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Words From the Editor

By Christopher V. Anderson


Citation:

Anderson, C.V. (2008). Words from the editor. Chameleons! Online E-Zine, February 2008. (http://www.chameleonnews.com/08FebAndersonWFTE.html)


Dear Chameleons! E-Zine Readers,

We’re back!

First, I really want to thank everyone for their patience over the last year as you waited for a new E-Zine issue. I also want to thank everyone who sent emails of support inquiring about when they could hope to see a new issue. I literally received hundreds of emails to that effect and I’m glad to hear that the E-Zine is such a benefit to everyone and that you all anxiously await new issues!

The last year has been extremely busy for the E-Zine team, hence the hiatus in issue releases. Included in these activities between the team were the creation and subsequent sale of a new business, a wedding, a cross-country move, a new teaching position, immersion in new research efforts, presentations at national conferences and the list just keeps going on. At last, however, we're back and ready to add a little more consistency to the issue releases then has been seen recently!

The first thing I’d like to do is thank Franco Gagliardi for all his help on the E-Zine since I became the editor. He has been a great help over the last few years as an assistant editor but has recently decided that while he still has a great passion for chameleons, additional commitments and interests are taking a significant amount of his time so he needs to step aside for a while on the E-Zine. We’d like to wish he and his new wife luck and I’m sure we’ll all see more of him in the chameleon world in the future.

As you all can see, we’ve completely revamped the E-Zine’s look. Included in this change are a number of new features including a search function on the left side of the layout that will help everyone track down information from the plethora of articles in our back issues. While you’re taking a look at the new issue, I’d like to encourage you to take a look around the new layout and let Brandy know what a good job she’s done on the new layout design. I’m not sure what I’d do without all the hard work she does for the E-Zine.

Be sure to sign up for our mailing list if you haven’t done so already. This will make sure that in the future when updates occur, you’ll be among the first to know. You can sign up by entering your email address into the submission box on the left side of the new layout below the search function.

I’d also like to encourage everyone to submit article ideas to me. If there is an article you’d really like to see on the E-Zine, an author you think would be good to write it, or if you think you have an article you’d like to write, I’d love to hear your idea and talk to you about getting it going. Don’t be shy; even if English isn’t you native language, I’d be happy to help edit it with you!

I’m very excited about the content of this issue. First, Jamie Long has provided us with her undergraduate independent study. She scientifically approached the question of whether veiled chameleons exhibit any sex determination influence from incubation temperatures. While many reptiles have been shown to have temperature-dependent sex determination, only empirical observations have been made as to whether or not this occurs in chameleons. Thankfully, Jamie has scientifically tested this and statistically answered the question for Veiled Chameleons.

Next, Suzanne and Jim Boom have provided a step-by-step guide to their free range setup in which they keep their group of Meller’s Chameleons. If you have the space and are considering setting up a free range type enclosure, this DIY article should be very useful in making your own.

Kristina Francis has returned in this issue with an article on Senegal Chameleons, Chamaeleo senegalensis. This species is imported in massive numbers every year but relatively little effort goes into keeping or establishing them in captivity. This article shows this species from a new light and will hopefully encourage additional efforts to work with this species.

There also has been a number of important changes to chameleon systematics and classification. Nicolà  Lutzmann has provided us with his second E-Zine article outlining some major and very important changes to the Bradypodion genus and the “fischeri-group”. The changes outlined in this article will definitely take a little getting used to but I’m pleased Nicolà  was willing to help us do so by outlining them for us.

We’re also announcing the winner of the last photo contest. I’d like to congratulate the winner and thank him for his patience! Finally, Jason has compiled a group of questions for his Q&A column. As usual, submissions for this section can be sent via the online submission form in the contact page or directly to Jason at Jason.Descamps@chameleonnews.com.

Again, I’d like to thank everyone for their patience on the release of this issue, all the kind emails about how useful the site is to them and for taking the time to read this issue. If you have any article ideas, please contact me (Chris.Anderson@chameleonnews.com) and we’ll talk about them. Enjoy the issue,

Chris Anderson
Editor


Christopher V. Anderson


Chris Anderson is a herpetologist currently working on his Ph.D. at the University of South Florida after receiving his B.S. from Cornell University. He has spent time in the jungles of South East Asia, among other areas, aiding in research for publication. He has previously traveled throughout Madagascar in search of, and conducting personal research on, the chameleons of the region. He has traveled to over 35 countries, including chameleon habitat in 6. Currently, Chris is the Editor and Webmaster of the Chameleons! Online E-Zine and is studying the kinematics and morphological basis of ballistic tongue projection and tongue retraction in chameleons for his dissertation. Chris Can be emailed at Chris.Anderson@chameleonnews.com or cvanders@mail.usf.edu.

 

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