FAQ

I get a lot of asks on tumblr, and I of course cannot expect you to scroll through my erratic post history on tumblr before you ask anything (though you can browse my tag #Answers by Mark, if you want). So instead, I have pinned this post that has an FAQ, which you can refer to before submitting a question, to check if it has been asked before.

Personal Questions:

What is your favourite frog/lizard/…?

How old are you? Where do you live? Where are you from? What languages do you speak?

What do/did you study?

Are you going to [insert meeting here] conference?

How did you get into Malagasy herpetology?

What is your relationship status?

How did you get where you are today?

That bread you make looks really fucking incredible, where do I get a recipe so I can get it in my FACE?

Science-related Questions:

How do I become a herpetologist/any advice for someone interested in a career in herpetology?

What is it like being a taxonomist?

How do I learn about the taxonomy of reptiles or amphibians?

I’m travelling to Madagascar; can you give me some advice?

How can I get into field research in Madagascar?

What is the best part about field work?

What is Zoology like as a career path?

Should I be a zoologist if I’m not good at school/not passionate about it?

How much money will I earn as a zoologist?

Will I struggle in herpetology/zoology as a female?

Can you recommend American colleges to me to study Zoology?

Can you identify this herp for me?

Can snakes hear?

I want to be a vet, can you give me some advice?

Is the distinction between poisonous and venomous really that important?

Are you a lumper or a splitter?

Can you help with my homework?

Behold, the European platonic ideal of a frog.

Just a reminder that in much of the northern hemisphere there is Good and Exciting Stuff to be found right now (early Summer) in your local ponds and waterways.

incognitopolls:

Who is tumblr’s favorite celebrity?

Wil Wheaton, the star trek guy

The fake Neil Gaiman

The real Neil Gaiman

Lynda Carter, Wonder Woman

Mark Scherz, the frog guy

Tumblr staff’s totally legit secret blog

Blumineck, the archery pole dancer guy

John Green, the coffee company

You forgot MY favorite tumblebrity, who I will politely add in a comment

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

This is a little surreal, tbh.

oldladynerd:

magnificentlymacabre:

The teeny tiniest frog.

@markscherz a specimen of mini scule perchance?

I mean probably not, I know nothing about frogs really…

Mini scule is microendemic to southeastern Madagascar. Your chances of finding a photo of one taken by someone who isn’t a colleague of mine is almost zero, as they’re very poorly known.

This is just a juvenile Anaxyrus toad. It looks like it is also possibly already larger than M. scule gets.

Today I had the great privilege of getting to pick up this beautiful specimen of the critically endangered Mecistops cataphractus from Denmark’s famous Krokodillezoo. It passed away on the night of the 19th of June, 2024, after a prolonged fight to keep it alive. The necropsy revealed a pathology that constricted the passage from the stomach into the small intestine so much that food couldn’t pass through, which explains its inability to keep food down, and ultimately its death.

It is always so sad to lose an animal like this, but by entering the Natural History Museum of Denmark, this individual will be able to serve the scientific community for *centuries* and generations to come.

Just a picture from the office today.

graveyardrabbit:

go here

go in the creek

markscherz:

“Hey, nice frog!”

[x]

“Thanks, it has pockets!”

[x]

Assa, colloquially known as ‘pouched frogs’ raise their tadpoles in pockets on their hips.

[x]

I just realised how fun a tattoo of one of these frogs would be. Someone would point and go ‘hey nice frog tattoo’ and you could look them dead in the eye and go ‘thanks, it has pockets’ and then engage them in a free, five minute Learning Session™ during which you could watch a whole host of emotions play across their face.

ALT

Last week we began the preparation of this young Chelonia mydas, a green sea turtle, that washed up on a Danish beach earlier this year (you can read a bit about the discovery here). It’s the first green sea turtle recorded from Denmark! The specimen is in *beautiful* condition, with just two barnacles attached, but the gut and cloaca seemed practically empty; we wonder if there might be plastic in the gut, but for the sake of the integrity of this extremely rare specimen, we did not dissect further.

ALT

Check out these awesome ‘teeth’ on the palate and the beak—the turtle solution to the loss of true teeth.

ALT

This kind of thing is a real highlight of the job. Such a privilege and honour to get to work with these special specimens of national and international significance.

ALT

Look at this friend I made on my way home 😍

solosvejs:

markscherz:

Hot damn. Great question, I’d love to tell you.

High Fantasy

Look, this rainfrog is called Breviceps bagginsi, so I don’t have a lot of choice, now do I?

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Also, I would go with them to the end. Into the very fires of Mordor.

Low Fantasy

Phyllomedusine hylids have a certain weird clown marionette vibe to them. Just look at these Pithecopus rohdei.

[src]

Lovecraftian

The male Rhinoderma darwinii raises his tadpoles in his vocal sac.

Sci-Fi

Gephyromantis pseudoasper sometimes wear handsome stripes—very Space Age™

But more importantly, their calls evoke a battle with laser-blasters.

I filmed this calling male in 2017 at an obscene hour of the morning.

Horror

Trichobatrachus robustus, aka the Hairy Frog, has flanks and thighs covered in weird, hair-like outgrowths that increase oxygen exchange over its skin, and BREAKS ITS FINGERS TO STAB YOU WITH CLAWS MADE OF BONE

[src]

Romance

Breviceps males physically glue themselves to the back-ends of females, and if that’s not romance, I don’t know what is.

[src]

Comedy

Nyctimantis arapapa are probably amongst the funniest-looking frogs out there.

[src]

Adult

The ‘poly’ in Polypedates may be a double entendre

[src]

Crime and Mystery

Calyptocephalella gayi is a Galaxy Brain frog.

[src]

Speculative

Myobatrachus gouldii is basically what would happen if you decided to try to build a turtle, but you only had frog pieces in the kit.

[src]

I had meant to do all of these, but it’s been a year and I’ve only finished ONE, so here you go.