Marking the un-markable: visible implant elastomer in wild juvenile snakes
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In: Herpetological Journal, Vol. 30, No. 3, 01.07.2020, p. 173-176.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Marking the un-markable: visible implant elastomer in wild juvenile snakes
AU - Major, Tom
AU - Alkins, Devlan R.
AU - Jeffrey, Lauren
AU - Wüster, Wolfgang
PY - 2020/7/1
Y1 - 2020/7/1
N2 - Marking individuals is a key component of many ecological studies, but with some animals, such as juvenile snakes, it has proven problematic because of size constraints. This impedes our understanding of their habits in the wild. We marked juvenile Aesculapian snakes (Zamenis longissimus) in North Wales with visible implant elastomer (VIE), and recaptured them the following season. Our results demonstrate that the use of VIE is an effective marking method for small snakes, negating the need for tissue removal when marking. We suggest it represents a promising development in the ecological study of snakes, and is especially useful in species that undergo ontogenetic pattern changes.
AB - Marking individuals is a key component of many ecological studies, but with some animals, such as juvenile snakes, it has proven problematic because of size constraints. This impedes our understanding of their habits in the wild. We marked juvenile Aesculapian snakes (Zamenis longissimus) in North Wales with visible implant elastomer (VIE), and recaptured them the following season. Our results demonstrate that the use of VIE is an effective marking method for small snakes, negating the need for tissue removal when marking. We suggest it represents a promising development in the ecological study of snakes, and is especially useful in species that undergo ontogenetic pattern changes.
KW - Capture-mark-recapture
KW - ecology
KW - tagging
KW - fluorescent
KW - ontogenetic change
U2 - 10.33256/hj30.3.173176
DO - 10.33256/hj30.3.173176
M3 - Article
VL - 30
SP - 173
EP - 176
JO - Herpetological Journal
JF - Herpetological Journal
SN - 0268-0130
IS - 3
ER -