A crocodile that climbs.
Christine Kouman has spent over 10 years studying the West African slender-snouted crocodile in the rivers of Taï National Park, southwestern Côte d’Ivoire. The critically endangered Mecistops cataphractus feeds mainly on fish and has never been known to attack people; Kouman has handled a specimen 2.85 metres long and reports she still has all her fingers. The species has adapted to its rainforest habitat by basking on trees and rocks that protrude from the water, showing an ability to climb. Kouman tagged 26 individuals with VHF radio transmitters and found that they maintain small home ranges and share critical stretches of river without direct conflict, a strategy that avoids territorial disputes.
Her doctoral research revealed that the crocodiles favour micro-habitats near rocks and fallen trees, and position themselves beneath overhanging vegetation where fruit drops attract fish. They coexist with dwarf crocodiles, which occupy smaller streams and swampy areas inside the forest. Since 2019, however, the Hana River has grown noticeably muddier; water that was once clear enough to drink now shows visible contamination. Kouman, who co-founded the conservation organisation EBURCO, now works with park authorities to protect what she calls a paradise for the species—provided the forest remains intact.
Sources: Mongabay; Project Mecistops.
Five species where one was thought.
Museum specimens and field samples have revealed that the Himalayan pit viper, described in 1864 and long considered a single species across Pakistan, India and Nepal, is in fact five distinct species. Researchers extracted DNA from historical specimens preserved in formalin and combined the genetic data with morphological analysis of bodies and skeletons. Three of the newly recognised species are entirely new to science: the Hazara pit viper from northeastern Pakistan, the Hindu Kush pit viper from the eastern foothills of the Hindu Kush, and the Nepali pit viper distributed across western and west-central Nepal. The original Himalayan pit viper is now restricted to northwestern India, while the Chamba pit viper, first described in 2022, has had its range extended westward into the Kashmir Valley.
All five species occupy narrow elevational bands between 400 and 3,500 metres and live in close proximity, likely isolated by the extreme topography of the mountain ranges and major river valleys such as the Indus and Karnali. Pit viper specialist Anita Malhotra of Bangor University noted that their small ranges make them extremely vulnerable to climate change. The study’s authors credited advances in DNA extraction from formalin-preserved museum specimens with enabling the taxonomic revision, though the process is both difficult and expensive and involves destructive sampling that not all museums permit.
Sources: Mongabay; Bangor University.
The podcast
Follow the adventure.
For authentic stories of adventure, exploration & the natural world.
Ocean sensors reprieved.
The Trump administration has reversed a decision to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $368-million network of more than 900 instruments that monitor ocean health off the coasts of North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and in the Irminger Sea between Greenland and Iceland. On 18 June, the National Science Foundation announced it would halt further removal of equipment and continue operations, including planned maintenance. The Endurance Array off Oregon and Washington had already been pulled from the water, but the agency is now developing plans to redeploy the equipment after servicing. The reversal followed a day after the Senate passed a bipartisan bill introduced by Senators Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska that blocked federal funds from being used to decommission the system until a thorough review with stakeholder engagement is completed.
The OOI provides real-time, publicly available data on current patterns, climate variability, marine biodiversity, and ocean heating rates. Scientists and ocean experts had warned that dismantling the system would undermine forecasts and early-warning systems for storms and other severe weather events, leaving researchers and coastal communities without critical information. The NSF said it will issue a Dear Colleague Letter to collect stakeholder input and convene an expert panel to assess observational needs and identify a sustainable path for its ocean observing systems.
Sources: National Science Foundation; Office of Senator Jeff Merkley.
Data flows where pressure holds—for now. The mountain crocodile holds fast to its rivers; the vipers split five ways across ridges; the sensors stay tethered to the sea floor, at least through this political season. What persists is often what someone decides is worth the fight.
