Urban areas represent both opportunities and risks for animals, and they adapt their behaviour in many ways to cope with this fast-paced lifestyle. Now, a new study has detailed how urban wall lizards in Croatia have richer social lives than their rural counterparts. Then we chat about a listener-submitted story detailing wild lizards eating pizza.

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Main Paper References:

Maune AL, Wittenbreder T, Lisičić D, Caspers BA, Camerlenghi E, Damas-Moreira I. 2025. City lizards are more social. Biology Letters 21:20250326. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2025.0326.

Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:

Dendi, D., Segniagbeto, G. H., Meek, R., & Luiselli, L. (2023). Opportunistic foraging strategy of rainbow lizards at a seaside resort in Togo. African Journal of Ecology, 61(1), 226-227.

Editing and Music:

Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson

Species Bi-week theme – Michael Timothy

Other Music – The Passion HiFi, https://www.thepassionhifi.com

Research from Asian geckos generally suggests that sticky pads are used for smooth surfaces, while claws help grip onto rougher surfaces like wood and rocks. But a new study using Australian geckos is has turned that paradigm upside-down. Then we talk about a brand new species of frog described from the mountains of central China.

Become a Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/herphighlights

Merch: https://www.redbubble.com/people/herphighlights/shop

Full reference list available here: http://www.herphighlights.podbean.com

Main Paper References:

Pillai RR, Riedel J, Wirth W, Allen-Ankins S, Nordberg E, Edwards W, Schwarzkopf L. 2025. What’s the point? The functional role of claws in pad-bearing taxa (Gekkota: Diplodactylidae). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 292:20251362. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2025.1362.

Species of the Bi-Week:

Li S, Shi S, Liu J, Zhao J, Gao S, Wang B. 2025. A new species of the Boulenophrys (Anura, Megophryidae) from Hubei, China. Zoosystematics and Evolution 101:1213–1226. DOI: 10.3897/zse.101.155859.

Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:

GEORGALIS, G. L., & JONES, M. E. (2025). A new peculiar early diverging caenophidian snake (Serpentes) from the late Eocene of Hordle Cliff, England. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 24(25), 505-530.

Editing and Music:

Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson

Species Bi-week theme – Michael Timothy

Other Music – The Passion HiFi, https://www.thepassionhifi.com

Toads continue to amaze us - this time they are using their sense of the Earth's magnetic field to find their way home. But how important this sense is for cane toads as they travel home from long journeys, and how much are they relying on their sense of smell, was a mystery, until a clever new study tested the toads. Then we briefly touch on how pythons digest bones so successfully.

Main Paper References:

Fernandez RC, Sotelo MI. 2025. A toad’s journey home: towards elucidating the neural and sensory basis of amphibian navigation. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 292. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2025.0525.

Shaykevich DA, Pareja-Mejía D, Golde C, Pašukonis A, O’Connell LA. 2025. Neural and sensory basis of homing behaviour in the invasive cane toad, Rhinella marina. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 292:20250045. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2025.0045.

Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:

Lignot J-H, Pope RK, Secor SM. 2025. Diet-dependent production of calcium- and phosphorus-rich ‘spheroids’ along the intestine of Burmese pythons: identification of a new cell type? Journal of Experimental Biology 228:jeb249620. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.249620.

Other Links/Mentions:

Starr M. 2025.New Cell Discovered in Pythons Allows Them to Completely Digest Bones. Available at https://www.sciencealert.com/new-cell-discovered-in-pythons-allows-them-to-completely-digest-bones (accessed August 25, 2025).

Editing and Music:

Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed Nelson

Species Bi-week theme – Michael Timothy

Other Music – The Passion HiFi, https://www.thepassionhifi.com