Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
@dr-mafeta-phaka.bsky.social
Researcher of herptile-human interactions. Author of Bilingual Guide to the Frogs of Zululand. Wildlife TV Producer. Multiple awards for inclusive science.
Pinned
Naming South African frogs and reptiles in nine Indigenous languages
Scientific taxonomy, as a standardised means of communicating about wildlife, might have limited use or relevance for wildlife conservation stakeholders with minimal understanding of scientific nam...
www.tandfonline.com
A project 4 years in the making! 7 years if you count the pilot phase.
Names of South Africa's frogs and reptiles finally published in all 11 official languages. This is herpetology meets science communication and environmental justice.
🇿🇦 🐸 🐊 🐍 🐢
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Names of South Africa's frogs and reptiles finally published in all 11 official languages. This is herpetology meets science communication and environmental justice.
🇿🇦 🐸 🐊 🐍 🐢
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Find yourself someone who thinks about you the way I think about frogs.
BTS of latest shoot with @southafricaconventions
#MeetInSouthAfrica #FindYourJoyInSouthAfrica
BTS of latest shoot with @southafricaconventions
#MeetInSouthAfrica #FindYourJoyInSouthAfrica
December 7, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Find yourself someone who thinks about you the way I think about frogs.
BTS of latest shoot with @southafricaconventions
#MeetInSouthAfrica #FindYourJoyInSouthAfrica
BTS of latest shoot with @southafricaconventions
#MeetInSouthAfrica #FindYourJoyInSouthAfrica
Tried putting one of my problems behind me, and it smiled.
Small dogs are such loveable menaces.
Small dogs are such loveable menaces.
December 7, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Tried putting one of my problems behind me, and it smiled.
Small dogs are such loveable menaces.
Small dogs are such loveable menaces.
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
I love Letters to a Pre-Scientist week! This round, my pre-scientist pen pal (whose stem interest was "not at all") asked me about cool lizards. I doubt they've ever seen this buff worm! (Mexican worm lizard, Bipes biporus)
December 3, 2025 at 4:49 PM
I love Letters to a Pre-Scientist week! This round, my pre-scientist pen pal (whose stem interest was "not at all") asked me about cool lizards. I doubt they've ever seen this buff worm! (Mexican worm lizard, Bipes biporus)
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
🧵 1/2 For #WorldWildlifeConservationDay I'm highlighting a project I've been involved with since 2013, with Don Becker (L) and Chris Smith (R). HerpMapper uses camera & GPS capabilities of smartphones to record amphibian & reptile observations. Over a half million observation records to date...
December 4, 2025 at 6:10 PM
🧵 1/2 For #WorldWildlifeConservationDay I'm highlighting a project I've been involved with since 2013, with Don Becker (L) and Chris Smith (R). HerpMapper uses camera & GPS capabilities of smartphones to record amphibian & reptile observations. Over a half million observation records to date...
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
A study of introductions of large herbivorous mammals outside their native range suggests they do more harm than good to local biodiversity. Only 1 in 5 impacts is positive. Positive effects on certain native species often come at a cost to other natives. #bioinvasions www.unifr.ch/news/en/3344...
Saving a species but at the expense of others?
The way to hell is paved with good intentions. In the hope of saving certain endangered species and ecosystems, some conservation projects propose the introduction of large plant-feeding mammals int...
www.unifr.ch
November 30, 2025 at 2:05 AM
A study of introductions of large herbivorous mammals outside their native range suggests they do more harm than good to local biodiversity. Only 1 in 5 impacts is positive. Positive effects on certain native species often come at a cost to other natives. #bioinvasions www.unifr.ch/news/en/3344...
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
ICYMI: New online! Conservation priorities for global amphibian biodiversity
Conservation priorities for global amphibian biodiversity
Nature Reviews Biodiversity, Published online: 20 November 2025; doi:10.1038/s44358-025-00101-5Amphibians are the most threatened vertebrate group but receive a disproportionately small fraction of conservation funding. In this Review, the authors discuss the status of amphibian conservation, highlighting examples of successful initiatives that have occurred despite global funding challenges.
bit.ly
November 27, 2025 at 7:34 PM
ICYMI: New online! Conservation priorities for global amphibian biodiversity
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
It's not just a tuxedo: African penguins can recognize their mates by the pattern of black dots on their chest.
Learn more: https://scim.ag/4ogGpto #ScienceMagArchives
Learn more: https://scim.ag/4ogGpto #ScienceMagArchives
November 29, 2025 at 8:51 PM
It's not just a tuxedo: African penguins can recognize their mates by the pattern of black dots on their chest.
Learn more: https://scim.ag/4ogGpto #ScienceMagArchives
Learn more: https://scim.ag/4ogGpto #ScienceMagArchives
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
Logging and mining are destroying swathes of the Congo rainforest, with the result that African forests went from being a carbon sink to a carbon source in 2010 to 2017
Africa’s forests are now emitting more CO2 than they absorb
Logging and mining are destroying swathes of the Congo rainforest, with the result that African forests went from being a carbon sink to a carbon source in 2010 to 2017
www.newscientist.com
November 30, 2025 at 5:16 AM
Logging and mining are destroying swathes of the Congo rainforest, with the result that African forests went from being a carbon sink to a carbon source in 2010 to 2017
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
I just published a new article about turtles in Japanese folklore and culture including folktales, yokai, ghosts, and art. I really hope you enjoy it! 🐢
open.substack.com/pub/curiouso...
#JapaneseFolklore #JapaneseArt
open.substack.com/pub/curiouso...
#JapaneseFolklore #JapaneseArt
Turtles in Japanese Folklore and Culture
Folktales, yokai, symbolism and art
open.substack.com
November 29, 2025 at 11:38 AM
I just published a new article about turtles in Japanese folklore and culture including folktales, yokai, ghosts, and art. I really hope you enjoy it! 🐢
open.substack.com/pub/curiouso...
#JapaneseFolklore #JapaneseArt
open.substack.com/pub/curiouso...
#JapaneseFolklore #JapaneseArt
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
Dreaming of a high-impact research career? Apply for the 2026 IIASA YSSP! 🌟Early-career researchers from Sub-Saharan Africa: join our 2-hour YSSP Masterclass for insider tips, proposal guidance, and chats with IIASA experts & alumni.
📅 4 Dec | 1pm CET
Info: iiasa.ac.at/events/dec-2...
📅 4 Dec | 1pm CET
Info: iiasa.ac.at/events/dec-2...
November 28, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Dreaming of a high-impact research career? Apply for the 2026 IIASA YSSP! 🌟Early-career researchers from Sub-Saharan Africa: join our 2-hour YSSP Masterclass for insider tips, proposal guidance, and chats with IIASA experts & alumni.
📅 4 Dec | 1pm CET
Info: iiasa.ac.at/events/dec-2...
📅 4 Dec | 1pm CET
Info: iiasa.ac.at/events/dec-2...
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
Don’t forget about the #FindThatLizard Scholarship!! Please share
#science #scholarship #funding #herps #HERpers #lizards #snakes #frogs #salamanders #game #challenge #education
#science #scholarship #funding #herps #HERpers #lizards #snakes #frogs #salamanders #game #challenge #education
November 28, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Don’t forget about the #FindThatLizard Scholarship!! Please share
#science #scholarship #funding #herps #HERpers #lizards #snakes #frogs #salamanders #game #challenge #education
#science #scholarship #funding #herps #HERpers #lizards #snakes #frogs #salamanders #game #challenge #education
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
Christine Webb's provocative and moving book The Arrogant Ape explores our unjustifiable sense of superiority in the living world, laying out the evidence against it, says Elle Hunt
Smart new book takes an axe to the myth of human exceptionalism
Christine Webb's provocative and moving book The Arrogant Ape explores our unjustifiable sense of superiority in the living world, laying out the evidence against it, says Elle Hunt
www.newscientist.com
November 17, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Christine Webb's provocative and moving book The Arrogant Ape explores our unjustifiable sense of superiority in the living world, laying out the evidence against it, says Elle Hunt
Me: Look, a Green Drab Moth.
My 7yr old: But it’s not green.
Me: I can’t wait for you to start learning bird names.
My 7yr old: But it’s not green.
Me: I can’t wait for you to start learning bird names.
November 17, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Me: Look, a Green Drab Moth.
My 7yr old: But it’s not green.
Me: I can’t wait for you to start learning bird names.
My 7yr old: But it’s not green.
Me: I can’t wait for you to start learning bird names.
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
A boom of methane gas (#LNG) expansion projects in Mozambique has resulted in displacement, immense violence, and will have massive local & global climate impacts. Yet, banks like Chase STILL finance it. Learn more: https://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org/mozambique-lng-25
#BankingOnClimateChaos
#BankingOnClimateChaos
Global Banks persist in financing LNG expansion in Mozambique intensifying violence, displacement and environmental devastation - Banking on Climate Chaos
This is a case study to accompany Banking on Climate Chaos: Fossil Fuel Finance Report 2025, produced in collaboration with Justiça Ambiental (JA!)/Friends of the Earth Mozambique, and BankTrack. In.....
www.bankingonclimatechaos.org
November 14, 2025 at 4:14 PM
A boom of methane gas (#LNG) expansion projects in Mozambique has resulted in displacement, immense violence, and will have massive local & global climate impacts. Yet, banks like Chase STILL finance it. Learn more: https://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org/mozambique-lng-25
#BankingOnClimateChaos
#BankingOnClimateChaos
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
We're snailposting, post your snails !
November 10, 2025 at 9:05 AM
We're snailposting, post your snails !
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
If you have grad students working on climate change and global justice, please share with them this call for abstracts for a conference put on by grad students in the University of Washington's philosophy department.
philevents.org/event/show/1...
philevents.org/event/show/1...
Climate Change and Global Justice
The Department of Philosophy at the University of Washington, Seattle is proud to announce a graduate conference titled Climate Change and Global Justice to be held on the UW Seattle campus on April 1...
philevents.org
November 4, 2025 at 10:34 PM
If you have grad students working on climate change and global justice, please share with them this call for abstracts for a conference put on by grad students in the University of Washington's philosophy department.
philevents.org/event/show/1...
philevents.org/event/show/1...
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
A new post about the three #newspecies of toad we have just described from Tanzania, feat @christianthrane.bsky.social, Simon Loader, @alicepetzold.bsky.social, John Lyakurwa, and Michele Menegon! 🧪🐸🇹🇿
www.markscherz.com/archives/6208
www.markscherz.com/archives/6208
Three new live-bearing toads from Tanzania!
This week we have published an exciting new paper describing three new species of bumpy, bright-coloured, live-bearing, tree-dwelling toads from the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania! You can read …
www.markscherz.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:34 PM
A new post about the three #newspecies of toad we have just described from Tanzania, feat @christianthrane.bsky.social, Simon Loader, @alicepetzold.bsky.social, John Lyakurwa, and Michele Menegon! 🧪🐸🇹🇿
www.markscherz.com/archives/6208
www.markscherz.com/archives/6208
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
Animals and the history of natural history, or, what would natural history look like had Charles Darwin been a cat person? With @professorbopeep.bsky.social and Anya Zilberstein @animalhistory.bsky.social www.ucpress.edu/blog-posts/a...
Animals and the History of Natural History
We see the concept of nonhuman cultures and their historicity as one of the most significant and fascinating recent developments in the field.
www.ucpress.edu
October 29, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Animals and the history of natural history, or, what would natural history look like had Charles Darwin been a cat person? With @professorbopeep.bsky.social and Anya Zilberstein @animalhistory.bsky.social www.ucpress.edu/blog-posts/a...
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
Ecotourism has transformed jaguars in the Pantanal from hunted predators into valuable attractions. But overcrowding, with up to 30 boats surrounding a single animal, risks stressing wildlife and eroding visitor experiences.
Read more in Mongabay: https://ow.ly/9LA650X92Km
Read more in Mongabay: https://ow.ly/9LA650X92Km
In Brazil’s Pantanal, too many tourists may be the jaguar’s new predator
PORTO JOFRE, Brazil — When Oscar de Morais isn’t out tracking jaguars, you’ll find him aboard his houseboat moored along the banks of the São Lourenço River. He sits beneath a mosquito net on two stacked blue plastic chairs, watching Brazilian soap operas while a fan blows warm air his way. That is, until someone […]
ow.ly
November 4, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Ecotourism has transformed jaguars in the Pantanal from hunted predators into valuable attractions. But overcrowding, with up to 30 boats surrounding a single animal, risks stressing wildlife and eroding visitor experiences.
Read more in Mongabay: https://ow.ly/9LA650X92Km
Read more in Mongabay: https://ow.ly/9LA650X92Km
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
Dominican nuns at a monastery in Mexico have become unlikely conservation heroes, maintaining the world’s largest captive population of critically endangered achoque salamanders, which number fewer than 150 in the wild.
Nuns, scientists & microchips: An alliance to save Mexico’s achoque salamanders
In a monastery beside a 16th-century basilica in Pátzcuaro, Mexico, Dominican nuns move between rows of aquarium tanks, checking water quality and feeding earthworms to hundreds of brown salamanders…
news.mongabay.com
October 28, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Dominican nuns at a monastery in Mexico have become unlikely conservation heroes, maintaining the world’s largest captive population of critically endangered achoque salamanders, which number fewer than 150 in the wild.
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
In Ed Sayers's breathtaking documentary, a global community of film-makers capture the wildlife in their local areas. It's a bold departure from the glossy perspective of traditional nature documentaries, says Simon Ings
Nature documentary shot on Super 8 film is ravishing and unpredictable
In Ed Sayers's breathtaking documentary, a global community of film-makers capture the wildlife in their local areas. It's a bold departure from the glossy perspective of traditional nature documentaries, says Simon Ings
www.newscientist.com
November 3, 2025 at 1:10 PM
In Ed Sayers's breathtaking documentary, a global community of film-makers capture the wildlife in their local areas. It's a bold departure from the glossy perspective of traditional nature documentaries, says Simon Ings
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
Adding to my Middle Earth life list, the Giant Sungazer (Smaug giganteus), endemic to highland grasslands in South Africa. They live in self-dug burrows and eat invertebrates and small vertebrates. Low and slow birthrates leave them vulnerable. #herps #lizards #NaturePhotography 🌿
November 2, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Adding to my Middle Earth life list, the Giant Sungazer (Smaug giganteus), endemic to highland grasslands in South Africa. They live in self-dug burrows and eat invertebrates and small vertebrates. Low and slow birthrates leave them vulnerable. #herps #lizards #NaturePhotography 🌿
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
The Bugs & Beasties Banquet - 15th century, Kraków, MNK 3025 I, p. 411
October 17, 2025 at 4:43 AM
The Bugs & Beasties Banquet - 15th century, Kraków, MNK 3025 I, p. 411
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
Reposted by Dr Fortunate Mafeta Phaka
🌱✨ Agroecology Map App 2.0.2 is here! 🌍💚 Now available in 🇧🇷 Portuguese, 🇫🇷 French, and 🇪🇸 Spanish! Enjoy smoother navigation, ❤️ “Like” button for localizations, and 🚀 faster performance. Let’s grow the global agroecology network together! 🌾🤝🌻 #Agroecology
🔗 agroecologymap.org/mobile
🔗 agroecologymap.org/mobile
October 24, 2025 at 11:02 PM
🌱✨ Agroecology Map App 2.0.2 is here! 🌍💚 Now available in 🇧🇷 Portuguese, 🇫🇷 French, and 🇪🇸 Spanish! Enjoy smoother navigation, ❤️ “Like” button for localizations, and 🚀 faster performance. Let’s grow the global agroecology network together! 🌾🤝🌻 #Agroecology
🔗 agroecologymap.org/mobile
🔗 agroecologymap.org/mobile