Pink-headed Reed Snake (Calamaria schlegeli)
by Serin Subaraj
HSSSlither 2022
With the lifting of certain restrictions and relaxation of others, the HSS decided to organise a physical event for its members, the HSS Slither. Modelled after the style of frog and bird races, the HSSSlither comprised several teams that went herping over 24 hours. Since it was the event’s first run, we decided to keep…
Project Runover
Earlier this year, HSS started a citizen science-based roadkill project, where we encouraged members of the public to submit sightings of roadkill involving herpetofauna. Over the last year, our database has grown to over 200 records, with 167 of them from 2021 alone! Project Runover differs from many other roadkill projects by focusing on more…
A Clash of Titans
Featured Image: A king cobra in the midst of swallowing a reticulated python Photo by Law Ingg Thong Observing animal behaviour such as feeding, mating or fighting in the field is always a treat. But it is usually harder to witness a snake doing these things as they tend to be wary of humans and…
World Sea Turtle Day 2021
We’ve written on sea turtles a couple of times before this. If you haven’t already, check the posts out here and here. June 16th is World Sea Turtle Day! Join us in celebrating these fascinating and threatened creatures. Sea turtles have a tough life – to the point of briefly becoming internet memes in 2020.…
Here be Dragons
14th August is World Lizard Day! This year we are going to be featuring dragons. Dragons are found in one form or another in nearly every culture in the world. And every dragon has its style; fire-breathers, gold-hoarders, princess-stealers, and more. But these dragons are of lore. We are going to meet some real-life dragons…
World Snake Day Special – Species Spotlight!
Happy World Snake Day! To celebrate, we have a special two-part blog post. Take a look at the first part of our special here! For part 2, we have a special ‘Species Spotlight’. Two weeks ago, we asked our followers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to vote on which species of snake we should feature…
World Snake Day Special – #AskHSS
July 16th is World Snake Day! To celebrate, we’ll be doing a special two-part blog post. We asked our followers on Instagram @herpsocsg for their burning questions about snakes! Thank you to all who contributed your questions – we’ve answered them below. Without further ado, let’s dive straight into #askHSS! GENERAL QUESTIONS How many species of…
Borneo Herp Trip 2019
The rainforests of Borneo, considered by many to be the crown jewel of biodiversity in Sundaland. We start our story in Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak, Malaysia. As the wheels of the plane touched the ground, I felt a surge of excitement swell within me. I was finally in Borneo once again! After not…
The Making of ‘The Herp Squad and the Mystery of the Missing Bluebird’
In 2019, we were approached by the Raffles Ecological Literacy Programme to advise a group of students, as they created a children’s book about Singapore’s biodiversity. Naturally, we jumped at the opportunity. Joon Khai, Pyari, Seng Kitt, Shanyl, Dayna, Justine and Sheu Wen published an amazing book titled ‘The Herp Squad and the Mystery of…
World Congress of Herpetology 2020!
The 9th World Congress of Herpetology was held in Dunedin, New Zealand from 5-10 January 2020. HSS Co-founder, Sankar was fortunate enough to attend the conference and present on “A metabarcoding study of diet and parasites in reticulated pythons in Singapore”. It might seem strange to host a herpetology conference in New Zealand, a country…
Ask HSS #1
We realise that Herpetology doesn’t come up too often in day-to-day life. So, we put up a series of Instagram Stories on @herpsocsg asking if you guys had any burning questions on Herps and Herping in Singapore. Many of you have quipped in with awesome questions, and they shall be answered below! On Herps in…
Snakes – Why No Legs?
One of our members, Jonathan Tan, recently wrote an essay on why snakes have evolved to be legless. We’ve invited him to share it here to help our readers better understand their fascinating evolutionary history. Disclaimer: our understanding of the evolution of snakes is itself continuously evolving, so this essay may contain points of contention. What…
Genomics and Venomics of the sexually dimorphic Temple Pitviper
If you would like to see our project—the only project from Singapore and the only one utilizing a herp species—succeed, you can help by voting for us. Vote at: http://www.pacb.com/smrt-science/smrt-grant/pag2017/temple-pitviper/
Herping Ubin
Today was the HSS’ first Herp Walk held on Pulau Ubin! Previously, night walks had been held in collaboration with the Vertebrate Study Group (VSG) branch of the Nature Society as part of Pesta Ubin 2016, and HSS members also helped survey for herptiles during BioBlitz Ubin in December last year. Given the rich herpetofauna that we observed…
Of Vipers and Vivipary
Having had to cut short the previous walk in August due to rain, we were delighted to have clear weather for our latest walk in September, once again at the MacRitchie Treetop Walk! We also welcomed two members of the Little Green Men, Sarah and Frances, to join us on our walk; if you’re interested in making…
Happy World Snake Day!
https://www.facebook.com/herpsocsg/photos/a.474514652722980.1073741829.473630516144727/613995945441516/?type=3&theater¬if_t=like¬if_id=1468656059276691 Snakes: among the most misunderstood, yet revered creatures in the world. Over 3000 species are known to mankind, and they are distributed across every continent except Antarctica. For thousands of years, these legless reptiles have inspired fear and struck awe into the hearts of humans. Even today, many people who encounter snakes react in fear…
World Sea Turtle Day
June 16th is World Sea Turtle Day, made in honour of Dr. Archie Carr (June 16th, 1909 – May 21st, 1987), who has been regarded as the father of sea turtle biology. He founded the Sea Turtle Conservancy and turned the tide of sea turtle extinction into a road to recovery with many of his…
Herps in the Sky? – Part 3
True flight is something that is restricted to birds, bats and insects. It is distinguished from gliding and parachuting in that flying animals are able to produce thrust, to sustain their upward path. This is done by way of the “flight stroke”. It is an important thing to note that no herps are capable of true flight.…
HSS Turns 1!
On April 3, 2015 we published our first proper blog post. Now, 12 months later, we’ve turned one! This is a major milestone for us and we’re really happy that we’ve come this far. In the last 12 months, we have: Written 29 Blog Posts! Conducted 7 Herp Walks at Lower Peirce, Treetop Walk, Dairy Farm…
HSS at Temasek Polytechnic!
The Temasek Polytechnic Green Interest Group (TPGIG) invited the HSS down to give a talk at Bonita Tierra (Spanish for “Beautiful Earth”)! Despite the fact that it was raining on a Friday evening, there was a good turnout. It was very heartening to see so many people who cared about the environment. https://www.facebook.com/TPGIG/photos/a.1018298248201307.1073741865.205793629451777/1131883660176098/?type=3&theater After a brief introduction,…
Beware of Snakes? Be Aware of Snakes!
What a walk! For the first Herp Walk of 2016, the HSS ventured into Treetop Walk, along with a group of enthusiastic participants who were keen to see the herps that they shared Singapore with. Participants were first wowed by a couple of Black-bearded Gliding Lizards (Draco melanopogon) perched on a tree. The guides explained how…
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