Two decades of fieldwork produce the first complete guide to the native reptiles of the Turks and Caicos Islands

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An adult male Turks and Caicos Anole (Anolis scriptus scriptus) watching his territory from the trunk of a tree. Big Ambergris Cay, Turks and Caicos Islands. 

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Credit: Photograph by R. Graham Reynolds, UNC Asheville.

A researcher from the University of North Carolina Asheville has published the first comprehensive checklist of the native terrestrial reptiles of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), drawing on 20 years of collaborative fieldwork to create a single illustrated reference for scientists, conservationists and nature enthusiasts.

The study, led by Professor R. Graham Reynolds of UNC Asheville's Department of Biology, is published in the open-access journal ZooKeys. It documents the 11 native reptile species across the archipelago's Turks and Caicos Banks, eight of which are found nowhere else on Earth.

Two further species are represented in the islands by their own endemic subspecies. The checklist combines published research through 2026 with original field data collected by Dr Reynolds between 2006 and 2025, and includes original photographs, distribution information and conservation assessments for every species.

Dr Reynolds began studying the islands' reptiles in 2006, in his first year of graduate school, working alongside Dr Glenn Gerber of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. “This quickly turned into a passion, and I have made studying these animals the focus of my career,” he said.

“I conduct fieldwork several times a year on the islands, and this year is the 20th year of this work. In that time, I have published dozens of papers on the reptiles of the region and collected a huge amount of data, and I felt that, after two decades, it was time to produce something to showcase everything we've learned about these animals.”

Although information on the islands' reptiles has existed scattered across books, online databases and journal articles, no single resource has previously combined photographs, distribution maps, natural history and conservation status for every species.

“Somewhat surprisingly, there has never been a comprehensive checklist for the terrestrial reptiles of the region,” Dr Reynolds explained. “Portions of this are available elsewhere, such as distribution maps and some photographs on the online database CaribHerp, or island checklists and natural history information in a book chapter. But this is the first time that all of this information has been brought together to fully describe and illustrate the amazing terrestrial reptiles of the Turks and Caicos.”

Seven of the 11 native species are of conservation concern. The Turks Island Skink is Critically Endangered and may now survive as a single protected population, while the Turks and Caicos Iguana, classified as Endangered, has been lost from around 90% of its historical range. Introduced predators, particularly feral cats and rats, are identified as the main cause of these declines, alongside habitat loss and road mortality.

The study also revises the taxonomy of the Curly-tailed Lizard, recommending that six previously recognised subspecies be reduced to two, reflecting recent genetic evidence.

 

An adult male Turks and Caicos Curlytail (Leiocephalus psammodromus apocrinus) perches on top of a Turks cap Cactus (Melocactus intortus). Big Ambergris Cay, Turks and Caicos Islands. 

Credit

Photograph by R. Graham Reynolds, UNC Asheville.

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Journal

ZooKeys

DOI

10.3897/zookeys.1290.198843 

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

An annotated checklist and species accounts of the native terrestrial reptiles of the Turks and Caicos Islands

Article Publication Date

17-Aug-2026

 

Record numbers of climate crisis insects: what to do if you spot a praying mantis

Copyright Alvesgaspar, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

By Kirsten Ripper & Euronews with NABU

Published on 23/08/2026 - 

This summer, unusually many praying mantises can be spotted in German gardens. How to distinguish the "Mantid religiosa" from a grasshopper and what to do…

This exceptionally hot summer of 2026, with one heatwave following another, is ideal for the praying mantis. The mantis is a warmth-loving species and prefers sunny, dry habitats.

The praying mantis is among the largest native insects: males grow up to 6 centimetres long and females even up to 8 centimetres.

The insect with compound eyes: Mantis religiosa AP Photo

In Germany, this big-eyed insect, which fascinates many people because of its sexual cannibalism, can still be spotted in gardens and parks right into October. And apparently there have never been as many in Germany as there are in 2026.

The praying mantis originally comes from Africa, but it has long been native to the Mediterranean region. "Its migration to Europe goes back around 10,000 years," explains the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU). It was introduced to the USA at the end of the 19th century and has since spread widely there as well.

Praying mantis in Arizona, USA AP Photo

It owes its German name "Gottesanbeterin" to its two raptorial forelegs, which it holds in front of its body when at rest and which resemble arms raised in prayer.

Record reports to NABU

If you spot a praying mantis, you are asked to report it to the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union on the Naturgucker page online (source in German) – ideally with a photo.

The species Mantis religiosa can be green or brown and is roughly twice the size of a bush-cricket or a grasshopper. The praying mantis has a rather triangular, mobile head on a neck, whereas in grasshoppers the head sits directly on the thorax.

Mantis religiosa at Zurich Zoo AP Photo

NABU and other researchers want to find out where in Germany – also against the backdrop of climate change – Mantis religiosa is now occurring more frequently. After the warm spring, particularly large numbers were recorded in Baden-Württemberg.

They also want to know whether the metapopulations observed in south-western and eastern Germany are merging. Up to now it has been too cold for the praying mantis in the north.

From the beginning of July to mid-August 2026, NABU-naturgucker.de recorded more than 15,000 reports. That is more than in the whole of 2026. Even though the photos "occasionally included a bush-cricket or a sickle-bearing bush-cricket uploaded as a praying mantis", 99.9 percent of the pictures are correct, according to NABU. The organisation says that with an error rate of just one per thousand, the results are "sensationally good".

Where Mantis religiosa was sighted in 2026 in BLUE, in previous years in RED NABU

Praying mantises cannot sting

There is no need to be afraid of the mantis: the praying mantis poses no danger to humans. It has no venom and cannot sting.

Both larvae and adult praying mantises feed exclusively on insects and spiders. They lie in wait motionless for prey, usually approach in slow motion and then strike with lightning speed. As NABU describes, the prey is held fast and eaten alive.

Most male praying mantises die after mating and are eaten by the females, which use this to build up strength for the demanding production of eggs. Only the eggs survive the winter.

 

Most species in UK zoos are non-native and not threatened, undermining conservation goals

Fewer than one third of captive vertebrates are globally threatened and only 9% are UK natives

PLOS

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A short visit to your local aquarium is often enough to spark a passion for the ocean.

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Credit: Biljana Martinić, Unsplash, CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)

In British zoos and aquariums, fewer than 10% of the vertebrate species are native to the UK, and just 2% are high conservation priority, according to a study by Justin Lennon at the University of Brighton and colleagues, publishing August 19, 2026 in the open access journal PLOS One.

Although zoos were originally opened to entertain the public, over time their role in society has expanded to include education, research and conservation. However, these different duties can create conflicting priorities. For example, large, charismatic species are more likely to attract paying visitors, which are essential for a zoo’s financial sustainability, but often, those species are not the highest priority for captive breeding or reintroduction programs that would fulfil conservation goals. Previous studies of zoo collections have found biases towards globally non-threatened species, but the representation of native and locally threatened species has not been investigated.

To address this knowledge gap, researchers compiled data on the species diversity and size of captive populations of vertebrates held by 113 members of the British & Irish Association of Zoos & Aquariums (BIAZA). They cross-referenced each captive species with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, published lists of native British species and regional conservation priority lists across the UK. They identified more than 2,600 vertebrate species held in captivity in British zoos and aquariums.

Out of 106,000 captive individuals, around 61% are fish, 16% are birds, 15% are mammals, 5% are amphibians and 4% are reptiles. Fish are the most diverse group and have the highest species richness. Amphibians have the lowest diversity and the smallest number of species in British zoos, despite being the most threatened vertebrate class. Captive species classified as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered in the IUCN Red List represent just 28.5% of the total, and their populations are less than half the size of non-threatened species. Only 9% of captive species are native to Britain, and 2% appear on one or more conservation priority list.

The results show that although BIAZA institutions have a bias towards globally non-threatened species, they are contributing to the preservation of the UK’s native and priority species. However, given that conservation is a cornerstone of BIAZA membership, British zoos and aquariums could be doing more to increase the diversity and population sizes of threatened species in their collections, the authors say.

The authors add: “Conducting this research changed my own perspective. Like many people, I was aware of the criticism surrounding zoo and aquaria, and it's right that they continue to be challenged to demonstrate their conservation value. But spending years analyzing these collections also revealed how much important work takes place beyond the exhibits.”

“Modern zoos are no longer simply places where animals are displayed. They have become centers for conservation breeding, scientific research, education and international collaboration, working together to safeguard species that may one day return to the wild.”

 

 

In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS One: https://plos.io/3RBktiJ

Citation: Lennon JJ, Pernetta AP, White RL, Crooks N (2026) Taking stock: Can captive species contribute to biodiversity conservation? PLoS One 21(8): e0354602. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0354602

Author countries: UK.

Funding: The funders Heron International provided financial support in the form of tuition fees [JJL], but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.

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Journal

PLOS One

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0354602 

Article Title

Taking stock: Can captive species contribute to biodiversity conservation?

Article Publication Date

19-Aug-2026

COI Statement

This research was part of a funded PhD studentship by Heron International. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products associated with this research to declare.

 

Mutation hotspots help 'friendly' viruses outmaneuver the bacteria in your gut

Could we harness their chameleon-like nature to treat infections when antibiotics don’t work?

Michigan State University

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Certain bacteriophages found in the human gut have mutation hotspots scattered throughout their genomes that help them modify key defense genes, researchers report.

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Credit: Sundharraman Subramanian and Alaina Pabbathi, Cryo-EM Core Facility, Michigan State University

Every 15 minutes, someone in the U.S. dies of a drug-resistant superbug. A few decades from now, antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections threaten to become the leading cause of death worldwide, outpacing cancer.

In the race for a solution to the antibiotic resistance crisis, a century-old practice is attracting renewed interest. The treatment, called phage therapy, involves co-opting friendly viruses that kill bacteria but ignore human cells.

Bacteria can — and do — develop resistance to phages, just as they do with antibiotics. But unlike antibiotics, phages can evolve counter defenses of their own.

Now, researchers at Michigan State University have identified a counter defense used by a group of phages common in the human gut, called Enterobacteria phage T2, that helps them stay one step ahead of their bacterial hosts.

These phages have mutation hotspots scattered throughout their genomes that help them modify key defense genes, the researchers report.

In a study published Aug. 13 in the journal Nature Microbiology, they show that these mutation hotspots help diversify their progeny to employ different survival strategies, ensuring that at least some continue to infect and kill no matter what countermeasures their bacterial hosts throw at them.

“They’re essentially hedging their bets,” said co-author Chris Waters, a core faculty member in MSU’s Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior program.

“If we can harness these kinds of evolutionary tricks, we might be able to make more effective phage therapies in response to the antibiotic resistance crisis,” Waters added.

The idea of using phages in medicine isn’t new. Cocktails of phages have been used since the 1920s to treat dysentery, sepsis, pneumonia and other ailments, particularly in France, Poland and parts of the former Soviet Union.

Interest in phage therapy waned in the West after the discovery of penicillin and other chemical antibiotics in the 1940s. But now, with deadly microbes from MRSA to tuberculosis becoming resistant to more and more of these drugs, researchers are revisiting phage therapy to combat antibiotic-resistant infections.

When phages invade, they latch onto a bacterium and inject their genes into the cell. Once inside, they hijack the bacterium’s internal machinery and turn it into a virus factory, forcing their host to churn out new phages until the cell bursts and releases them.

To fend off these attacks, bacteria have their own tactics. The researchers were studying one such strategy — a system in the bacterium that causes cholera — when they noticed something odd. In previous work, they identified a set of genes in cholera that spot the DNA of invading phages and chop it up before the phages can take over. But interestingly, this anti-virus protection didn’t last for long.

First author Jasper Gomez conducted the work while earning his Ph.D. in the Waters lab in MSU’s department of microbiology, genetics, & immunology.

In their experiments, the researchers transferred cholera DNA encoding the protective system to E. coli, a bacterium that is easier to work with in the lab, and exposed the bacteria to phages. Before long, the engineered E. coli were under attack. In other words, the phages quickly devised a workaround to bypass their hosts’ defenses, allowing them to sneak in and hijack their victims’ cells anyway.

“Within a few hours, the phages always started to win,” Waters said. “We couldn’t understand why,” he added.

The researchers sequenced the DNA of the resistant phages and found that many had “typos” in a gene called agt, particularly in a region of repetitive DNA where the same letter, or nucleotide base, appeared multiple times in the gene sequence.

“When I saw the data, I thought, oh my gosh,” Waters said. The region resembled a type of mutational hotspot called a contingency locus. Well studied in other organisms but never shown in phages before, such regions of the genome are known to be places where the cell’s DNA copying machinery sometimes “slips” and makes mistakes, Waters said.

The result is that, each time new phages are produced, they aren’t producing exact genetic copies of their ancestor. Some of the resistant mutants gain an extra repeat unit in the agt gene, while others lose one, throwing off how the gene’s instructions are read.

The researchers found that the repetitive region accumulates mutations thousands of times faster than the rest of the genome.

While mutations are often harmful, this changeability can give phages an evolutionary edge, Waters said. By continually churning out new mutants, they increase the odds that at least some will carry a mutation that lets them evade or disarm their host’s ever-changing arsenal.

“This changes our understanding of how phages evolve,” Waters said. “Instead of hijacking their hosts to mass produce exact copies of themselves, they are actually using these mutation hotspots to make a zoo.”

Phages outnumber bacteria by around ten to one, making them the most abundant organisms on the planet. The researchers focused on a type of phage that lurks in the gut, where it specializes on E. coli bacteria, but phages can be found just about anywhere, from the sands of the Sahara Desert to the ice of the Arctic Sea.

Working with MSU microbial evolution expert Jeffrey Barrick, the team found hundreds of similar mutation hotspots scattered across the genomes of other phage species as well.

Next, the researchers are looking into whether these mutation hotspots give phages an edge in other situations, such as adapting to survive and exploit their bacterial hosts after a shift in the environment, or evolving to infect new types of bacteria.

In much of the U.S., the U.K., and elsewhere, phage therapy is still far from mainstream; regulatory hurdles make it available only as a last resort. In the meantime, Waters and other researchers at MSU are exploring potential applications beyond the clinic, to treat bacterial infections in everything from honeybees and crops to pets and livestock.

“MSU could be a great phage therapy center for veterinary and agriculture applications,” Waters said.

“We’re never going to be able to completely get rid of resistance,” he added. “But if we can better understand how bacteria protect themselves from phage infection and how phages fight back, we might be able to minimize it.”

This research was supported by grants from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (GM139537, AI158433, GM088344 and F31AI186463) and the National Science Foundation (DEB-1813069 and DEB-1951307).

CITATION: "Phage-encoded contingency loci enable bet-hedging against host defence mechanisms," Jasper B. Gomez, Jeffrey E. Barrick, Christopher M. Waters. Nature Microbiology, Aug. 13, 2026. DOI: 10.1038/s41564-026-02445-w  

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Journal

Nature Microbiology

DOI

10.1038/s41564-026-02445-w 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Cells

Article Title

Phage-encoded contingency loci enable bet-hedging against host defence mechanisms

Article Publication Date

13-Aug-2026

Antwerp's 'human zoo': Belgium confronts shame of colonial past

Cover image: FOCUS © FRANCE 24

Issued on: 07/08/2026 - 
05:34 min

In 1894, when the Belgian city of Antwerp was hosting a World's Fair, 144 Congolese people were forcibly brought to the city to be exhibited in the Congo Pavilion. In this "human zoo", seven Congolese men ultimately died of disease. Today, this shocking episode still haunts Belgium as one of its colonial history's darkest chapters.


But in May of this year, the city of Antwerp began to confront this painful past by heeding demands from its Congolese community by unveiling a monument to the victims. It's a way to confront the demons of the wealthy Belgian port city that greatly benefitted from the colonial period. FRANCE 24's Alix Le Bourdon reports.

BY:

Alix LE BOURDON

Dave KEATING

 

New study: Less invasive thermal imaging could improve research on endangered hatchling tortoises

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

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Mojave Desert Tortoise

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Credit: San Diego Zoo Wlidlife Alliance

A new study from San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance researchers has identified a less invasive way to estimate the body temperature of hatchling Mojave desert tortoises, offering scientists a promising new tool for studying endangered reptiles while reducing disturbance and handling stress.

Published in Conservation Physiology, the research found that a handheld infrared thermal camera can provide a reliable estimate of internal body temperature in hatchling Mojave desert tortoises under many conditions. The findings offer researchers a practical alternative to traditional temperature measurements, which require physically handling animals and taking cloacal temperatures.

Body temperature plays a critical role in understanding how reptiles regulate their activity, use habitat, and respond to environmental change. By reducing handling, thermal imaging may allow researchers to collect important physiological data while minimizing stress and the potential for altered behavior, an important consideration when studying threatened species.

The findings may help guide future validation studies in additional turtle species and other ectothermic wildlife, particularly as scientists work to better understand how species are responding to a warming climate. With this study, hatchling turtles can now join the growing ranks of animals for which infrared thermal imaging opens new opportunities for research and care.

The full manuscript and interviews are available. Visuals can be found here.

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Journal

Conservation Physiology

DOI

10.6084/m9.figshare.31271974 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Validating infrared thermography for non-invasive estimation of internal body temperature in hatchling Mojave desert tortoises