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devevo@diasp.org
7B'JaJaDa

#biology #snakes #gartersnakes
Garter snakes make friends, organize their society around females
Finding comes from first-of-its-kind study of thousands of wild snakes
Garter snakes have something in common with elephants, orcas, and naked mole rats: They form social groups that center around females. The snakes have clear “communities” composed of individuals they prefer hanging out with, and females act as leaders that tie the groups together and guide their members’ movements, according to the most extensive field study of snake sociality ever carried out…
https://www.science.org/content/article/garter-snakes-make-friends-organize-their-society-around-females

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waynerad@diasp.org
Wayne Radinsky

How Facebook is saving snakes. Ok, well, ostensibly this article is about snakes and Facebook -- turns out Facebook is good for something, who knew? -- but the part that struck me was the part about nightmares.

"Allison Hollier, 56, a geographic information systems analyst in Burleson, Tex., had nightmares every night for the six weeks that a six-foot broad-banded water snake (Nerodia fasciata, nonvenomous) occupied her koi pond before she could have it relocated. Then she joined the North Texas group at a friend's suggestion, and her snake dreams became 'nonexistent,' she says. The desensitization and understanding she gained by looking at the page every day 'does work,' she says. 'I'm living proof.'"

"'I've felt that fear and fascination are kind of tied together in the human psyche, kind of the same thing,' herpetologist Mark Pyle says based on his experiences with people who are scared of snakes. 'If you put the knowledge there, that turns fear into fascination.'"

So, to summarize what we just read, unknown + threatening == nightmares. And apparently, even if you don't change the "threatening" part of the equation, changing the "unknown" part of the equation can get nightmares to go away.

How Facebook is saving snakes

#facebook #snakes #psychology #nightmares

How Facebook Is Saving Snakes

Snake-identification groups on social media are turning serpent haters into appreciators

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devevo@diasp.org
7B'JaJaDa

#biology #evolution #snakes #snakediversity #earthshistory
An Explosion in Snake Diversity Came After a Major Moment in Earth's History
When dinosaurs went extinct, they left big shoes to fill in pretty much every ecosystem on our planet. Even without feet, snakes stepped up to the challenge.
Shortly after the asteroid impact, some 66 million years ago, new models suggest several slithery survivors quickly slid into the uncontested space. The dominance of dinosaurs had come to an end, and it was time for birds, mammals and legless reptiles to explode.
https://www.sciencealert.com/explosion-in-snake-diversity-came-after-the-dinosaurs-were-wiped-out

An Explosion in Snake Diversity Came After a Major Moment in Earth's History

When dinosaurs went extinct, they left big shoes to fill in pretty much every ecosystem on our planet. Even without feet, snakes stepped up to the challenge.

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