Publications

adapting to an invasive species: toxic cane toads induce morphological change in australian snakes.	the arrival of invasive species can devastate natural ecosystems, but the long-term effects of invasion are less clear. if native organisms can adapt to the presence of the invader, the severity of impact will decline with time. in australia, invasive cane toads (bufo marinus) are highly toxic to most snakes that attempt to eat them. because snakes are gape-limited predators with strong negative allometry for head size, maximum relative prey mass (and thus, the probability of eating a toad large ...	2004	15569943
pentastomids of wild snakes in the australian tropics.	pentastomids are endoparasites of the respiratory system of vertebrates, maturing primarily in carnivorous reptiles. adult and larval pentastomids can cause severe pathology resulting in the death of their intermediate and definitive hosts. the study of pentastomids is a neglected field, impaired by risk of zoonoses, difficulties in species identification, and life cycle complexities. we surveyed wild snakes in the tropics of australia to clarify which host species possess these parasites, and t ...	2014	24918074
acanthocephalan infection and sparganosis in a green tree snake (dendrelaphis punctulata).	acanthocephalan and spargana parasites were identified within a body wall mass during exploratory surgery in a wild green tree snake. acanthocephalan parasites have not previously been reported in this species. surgical excision, the treatment of choice, could not be achieved because of the extensive infiltration of the coelomic cavity.	2014	25156057
pathogenicity in six australian reptile species following experimental inoculation with bohle iridovirus.	ranaviruses are able to infect multiple species of fish, amphibian and reptile, and some strains are capable of interclass transmission. these numerous potential carriers and reservoir species compound efforts to control and contain infections in cultured and wild populations, and a comprehensive knowledge of susceptible species and life stage is necessary to inform such processes. here we report on the challenge of 6 water-associated reptiles with bohle iridovirus (biv) to investigate its poten ...	2015	26290505
what killed karl patterson schmidt? combined venom gland transcriptomic, venomic and antivenomic analysis of the south african green tree snake (the boomslang), dispholidus typus.	non-front-fanged colubroid snakes comprise about two-thirds of extant ophidian species. the medical significance of the majority of these snakes is unknown, but at least five species have caused life-threatening or fatal human envenomings. however, the venoms of only a small number of species have been explored.	2017	28130154
serological survey of australian native reptiles for exposure to ranavirus.	ranaviruses have been isolated from many ectothermic vertebrates, and serological surveys of both amphibians and reptiles have shown the presence of ranaviral antibodies in a proportion of these populations. an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) was developed to measure serum antibodies against ranavirus in australian reptiles. the elisa was validated with serum from challenge trials with bohle iridovirus (biv) in 6 reptilian species. a preliminary sero-survey of northern queensland ripar ...	2017	29160216