Rodeo pitviper conference draws luminary speakers
RODEO - Why do sidewinder rattlesnakes move the way they do? What happens when Mojave and prairie rattlesnakes meet and interbreed? What can we learn from studying timber rattlesnakes over the course of 40 years?
For herpetologists wondering about these things and more, their questions were answered last week at the Biology of the Pitvipers 4 Conference, held in Hidalgo County, New Mexico. Nearly 250 top scientists in biology and snake research gathered at the Geronimo Event Center, part of the Chiricahua Desert Museum, for the four-day convention.
The friendly environment, state-of-the-art facilities, and shared interest in pitviper snakes made the conference a huge success.
The highlight of the event: a talk about nature given by famed evolutionary biologist Dr. Harry Greene, of Cornell University, whose talk titled “Rewilding the Earth, rewilding our lives” was the crowd favorite.
“I think Gordon Schuett deserves a ton of the credit for subtle aspects of the way this is all arranged,” Greene said. “It’s in a wonderful venue, you step out the front door, you’re driving to where you’re sleeping at night, you can’t but not be blown away by the scenery, right? It’s also a classical herpetological locality.”
Greene is considered one of the world’s leading experts on snakes and their biology. His writing career was shaped by his friendship with Norman Maclean, a University of Chicago professor who wrote “A River Runs Through It.” Greene also witnessed the 1966 shooting at the University of Texas-Austin and asssisted with the funeral preparation of some of the students killled.
Dozens of other noted herpetologists and authors also spoke, including Zoo Atlanta’s Dr. Joseph Mendelson III, Dr. Rulon Clark, from San Diego State University, and Dr. William Brown, who spent more than 40 years in the wild collecting data on timber rattlesnakes.
Dr. Brown, who lives in New York, is considered the world’s foremost expert on timber rattlers.
“This is my favorite conference to go to by far,” said Dylan Maag, a PhD candidate from San Diego State. “My first ever bonafide conference was Pitvipers 2 in 2013. It’s my favorite one to go to.”
Maag studies a unique “hybrid” zone located in Hidalgo County where Mojave rattlesnakes breed with prairie rattlesnakes. Maag’s research has revealed that traits from both species of snakes combine in the local hybrids, including both types of toxins found in each hybrid snake.
Hidalgo County’s own Harry Ridgway spoke on veonomics. The final speaker was Mendelson, whose team discovered how sidewinder rattlesnakes are evolutionarily adapted to ascend mounds of sand. By studying specially designed “sidewinder” robots, Mendelson was able to model the exact patterns and movements the snake makes that allows it to move quickly across a liquid-like surface of fine sand.
Rodeo’s Chiricahua Desert Museum and Geronimo Event Center, owned by Bob and Sheri Ashley, have hosted numerous such conferences over the years, adding significantly to the local tax base and placing dozens or hundreds of lodgers into Lordsburg accommodations. The facility features a massive collection of Native American, particularly Apache, artifacts. A desert botanical garden, a comprehensive gift shop, and live venomous snake exhibits are included.
For photos of the event and short videos, visit the official website at BiologyofthePitvipers.com. The conference was sponsored by BTG, Bioclon, RDT: Rare Disease Therapeutics, Inc., and Herptech.
This article was reprinted with permission from the Hidalgo County Herald.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Rodeo pitviper conference draws luminary speakers
