Ashley N. Morgan, Fortunate Mafeta Phaka, Ida Ayu Dian Kusuma Dewi, Angela Julian, Andres Santiago Carrasco-Medina, Tariq Stark, Jywateju Kayabi, Iauapuru Trumai, Lorena Dall’Ara Guimarães, María Torres-Sánchez, Debra L. Miller
Amphibians and reptiles are deeply embedded in the cultural, ecological, and spiritual traditions of Indigenous communities across the globe, and are also represented in ancestral and contemporary cultures. This article explores how the One Health framework can be enriched by Indigenous and ancestral knowledge of herptiles as cultural symbols, sentinels, and keystone species, emphasizing both local stewardship and global conservation needs. Using a combination of literature review, conversational interviews, and autoethnographies from Indigenous knowledge custodians in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America, we document the diverse relationships between people and herpetofauna. Results demonstrate that herptiles are honored in Indigenous and ancestral cultures as clan totems, harbingers of rain and renewal, and guardians of fertility and procreation. They are also respected as symbols of impending misfortune. Their presence as sensitive indicators of environmental health and ecosystem change highlights both their ecological and spiritual significance. Bridging contemporary, ancestral, and Indigenous worldviews using a One Health approach is crucial for effective, equitable herptile conservation. By centering Indigenous perspectives and ancestral knowledge, this paper proposes a holistic One Health paradigm to advance biodiversity conservation, sustain cultural heritage, and create pathways toward more resilient and balanced ecosystems.
Neoplasia in reptiles is increasingly recognized, although reports in Salvator merianae remain scarce. This case report describes the clinical, imaging, surgical, gross pathological, and histopathological findings of an oviductal adenocarcinoma in an adult female S. merianae presented with anorexia and marked coelomic distension. Physical examination revealed a firm intra-coelomic mass. Radiography, ultrasonography, and computed tomography identified a large heterogeneous coelomic lesion with cystic components and displacement of adjacent organs. Cytological evaluation of coelomic and cystic fluids was non-diagnostic. The mass was surgically excised and was characterized grossly as a multicystic, friable structure with hemorrhage and necrosis. Histopathological examination confirmed an infiltrative oviductal adenocarcinoma. Postoperatively, the animal recovered its appetite, gained weight, and remained clinically stable, with no radiographically or ultrasonographically detectable evidence of recurrence or metastatic disease, 3 months after surgery. This report expands the limited literature on reproductive tract neoplasia in tegu lizards and emphasizes the importance of multimodal diagnostics and histopathological confirmation in reptiles with coelomic distension.
Frank J. Mazzotti, Sergio A. Balaguera-Reina, Sidney T. Godfrey, Nathan P. Schwartz, Melissa A. Miller
The green iguana (Iguana iguana Linnaeus, 1758) ranges from Mexico to Brazil and portions of the Lesser Antilles. In Florida, iguanas are an invasive species responsible for numerous adverse impacts, prompting a demand for removal. Removal efforts have been inconsistent throughout Florida and the effects of removal on population size have not been evaluated. We conducted diurnal count surveys between 2018 and 2019 to estimate iguana abundance across two populations, treatment and control, along the C-11 Canal in Broward County, FL. We applied a nocturnal removal method for iguanas in the treatment population between the first and second period to assess its effect on the overall population. We removed 808 iguanas from the treatment population. We observed decreasing iguana captures with continued removal efforts, which was corroborated with an impact on daytime abundance estimates from count surveys. However, a seasonal reduction of iguana abundance was observed in the control population, with the number of iguanas observed in the control population not significantly different than the treatment population by the last period. While reductions of iguanas in the control population were not as extreme as those observed for the treatment population, this indicates that the biology of invasive iguanas likely plays a role in seasonal variation in abundance and stresses the need to fill knowledge gaps concerning the ecology of iguanas in Florida. Our results demonstrate why one-time removal efforts, or repeated efforts conducted over a short duration, are insufficient to control population growth, highlighting the need for continuous and persistent efforts.
Allison R. Julien, John A. Griffioen, Sean M. Perry, Robyn Doege, Isabella Burger, Diane Barber
As global reptile populations continue to decline, improving reproductive success in managed populations of listed species, such as Phrynosoma cornutum (the Texas horned lizard) has become increasingly critical for species survival. One understudied area of reproductive research in reptile species is gamete collection and storage, a crucial component for maintaining genetic diversity. Semen was collected from wild P. cornutum (n = 20) collected from Cottle County, Texas, in June 2025. Semen collection was performed via electroejaculation (EEJ) under alfaxalone anesthesia. Prior to semen collection, snout-vent-lengths (SVLs) and weights were recorded and testes measurements were taken using a portable ultrasound. Semen samples were extended in a commercial equine preservation medium (INRA96) and divided for use in cold-storage longevity or cryopreservation trials. Samples under cold-storage conditions were assessed for motility daily for 10 days. For cryopreservation, samples were diluted 1:1 in INRAFreeze cryopreservation media and frozen in liquid nitrogen, then immediately thawed. Average fresh sperm motility and concentration across all lizards was 83.7% and 85.7 x 10 6 sperm/mL, respectively. While lizards with longer SVLs had higher sperm motility, weight and testis size did not affect sperm parameters. During cold storage, sperm motility was not significantly reduced until 48 hours post-collection and maintained 19% motility until day 10. Following cryopreservation trials, the average post-thaw sperm motility was 13.9%, with the highest post-thaw motility recorded at 38.2%. This is the first report of semen storage and cryopreservation in Phrynosoma and provides valuable insight into semen storage potential in reptile species.
Simon Hansul, Samuel González-López, Manuel E. Ortiz-Santaliestra, Jean Lou CM Dorne, Andreas Focks
In natural environments, amphibians are exposed to individual chemical substances, and regularly also to mixtures of chemicals. At the same time, prospective risk assessment methods that account for exposure to mixtures across substances, species and environmental conditions are not implemented, partly because the experimental assessment of mixtures is extremely resource-intensive. Due to their specific life cycle, as well as susceptibility to anthropogenic and biological stressors, amphibians are of particular relevance for the environmental risk assessment of chemicals. Therefore, we set out to develop a model that can account for toxic effects of chemical mixtures in amphibians, specifically anurans, that integrates established toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic modelling principles with an amphibian-specific dynamic energy budget model (AmphiDEB-TKTD). We calibrated the AmphiDEB-TKTD model to single-substance toxicity data for Flupyradifurone and 2,4-D in \textit{Discoglossus galganoi} larvae, and found that the model can reproduce observed effects on larval growth and metamorphosis traits. Also, we could use the data to identify the underlying physiological modes of action (PMoA), since growth and timing of metamorphosis are differentially affected through different PMoAs. A cross-validation with data on effects at Gosner stage 46 further clarified the physiological mode of action, and demonstrated that effects on Gosner stage 46 can be predicted from effects on larvae up to Gosner stage 42, if an appropriate PMoA has been identified. Concerning binary mixture toxicity, the model correctly predicted a dominance effect of 2,4-D in a mixture with Flupyradifurone. This can be explained through the different PMoAs of Flupyradifurone (decrease in growth efficiency) and 2,4-D (increase in maintenance costs), which qualitatively differ in the severity of their effects, regarding the propagation to different apical endpoints. We conclude that the AmphiDEB-TKTD model appears as a practical tool for the risk assessment of chemical mixtures for anurans, while also being useful for the investigation of mechanisms of toxicity. Since the model has only been validated on a substance combination of different PMoAs, further investigations should include the validation with substance combinations of identical PMoAs before more general claims about predictive capacity can be made. Furthermore, validation studies with additional species, especially ones exhibiting contrasting life histories, are desirable.
