UTAherpetology

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UTAherpetology

Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Research Center at University of Texas at Arlington 🐍🦎🔬

05/08/2026

The ARDRC is proud of the fact that our researchers have strong and mutually beneficial collaborational ties all over the world! Last week we had a visit from our collaborators at the National Autonomous University of Mexico - including the labs of Dr. Uri Garcia and Dr. Oscar Flores. UTA has collaborated with researchers and students from UNAM for many decades and across academic generations, and it has resulted in some excellent science, the description of many new species, and the growth of both of our scientific collections. We were honored to host our friends from UNAM as they attended a conference in Texas and collected data from hundreds of our specimens for their ongoing research!

04/26/2026

Our herpetology graduate students had some excellent presentations at this year’s Biology Graduate Student Association Symposium, which showcases the work of our UTA Biology graduate students. Congratulations on all their awesome work!!

04/20/2026

Edgar Salazar is a talented photographer and Environmental Specialist for the City of Arlington (and a UTA alum!) who has been diligently working on photographing our type specimens for the last year. Edgar has developed some pretty sophisticated setups to get incredibly high quality photographs of these specimens, which will be available to researchers to improve the accessibility of one of our most valuable resources.

04/15/2026

Our last tap talk of the semester was given by Yannick Francioli, PhD Candidate in the Castoe Lab here at UTA. And what a fantastic talk it was! A great look into the cutting-edge work on the dynamics of speciation and hybridization in one of the most charismatic (among herpetologists at least!) group of snakes in North America: Rattlesnakes.

04/01/2026

We were honored to host Dr. Brad Shaffer from UCLA as our second Pyburn Distinguished Herpetology Speaker this semester! Dr. Shaffer was invited by our herpetology graduate students and gave a riveting talk on genomics and its role in conservation in his wide-reaching and impactful projects in California.

03/10/2026

Jessie Meik gave an awesome talk about his work with the Brazos Watersnakes at the UTA Herpetology Tap Talks!

03/06/2026

It is with heavy hearts but also with excitement for him that we announce the news of Dr. Eric Smith’s retirement from UTA. Dr. Smith has been a prominent herpetologist at UTA for 25 years, mentoring 26 graduate students during his time here as faculty.

He is also a UTA alumnus himself, having completed his Master’s and PhD under Dr. Jonathan Campbell in 1994 and 2001. As the lead faculty curator of the ARDRC, Dr. Smith contributed strongly to the management and improvement of the museum and worked closely with the Collections Manager, Greg Pandelis.

Dr. Smith has collected over 23,000 specimens in his career, contributing many of these to the ARDRC. He has described 107 new species and 8 new genera of reptiles and amphibians and spent his career working strongly with museums and conducting specimen-based research. Scientists don’t stop at retirement though, and we are very excited for what the future holds for Dr. Smith as he continues to pursue key projects in the diversity of reptiles and amphibians in Latin America!

02/25/2026

Our two amazing undergraduate students, Tyler Irvin and Morgan Conklin, doing outreach with the College of Science!

02/16/2026

This month, we’re kicking off our UTA Herpetology Tap Talks this semester with Zoe Muller from the Fujita Lab! She gave an awesome, humorous, and relatable talk about learning how to do fieldwork! 🌎

01/16/2026

The ARDRC has a lot of rattlesnake specimens, but a recent donation is becoming famous! After hundreds of years of herpetology research in Texas, the first record of a Western Diamondback, Crotalus atrox, was found in Denton County, right next door to the ARDRC. The specimen was deposited in the ARDRC as a preserved specimen and is now fostering myriad new insights into diamondback biology. Check out some of the dozens of news releases coming out on this finding!

https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/north-texas-garage-rattlesnake-becomes-rare-scientific-find/

https://nbcdfw.app.link/hsU7woSlUZb

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/denton-county/western-diamondback-rattlesnake-documented-denton-county-first-time/287-2c00426e-c5c5-4cf1-8eee-121b7f3a2ed4

https://fortworthreport.org/2026/01/13/how-a-rare-rattlesnake-inspiresss-research-at-uta-and-beyond/

https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/lifestyle/2026/01/14/what-to-know-about-venomous-snakes-in-north-texas-after-recent-diamondback-discovery/

Address

University Of Texas At Arlington
Arlington, TX
76019

Telephone

+18172723615

Website

https://ardrcenter.uta.edu/

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