AmphibiCast Folgen

In honor of World Frog Day I thought it would be fun to do a top-ten beginner species count down. In this episode I share some of my experiences and insight regarding ten species that  I have personally kept. Bear in mind, this episode is just for fun, and there are many other beginner species out there that could easily be in a top ten list. Many of the species that I cover have their own dedicated episodes, so I encourage you to go back and check those out if you haven't already.  Also, there are many different acceptable methods of  keeping different species. I share some of mine here.  This episode isn't meant to be a definitive guide for each species on the list and I always advise beginners to do as much research as possible before committing to one. 

We often think of amphibians as simple creatures who crawled out of of the primordial oceans millions of years ago and ultimately evolved into what we humans see in the mirror each morning.  However, this example is clearly not the case and there is a great deal more to the story of amphibian evolution.  Before amphibians even existed, early tetrapods evolved into limbed creatures capable of moving on land.   This crucial development took millions of years to achieve and you may be quite surprised as to how it all took place. In this episode I have the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Julia Molnar who is an expert on the mechanics of early tetrapod limbs and how they evolved. Julia is an Assistant Professor of Anatomy at NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine and also has advanced degrees in illustration from Johns Hopkins  and the Maryland College of Art.  She specializes in the studies of vertebrate locomotion and is also an accomplished illustrator.  Tonight, Julia shares her expertise with us on the subjects of early amphibians, what the word was like in the Carboniferous Period, how limb development occurred multiple times in the fossil record, and what some of the earliest amphibians looked like. For more information and to access some of Dr. Molnar's papers visit https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/4/eabd7457.abstractand:   www.juliamolnar.com

Tonight I had a unique opportunity to talk with Dean Jansen directly from Victoria Australia. Dean is an avid vivarium enthusiast, and showcases many of his builds on his Youtube Channel Viv_scape. We start off discussing some of the nuances that go along with successful vivarium and paludarium builds, why Dean enjoys  horizontal to vertical conversions, and all the usual elements including lighting, plant selection and more. We then move on to discuss the state of the hobby in Australia, the licensing system there,  and what  it's like to keep native species only. Feel free to check out and subscribe to Dean's Youtube Channel Viv_scape and follow him on instagram @viv_scape