The Australian Tropics next topic at Southeastern Science on Tap presentation
Thursday, November 19, 2015
by: Tonya Lowentritt
HAMMOND – Australia, by far, has the highest number of reptile species of any country
in the world, according to Southeastern Louisiana University Instructor of Biology
Sean Doody.
“Even when we consider Australia a continent, Africa, which is four times the
size of Australia, has less than twice the number of reptile species,” Doody said.
Doody will present “The (Thorny) Devil Made Me Do It: 20 Years in the Australian
Tropics” as the next Science on Tap Presentation on Tuesday, Dec. 1. Scheduled for
7 p.m. at Tope Lá Catering, 113 East Thomas St. in Hammond, the lecture is free and
open to all ages.
According to Doody, the presentation will track one person’s reptile-driven passion
for complete immersion into the animal communities of tropical Australia.
“This is a research journey into remarkable reptiles across tropical Australia,
exposing novel natural histories of lizards, snakes, turtles and crocodiles, and a
few less interesting groups, such as birds and mammals,” Doody explained. “It will
reveal the raw beauty and diversity of Australian landscapes and cultures and the
challenges and dangers of working in remote places.”
Doody said the lecture will cover a breadth of scientific topics, including ecology,
evolution, behavior, physiology, biogeography, community ecology, and the biology
of invasive species. It will also highlight discoveries of reptiles’ evolutionary
solutions to problems presented by their environment and by their predators and prey.
For information on future Science on Tap presentations, contact the Department
of Biological Sciences at 985-549-3740.
