HerpDigest.org: The Only Free Weekly Electronic Newsletter That Reports on The Latest News on Herpetological Conservation, Husbandry and Science Volume # 9 Issue #48 10/20/09 Publisher/Editor- Allen Salzberg __________________________________________________________________ AMPHIBIAN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION: A HANDBOOK OF TECHNIQUES (TECHNIQUES IN ECOLOGY & CONSERVATION) (Paperback) by C. Kenneth Dodd Jr. (Editor) 556 pages, USA, Oxford Univ. Press. Limited Number Autographed Copies By editor Kenneth Dodd Available. $59.95 plus $7.50 S&H
Finally a distinguished, international group of amphibian researchers have come together to provide a state-of-the-art review of the many new and exciting techniques used to study amphibians and to track their conservation status and population trends. And the problems this book addresses are not just what equipment to use, but more important, what questions to ask. Although this book emphasizes field ecology, sections on physiological ecology, genetics, landscape ecology, and disease analysis are also included. Much of this information is scattered in the scientific literature or not readily available, and the intention is to provide an affordable, comprehensive synthesis for use by graduate students, researchers, and practicing conservationists worldwide. Table of Contents Available, Chapter one available, free at http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.com/pdf/13/9780199541188_chapter1.pdf ________________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents 1) Lizard Kings the Monitor Lizard (NOVA- PBS 8 PM Tuesday 10/20/09) Check Local listings for Rerun. In NYC area CH 13 runs it Sunday early evening.) 2) Turtles Prefer The 'City Life' (Australia) 3) Alligators Sing to Set Up Singles Clubs? 4) What Is Killing South African Crocs? Mass Deaths Of South Africa's Nile Crocodiles Puzzle Biologists 5) Largest Turtle-Linked Salmonella Outbreak Detailed 6) Professors And Alligator Snappers Featured In Up-Coming 'Dirty Jobs' (Rerun scheduled for 8 PM on the Discovery channel.-9 PM is a new show. Check Local Listings) 7) Conservation: Minimum Population Size Targets Too Low To Prevent Extinction? Conservation Biologists Are Setting Their Minimum Population Size Targets Too Low To Prevent Extinction. _______________________________________________________________________ FINALLY. A TURTLE BOOK THAT ANSWERS THE BIG QUESTIONS: TURTLES: THE ANIMAL ANSWER GUIDE. By Whit Gibbons and Judy Greene of the Savannah River Ecology Lab. © 2009 176 pages, 35 color photos, 64 halftones, Paperback., 7 x 11. Like Why do so many turtles have yellow stripes on their neck? Or what really is the difference between turtles, tortoises and terrapins? Only $24.95 plus $6.50 S&H for anywhere in the U.S. (Overseas email us first at asalzb...@herpdigest.org for a price quote.) Due out mid November, BUT IF YOU ORDER NOW YOU COULD GET ONE OF THE 25 AUTOGRAPHED COPIES OF THE BOOK. ________________________________________________________________________ 1) Lizard Kings the Monitor Lizard (NOVA- PBS 8 PM Tuesday 10/20/09) Check Local listings for Rerun. In NYC area CH 13 runs it Sunday early evening.) They look like dragons and inspire visions of fire-spitting monsters. But these creatures with their long claws, razor-sharp teeth, and muscular, whip-like tails are actually monitors, the largest lizards now walking the planet. With their acute intelligence, these lizardsincluding the largest of all, the Komodo dragonare a very different kind of reptile, blurring the line between reptiles and mammals. Thriving on Earth essentially unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs, they are a very successful species, versatile at adapting to all kinds of settings. This program looks at what makes these long-tongued reptiles so similar to mammals and what has allowed them to become such unique survivors. While monitors can find their way around many different habitats, finding them is no easy task. Natural loners and always on guard, they sense anything or anyone from hundreds of feet away. NOVA follows expert lizard hunter Dr. Eric Pianka as he tracks the elusive creatures, including the six-foot-long perentie, through Australia's forbidding outback. (See a slide show by producer Gisela Kaufmann.) We watch as Pianka and his colleagues experiment with cutting-edge "lizardcam" technology. With dramatic footage shot by cameramen and lizards, "Lizard Kings" offers an unparalleled close encounter with these amazingly versatile "living dragons." http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3616_lizard.html is where in 1-3 weeks weeks you can find a transcript of the show . ________________________________________________________________________ 2) Turtles Prefer The 'City Life' (Australia) By Jody Bourton Earth News reporter, BBBC News 10/21/09 Urbanization has long been at odds with wildlife. However, scientists have found a turtle that does better in a suburban habitat than it does in nature reserves. Eastern long-necked turtles living in the suburbs of Australia have larger home ranges and cope better with periods of drought. The reptiles also appear to grow and survive better, suggesting suburban environments may sometimes be superior places to live than natural ones. Scientists have published the findings in the journal Biological Conservation. Eastern long-necked turtles ( Chelodina longicollis ) are common across much of south eastern Australia. Found in many freshwater habitats in the wild and in towns and cities, they are carnivorous, feeding on fish, frogs and crayfish. However, throughout the world urbanisation can be damaging to many animals, resulting in loss of habitat and the disappearance of species. So the researchers examined how the long-necked turtle responds to urban living and drought. They did this by comparing turtles that lived in the suburbs of Canberra, Australia to those in adjacent nature reserves. What they found surprised them. "We expected suburban turtles to move around less than those on the nature reserves in response to the many threats that suburban turtles could encounter, but we found the opposite," says Dr John Roe, a member of the research team from the Institute for Applied Ecology at the University of Canberra, Australia. "Suburban turtles travelled longer distances and occupied home ranges nearly three times larger than turtles in the nature reserves," he says. The researchers attached miniature radio transmitters to the turtles in each habitat and followed their weekly movements over the course of a year. Both turtle populations made long journeys of up to two and a half kilometres between bodies of water. "Given their extensive movements, we expected that suburban turtles would have a high rate of encounters with vehicles on roads, and thus fewer would survive," Dr Roe says. "Despite this, suburban turtles did not suffer appreciably higher mortality than their counterparts on reserve lands, only one of our 36 radio tracked turtles was hit by a vehicle," he told BBC News. Vegetated drainage lines and drainage culverts running under roads in the suburbs of Canberra protected the turtles. "The vegetated drainage lines and culverts allowed the turtles to move about and use the landscape in normal ways, which reduced their exposure to urban threats and allowed them to avoid suffering from excessive road mortality," Dr Roe explains. The turtles' responses to drought also surprised the team. Turtles in the nature reserves responded to the drying up of the wetlands by estivating, lying dormant buried under leaf litter. However, suburban turtles did not need to. It would be interesting to determine whether well-designed urban areas hold any promise as long term drought refuges.Dr John Roe University of Canberra, Australia "Water bodies are often incorporated into urban design for the purposes of storm water removal and retention," Dr Roe says. So "suburban water bodies remain flooded, allowing turtles to maintain aquatic activities throughout the drought." That means turtles living in towns and cities are immune to the worst effects of prolonged drought, which can deplete wild turtles' energy and water stores. "It appears that the suburban landscapes, despite their many challenges, may be higher quality habitats than nature reserves for turtles during drought," Dr Roe says. Dr Roe also has evidence suggesting that suburban turtles outperform their counterparts on nature reserves in other aspects of their life history. "We have additional data that demonstrates higher population abundances, growth rates, and evidence of at least equivalent recruitment from reproduction in suburban turtles," he says. Dr Roe hopes to continue the research to see if this trend is represented over the turtles' entire life span. He also hopes to monitor the turtles' response to the frequent droughts that are gripping much of Australia whilst exploring how suburban areas, road design and urban planning may effect them. "It would be interesting to determine whether well-designed urban areas hold any promise as long term drought refuges for some turtle populations." ________________________________________________________________________________ 3) Alligators Sing to Set Up Singles Clubs? Matt Kaplan National Geographic News http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091020-alligators-sing-singles-clubs.html for video October 20, 2009 Whatever you do, don't call it crocodile rock (and for that, Elton John should be grateful). After all, the thunderous, seemingly tone-deaf chorus in the above video is "sung" by a species of alligator, the crocodiles' stout-headed cousin. Chinese alligators are among the most vocal crocodilians, and now researchers think they've figured out why: the reptiles burst into song to form singles clubs. That means the off-key groupings are no laughing matter, considering that there are fewer than 150 wild Chinese alligators alive today, according to the study. Alligators Sing "Like Thunder" Birds and frogs get a lot attention when it comes to singing, but crocodiles and alligators also croon, and in their own special way. "It sounds like thunder and can travel a long distance," said study co-author Xianyan Wang, a Wuhan-based hydrobiologist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Wang thought the Chinese alligator song might be a way for individual males to attract femalesgenerally the case when it comes to animal tunes. To find out, Wang and colleagues recorded the songs of male and female Chinese alligators. The team then played the calls to captive alligators of different genders, one by one, in a water-filled testing arena at the semiwild Anhui Research Center for Chinese Alligator Reproduction in the city of Xuancheng (map). The researchers had expected females to draw closer to the speaker that was playing recordings of males. Surprisingly, though, males and females reacted the same way to the calls of either gender. All the alligators stayed put, and about 75 percent of the alligators joined the recorded song. This response suggests that alligators don't sing to compete for prospective mates, the study says. But because the choruses increase during mating season, Wang said, they must have something to do with sex. Maybe, he suggested, the singing is a way of detecting other alligators in the area so mating groups can be formeda kind of reptilian romantic-networking system. Next, to confirm his theory, Wang plans to test alligators in the wild and to study alligator singing outside of mating season, when, presumably, the songs are about something other than seduction. Findings to be published in the October 2009 issue of The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. ___________________________________________________________________ 4) What Is Killing South African Crocs? Mass Deaths Of South Africa's Nile Crocodiles Puzzle Biologists By Naomi Lubick October, 2009, News Scan , Scientific American Carcasses of adult crocodiles do not usually signal the return of winter in South Africa, but mass death seems to be becoming the harbinger of the season. Rangers at the Kruger National Park have found Nile crocodiles floating in the Olifants River or bloated and decaying along its banks. Investigators are rushing to figure out the cause and worry that the deaths might be signaling the presence of toxins or pathogens that could threaten not only the croc population but also the livelihoods of the people living near the river. The Olifants River runs several hundred kilometers through three South African provinces and into Mozambique. It supplies water to industrial agriculture operations that send food to Europe and to the local rural communities, which also depend on those waters for fishing and farming. The first sign of croc trouble in the river came in the winter of 2008, when rangers collected 170 dead individuals, sometimes at a rate of 20 bodies a week. A survey at the end of this May showed nearly 400 crocs living in the parks gorge, down from at least 1,000 in 2008. So far, as of August 7, rangers and scientists have found 23 carcasses. After slicing open some of the crocodile corpses last year, researchers determined some kind of pansteatitisan inflammation of adipose tissuewas killing the animals. Specifically, their tails were swollen with the hardened, enlarged fat deposits, which had stiffened and immobilized the crocodiles and left them unable to hunt. Samples of the fat showed the deposits had oxidized to bright yellow. [The disease may not be limited to crocs. Scientists found the same kinds of fat deposits in fish in the Olifants River. And in the rivers gorge just upstream from Massingir Dam in Mozambique, which also has seen croc declines, birds were absent, raising the possibility that they, too, have succumbed to the same agent. But the cause behind the strange fattening remains a mystery. In June a team led by Henk Bouwman of North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, in South Africa reported test results from crocodile tissues at two European chemistry meetings. Everything is there, Bouwman says, referring to the detection of DDT, PCBs, dioxins and brominated flame retardants, but nothing is screaming, its me, its me, its me. One possibility could be related to dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria found upstream in the catchment, which might be releasing toxins similar to those that cause red tides in marine environments, says Peter Ashton, a water resources specialist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa and the University of Pretoria. It never is a quick, easy solution in which it takes one test to find a culprit, explains Danny Govender, a disease ecologist for South African National Parks. She notes that samples taken from live crocs in 2007 showed that the fat of some crocodiles was beginning to harden. Along with Bouwman, she hypothesizes that all these toxins, found below harmful levels individually, could be acting together in a deadly brew. Govender cites changes to the rivers ecosystem that stem from infrastructure outside the park, including hundreds of coal-mining operations upstream, where crocodiles have disappeared almost completely, and a dam downstream of the gorge. For the first time in the two decades since it was built, the dams reservoir was full last year, slowing down the Olifantss flow through the crocodiles gorge. Govender wonders if the slowed water enabled toxins to build up along the crocodiles stretch of the river. Indeed, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia and other compounds from river sediments probably caused massive fish deaths in July, scientists have concluded, and crocs eating these contaminated fish could have been affected. Even if researchers find the culprits, the impacts could reach further than suspected. We really underestimated [the number of dead] crocodiles from last years count, Govender adds, noting that their bodies could have been eaten by other crocs or sunk to the bottom of the river. I suspect were losing a lot of breeding females, whose carcasses are smaller and more easily scavenged. If that is the case, she says, the gorges crocodile population may not ever recover, even if scientists can pinpoint the cause of the die-off. As for the people who depend on the Olifants River, I dont know what to tell them, Bouwman says. His colleague Henrik Kylin of Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala wants to go into Mozambique to test fish there, and possibly people, to see if the croc killer kills more than just crocs. Note: This article was originally printed with the title, "Hunting a Croc Killer." _______________________________________________________________________ 5) Largest Turtle-Linked Salmonella Outbreak Detailed By Lindsay Tanner, AP, 10/19/09 Two girls who swam with pet turtles in a backyard pool were among 107 people sickened in the largest salmonella outbreak blamed on turtles in the U.S., researchers report. The 2007-08 outbreak involved mostly children in 34 states; one-third of all patients had to be hospitalized. In many cases, parents didn't know that turtles can carry salmonella. Despite a 1975 ban on selling small turtles as pets, they continue to be sold illegally. The American Veterinary Medical Association estimates that the number of pet turtles nationwide doubled from 950,000 in 1996 to almost 2 million in 2006. "It's very easy to think of turtles as being a very gentle and nice pet," but many carry salmonella, without showing any signs, said Julie Harris, a scientist at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the report's lead author. Salmonella in turtle feces can end up on their shells and body, and can spread to people who handle them. An infected turtle can spread the same strain of salmonella to others during shipping, which may be how the outbreak occurred. Turtles involved were bought at pet shops, flea markets, from street vendors and online. The Food and Drug Administration contacted retailers involved and their investigation is ongoing, the report said. "Continued, collective efforts are needed, both on state and federal levels, to enforce the ban and protect public health," the report said. It appears in October's Pediatrics, released Monday. Authorities began investigating in September 2007 after a Union County, North Carolina, teen swam in her backyard pool with two pet turtles and a friend from South Carolina. Both girls developed bloody diarrhea, vomiting, fever and stomach cramps; one developed kidney failure and spent eight days in the hospital. Salmonella bacteria traced to those turtles matched salmonella later found in three other North Carolina children. Other cases turned up elsewhere, many involving direct contact with turtles, including children kissing turtles or putting them in their mouths, Harris said. Indirect contact likely also occurred, she said. For example, children playing with turtles at school may have brought the germs home and spread them to family members, Harris said. Illnesses from the same kind of salmonella turned up coast to coast through January 2008, including 12 people in California, 10 each in Pennsylvania and Texas, and nine in Illinois. No one died in the outbreak but many required several days of hospital treatment, Harris said. "Everyone from pediatricians to other public health professionals needs to really stress that reptiles and especially turtles are a source of salmonella infections," she said. The ban only affects turtles less than about 4 inches (10 centimeters) in diameter because of reports that young children had gotten sick after putting the small reptiles in their mouths. David Bergmire-Sweat, a North Carolina epidemiologist who investigated the Union County case, said he's heard of families letting turtles walk on kitchen surfaces where food is prepared, and babies being bathed in sinks where turtle cages are washed. Because the federal ban was enacted more than 30 years ago, "many people just don't remember," he said. Recent efforts to overturn the ban, backed by turtle farmers, have failed. Veterinarian Mark Mitchell, a University of Illinois zoological medicine professor, has been working with Louisiana turtle farmers in research aimed at raising salmonella-free turtles. Initial efforts involved cleansing turtle eggs with antibiotics, but that led to strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Mitchell said now he's focusing on washing eggs in disinfectants similar to chlorine. He says the industry has been unfairly saddled with harsher restrictions than producers of human foods also blamed for recent salmonella outbreaks. ________________________________________________________________________ 6) Professors And Alligator Snappers Featured In Up-Coming 'Dirty Jobs' (Rerun scheduled for 8 PM on the Discovery channel.-9 PM is a new show. Check Local Listings) Stanford Meredith- The Herald Online, 10/19/09 The Herald, Arkansas Statue U, 10/19/09 -Two ASU professors will be featured on the TV show, "Dirty Jobs", which airs on the Discovery Channel. The first show, featuring Stan Trauth, professor of zoology and interim chair of biology, will air at 8 p.m. Tuesday.(It was 9 P.M. est.) Dirty Jobs is hosted by Mike Rowe and follows him going to different places to show how people work in some of the most dangerous and disgusting jobs in America. The show, featuring Trauth, was filmed in February in the Jackson Port State Park on the Black River tributary in Dota near Newport. Rowe asked Trauth to talk about the alligator snapping turtle. "They appear to be aggressive but they are actually just very territorial," Trauth said. "They can grow to over 200 pounds and live over 50 years. The occur in the south central U.S. and are protected in every state they occur except Louisiana." He said these turtles are not protected in Louisiana because there is a large population there. The turtles are eaten for their meat in Louisiana. In Arkansas, the turtles are protected by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission because they have been exploited for their meat and are prized overseas. Trauth said countries like China are now raising their own turtles and that is reducing the exploitation of turtles in America. Trauth said four boats were used to film the show. One boat was for him and Rowe. Another held three cameramen. The third was an Arkansas Game and Fish Commission boat. The fourth boat was a logistics boat navigated by Trauth's son, Ryan Trauth from Waco, Texas. Trauth said Rowe was friendly, easygoing and "made the common man's jobs seem more important." When asked if he'd ever been bitten by the alligator snapping turtles, Trauth said he had not. "They have a powerful bite and I have never been bitten," he said. Trauth said a bite from this turtle isn't the only thing people should be careful about when handling these animals. "Once they are on their back's their sharp claws can be very dangerous," he said. "They are used for digging and grasping, but if you were to try and touch their stomachs, they can clamp closed like the jaws of the turtle's mouth." Trauth said students could learn a lot from watching the show. "These are animals that need to be protected. They are not an endangered species but are a species of special concern," he said. "They are very unusual and unique animals. They are fascinating because of their size and the fact they open and close their mouths and, once snapped shut, nothing short of poking them in the eye will get them to open up." The other show will air on Nov. 10 and will feature Tanja McKay, assistant professor of entomology. She will discuss her work with the dung beetle. ________________________________________________________________________________ 7) Conservation: Minimum Population Size Targets Too Low To Prevent Extinction? Conservation Biologists Are Setting Their Minimum Population Size Targets Too Low To Prevent Extinction. ScienceDaily (Oct. 20, 2009) That's according to a new study by University of Adelaide and Macquarie University scientists which has shown that populations of endangered species are unlikely to persist in the face of global climate change and habitat loss unless they number around 5000 mature individuals or more. The findings have been published online in the journal Biological Conservation. "Conservation biologists routinely underestimate or ignore the number of animals or plants required to prevent extinction," says lead author Dr Lochran Traill, from the University of Adelaide's Environment Institute. "Often, they aim to maintain tens or hundreds of individuals, when thousands are actually needed. Our review found that populations smaller than about 5000 had unacceptably high extinction rates. This suggests that many targets for conservation recovery are simply too small to do much good in the long run." A long-standing idea in species restoration programs is the so-called '50/500' rule. This states that at least 50 adults are required to avoid the damaging effects of inbreeding, and 500 to avoid extinctions due to the inability to evolve to cope with environmental change. "Our research suggests that the 50/500 rule is at least an order of magnitude too small to effectively stave off extinction," says Dr Traill. "This does not necessarily imply that populations smaller than 5000 are doomed. But it does highlight the challenge that small populations face in adapting to a rapidly changing world." Team member Professor Richard Frankham, from Macquarie University's Department of Biological Sciences, says: "Genetic diversity within populations allows them to evolve to cope with environmental change, and genetic loss equates to fragility in the face of such changes." Conservation biologists worldwide are battling to prevent a mass extinction event in the face of a growing human population and its associated impact on the planet. "The conservation management bar needs to be a lot higher," says Dr Traill. "However, we shouldn't necessarily give up on critically endangered species numbering a few hundred of individuals in the wild. Acceptance that more needs to be done if we are to stop 'managing for extinction' should force decision makers to be more explicit about what they are aiming for, and what they are willing to trade off, when allocating conservation funds." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Journal reference: 1.Traill et al. Pragmatic population viability targets in a rapidly changing world. Biological Conservation, 2009; DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2009.09.001 Adapted from materials provided by University of Adelaide. ________________________________________________________________________ HerpDigest Inc. is a non-profit, 501 (c) (3), corporation that publishes the electronic weekly newsletter called HerpDigest and runs the website under the URL www.herpdigest.org The editor reserves all rights to decide what should be included in these publications. Publication does not indicate endorsement or accuracy of any article or book included, sold or mentioned. It is up to the reader to make that determination. All copyrighted material is rewritten or excerpted to pass the fair use law or permission has been given for HerpDigest to use. Since the editor can't guarantee the accuracy of the articles, HD, Inc. is not liable for anything said in an article. 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So Donations Are Of Course Gratefully Accepted. ________________________________________________________________________ Still available: 2010 FULL COLOR TURTLE CALENDAR $13.99 Plus $6.00 S&H THE REDFOOT MANUAL: A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO THE REDFOOT TORTOISE, By Mike Pingleton, (2009) Art Gecko Publishing, Champaign, IL, Paperback, 156 pages, over 120 photos, 8x 10 $29.95 plus $7.00 S&H (Same price as on Amazon.) THE FROGS AND TOADS OF NORTH AMERICA is an amazing book. It contains: A CD of all 101 species found in US & Canada./Almost 400 great color photos 101 color location maps /In just 344 pages. Books this comprehensive usually go for at least $50.00.to &75.00. Or just $19.95 for the CD. But the publisher is offering it JUST FOR $19.95 Plus 7.50 S&H. LIZARDS OF THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST, (Includes 5 Mexican States) edited by Lawrence Jones and Robert Lovich, 560 pages, Rivo Neuvo Publishers, Tucson, AZ, Over 400 color photos, Covers all 96 species found in the American Southwest. Seventy-Seven experts on these lizards contributed to this book making it the most comprehensive guide to Lizards of the Southwest. An amazing bargain at only $24.95 Plus $7.50 for shipping and handling in the U.S. (autographed copies available) THE TURTLES OF U.S. & CANADA by Carl Ernst and Jeffrey Lovich, 2009, 840 pp. 240 color photos, 11 line drawings, 52 maps, 8 ½ X 11 Four autographed copies left at list price $95.00 Not-autographed copies on sale for $75.00 ($6.00 for S&H sent media mail, delivery confirmation) THE ECOLOGY, EXPLOITATION AND CONSERVATION OF RIVER TURTLES by Don Moll and Edward O. Moll. Considered by turtle scientists, and conservationists as one of the best books on turtle conservation. 420 pages; 90 halftones & 3 line illus.; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4; List price $80, now $30.00 plus $7.50 S&H.(5 copies left at this price) On how to order see below (IF YOU ARE OVERSEAS WHICH INCLUDES CANADA AND MEXICO-EMAIL US FIRST FOR SHIPPING COSTS.). ********************************************************************* TO ORDER: ATTENTION ----- IF USING A CCARD WE NOW NEED THOSE THREE LITTLE NUMBERS ON THE BACK OF THE CARD TO PROCESS YOUR ORDER. 1) Send a check to Herpdigest/Allen Salzberg/67-87 Booth Street -5B/Forest Hills, NY 11375. Make the check out to Herpdigest. 2) By Paypal - our account is asalzb...@herpdigest.org 3) By credit card, Master or Visa, Discover and Amex, only, send us your credit card number, expiration date, billing and shipping address to asalzb...@herpdigest.org. 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