Toxicon: X (Jul 2021)
Citizen science and online data: Opportunities and challenges for snake ecology and action against snakebiteList of recommendations
- Andrew M. Durso,
- Rafael Ruiz de Castañeda,
- Camille Montalcini,
- M. Rosa Mondardini,
- Jose L. Fernandez-Marques,
- François Grey,
- Martin M. Müller,
- Peter Uetz,
- Benjamin M. Marshall,
- Russell J. Gray,
- Christopher E. Smith,
- Donald Becker,
- Michael Pingleton,
- Jose Louies,
- Arthur D. Abegg,
- Jeannot Akuboy,
- Gabriel Alcoba,
- Jennifer C. Daltry,
- Omar M. Entiauspe-Neto,
- Paul Freed,
- Marco Antonio de Freitas,
- Xavier Glaudas,
- Song Huang,
- Tianqi Huang,
- Yatin Kalki,
- Yosuke Kojima,
- Anne Laudisoit,
- Kul Prasad Limbu,
- José G. Martínez-Fonseca,
- Konrad Mebert,
- Mark-Oliver Rödel,
- Sara Ruane,
- Manuel Ruedi,
- Andreas Schmitz,
- Sarah A. Tatum,
- Frank Tillack,
- Avinash Visvanathan,
- Wolfgang Wüster,
- Isabelle Bolon
Affiliations
- Andrew M. Durso
- Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers, FL, USA; Institute of Global Health, Department of Community Health and Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Corresponding author.
- Rafael Ruiz de Castañeda
- Institute of Global Health, Department of Community Health and Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
- Camille Montalcini
- University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- M. Rosa Mondardini
- Citizen Science Center Zürich (ETH Zürich and University of Zürich), Zürich, Switzerland
- Jose L. Fernandez-Marques
- University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- François Grey
- University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Martin M. Müller
- École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva, Switzerland
- Peter Uetz
- The Reptile Database, Richmond, VA, USA; Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
- Benjamin M. Marshall
- Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand
- Russell J. Gray
- R. J. Gray Ecology, New Smyrna Beach, FL, USA
- Christopher E. Smith
- HerpMapper, St. Paul, MN, USA
- Donald Becker
- HerpMapper, Cedar Rapids, IA, USA
- Michael Pingleton
- HerpMapper, Champaign, IL, USA
- Jose Louies
- Indian Snakes, Kottayam, Kerala, India
- Arthur D. Abegg
- Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; University of São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- Jeannot Akuboy
- University of Kisangani, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Gabriel Alcoba
- University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
- Jennifer C. Daltry
- Flora & Fauna International, Cambridge, England, UK; Global Wildlife Conservation, Austin, TX, USA
- Omar M. Entiauspe-Neto
- Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
- Paul Freed
- The Reptile Database, Richmond, VA, USA; Reptile Database, Scotts Mills, OR, USA
- Marco Antonio de Freitas
- Murici Ecological Station, Murici, Alagoas, Brazil
- Xavier Glaudas
- University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Bangor University, Bangor, Wales, UK
- Song Huang
- Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, Anhui, China
- Tianqi Huang
- Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
- Yatin Kalki
- Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, India
- Yosuke Kojima
- Toho University, Funabashi, Japan
- Anne Laudisoit
- EcoHealth Alliance, New York, NY, USA
- Kul Prasad Limbu
- Tribhuvan University, Biratnagar, Nepal
- José G. Martínez-Fonseca
- Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
- Konrad Mebert
- Global Biology, Birr, Switzerland; Institute of Development, Ecology, Conservation & Cooperation, Rome, Italy
- Mark-Oliver Rödel
- Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
- Sara Ruane
- Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA
- Manuel Ruedi
- Museum d'Histoire naturelle Geneve, Geneva, Switzerland
- Andreas Schmitz
- Museum d'Histoire naturelle Geneve, Geneva, Switzerland
- Sarah A. Tatum
- University of North Georgia, Dahlonega, GA, USA
- Frank Tillack
- Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
- Avinash Visvanathan
- Friends of Snakes Society, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
- Wolfgang Wüster
- Molecular Ecology and Fisheries Genetics Laboratory, School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Wales, UK
- Isabelle Bolon
- Institute of Global Health, Department of Community Health and Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Journal volume & issue
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Vol. 9
p. 100071
Abstract
The secretive behavior and life history of snakes makes studying their biology, distribution, and the epidemiology of venomous snakebite challenging. One of the most useful, most versatile, and easiest to collect types of biological data are photographs, particularly those that are connected with geographic location and date-time metadata. Photos verify occurrence records, provide data on phenotypes and ecology, and are often used to illustrate new species descriptions, field guides and identification keys, as well as in training humans and computer vision algorithms to identify snakes. We scoured eleven online and two offline sources of snake photos in an attempt to collect as many photos of as many snake species as possible, and attempt to explain some of the inter-species variation in photograph quantity among global regions and taxonomic groups, and with regard to medical importance, human population density, and range size. We collected a total of 725,565 photos—between 1 and 48,696 photos of 3098 of the world's 3879 snake species (79.9%), leaving 781 “most wanted” species with no photos (20.1% of all currently-described species as of the December 2020 release of The Reptile Database). We provide a list of most wanted species sortable by family, continent, authority, and medical importance, and encourage snake photographers worldwide to submit photos and associated metadata, particularly of “missing” species, to the most permanent and useful online archives: The Reptile Database, iNaturalist, and HerpMapper.
