the time to see them out and about. Early morning basking as they top up their temperature for a day of hunting ahead is a good time for spotting. Check out sunny spots that are sheltered from the wind. If you do spot anything report this on our make sure to let us know through Froglife’s free Dragon Finder app on Google Play and Apple Store!

Croaking Science: 2023 so far- what have we learned from the Dragon Finder App?

February 27, 2023 by admin

As we fast approach the spring and our amphibians and reptiles begin to stir after their winter period of relative dormancy (known as brumation) we can expect sightings to increase in frequency. Whilst the occasional pioneering common lizard (Zootoca vivipara) or adder (Vipera berus) will emerge from their hibernacula to bask in winter sun, it’s the UK’s amphibians that bring the most herptile activity to this time of the year. This is reflected in the sightings that have been reported to Froglife’s Dragon Finder App so far in 2023.

At the time of writing (mid-February 2023), we’ve verified 42 reports submitted to the App; 24 sightings of common frogs (Rana temporaria), 6 encounters with common toads (Bufo bufo), 8 palmate newt sightings (Lissotriton helveticus), 2 smooth newt (Lissotriton vulgaris) sightings and 1 sighting of a great-crested newt (Triturus cristatus) and an alpine newt (Ichthyosaura alpestris) respectively.

All this amphibian action heralds the commencement of their breeding season. Common frogs lead the charge; the earliest report of frogspawn this year came to us from the Isles of Scilly, 45km south-west of mainland Cornwall, reported to us on the 9^th January yet seen on Christmas Eve! UK common frogs spawn earliest here due to the archipelago’s unique climate – the moderating oceanic influence on which means that winters are warmer there than anywhere else in the UK and consequently snow and frost (potentially detrimental to spawn) are rare. We’ve received a total of 11 frogspawn reports so far in 2023, with the majority of these coming from Devon & Cornwall, reflecting the relatively warm winters experienced by the southwest more broadly. We’re now looking forward to witnessing reports of frogspawn slowly popping up in increasingly northerly and easterly locations as we pass through February and into March and April.

We’ve received 6 reports of common toads, but only one of common toad spawn, reported from Devon. Interestingly, the Dragon Finder App user that made this sighting was also able to spot a number of instances of a frog and toad engaged with one-another in ‘amplexus’, the act of the male using rough nuptial or ‘thumb’ pads to clasp onto the female whilst she deposits spawn. Common toads often begin to migrate to their ancestral breeding ponds from February, waiting for a comparatively warm and wet evening to do so.

Therefore, be sure to keep a keen eye out for reptiles and amphibians as the winter draws to a close and make sure to report your sightings through our free Dragon Finder App – the data we receive provides a wonderful insight into what our species are up to, as well as when and where this activity is occurring. Happy spotting!

adder

Our snakes are:

Our lizards are:

Footer

Contact us