The culmination of three and a half years is finally here. Tomorrow as I write this, the 21st of March, 2019, I will submit my PhD thesis, entitled ‘On the value of systematics for the study of evolution: insights from the reptiles and amphibians of Madagascar’*. It has been a […]
As readers of the blog and followers on twitter are probably aware, I work a lot on chameleons. I’ve been involved in the description of a few species previously (including three earlier this year and one last year), and earlier this year I was involved in the discovery of bone-based […]
Continuing our work on the small arboreal chameleons of the Calumma nasutum species group, today my colleagues and I have published a new paper in which we describe three new species from the C. guibei complex. These new chameleon species are marvellously different, with one having a rainbow of colour, another having […]
Most of the time when taxonomists discover new species it is a gradual transition from ‘hmm, this looks a little different’ to ‘yes this is certainly new to science’—but not always! Today, my colleagues and I have described a new species of frog from northern Madagascar that was immediately recognised […]
It is around the time of year where blogs tend to publish reviews of their posts of the previous year, and academics think back to their achievements of the past year, so I want to take an opportunity to do both here. My last ‘year in review’ was actually midway […]
This week, we published something a little different than our typical taxonomic output. Roughly three years ago, my friend, fellow PhD student David Prötzel, discovered a fascinating phenomenon in chameleons: shining a UV torch on them made patterns of fluorescence appear on their heads and in some species across their […]
Appearing today (30th October 2017) in the Open Access journal Salamandra, my colleagues Andolalao Rakotoarison, Miguel Vences, Frank Glaw, and I have a paper published detailing the rediscovery of the enigmatic genus Madecassophryne in the Anosy Mountain chain in southeastern Madagascar; you can get the paper here! In December 2016, we […]
The time has come for a new adventure. Over the last year and a half, I have been preparing for an expedition to the Montagne d’Ambre (English: Amber Mountain) in northern Madagascar. The aim of the project: to conduct the field research that will be central in my PhD research, […]
A paper by my colleagues and me appears today (7 February 2017) in PeerJ, describing a new species of gecko from northern Madagascar with large scales that come off with extreme ease. This is actually a characteristic of the whole genus Geckolepis, to which the new species belongs, and has […]
December 2016 was quite a month for Madagascar-related publications. Hawlitschek et al. published (in early access) a paper on the biogeography of geckos of the genus Ebenavia (paywalled); Schulze et al. described the ‘remarkably dull’ tadpole of Mantidactylus grandidieri (PDF); and Prötzel et al. reported two cases of potential hibernation […]
With over 4% of the planet’s named frog species, Madagascar is one of the hottest amphibian hotspots in the world. That number is rising rapidly; earlier this year Madagascar surpassed its 300th described frog. With estimated species numbers above 500, this climb is not expected to end in the near […]
Last week, a paper was published in the Open Access journal PLoS ONE, entitled ‘Distinct Patterns of Desynchronized Limb Regression in Malagasy Scincine Lizards (Squamata, Scincidae)‘, by Aurélien Miralles and colleagues. This paper dealt with a fascinating case of convergent evolution, and I thought I would share my thoughts on […]
In South America, bromeliads are famous for playing host to the tadpoles and adults of beautiful, brightly coloured dart frogs. The frogs, in many cases, are totally specialised to particular bromeliad species, and carefully select their choice of nest. The relationship is a close one, and exists across several species […]
