Herpetologist Toni Ip
Toni Ip, a herpetologist specializing in the study of amphibians and reptiles, tells Jan Leung about the risks involved in researching our ancestors.
HK Magazine: Why do these cold-blooded specimens turn you on?
Toni Ip: I love their history. Amphibians and reptiles lived long before dinosaurs or humans. Almost all species evolve at a certain rate, but most amphibians and reptiles look almost exactly the same as they did during the Jurassic period. They didn’t need to change to survive. Their adaptability is astounding!
HK: What are some of the earliest reptiles?
TI: Crocodiles, turtles and lizards are the earliest forms of reptiles. Many lizards, for unknown reasons, lost their legs during the evolution process and became snakes. Strictly speaking, reptiles are the ancestors of dinosaurs and humans.
HK: Tell us about your encounters with our ancestors.
TI: Most of my encounters with snakes occurred in Indonesia. I was once bitten and choked by a 30-foot long boa constrictor. The force was so great that my face grew red and I thought I was going to collapse. Luckily, my friends saved me. The whole thing lasted no more than a minute, but it felt like a lifetime and the bite hurt like hell!
HK: Don’t you feel scared, venturing into those primitive forests?
TI: Sometimes, maybe. But my mind is preoccupied with finding new species, so there isn’t much space left for fear. I’m not one of those adventurers who risks his life for thrills.
HK; Your work involves captive breeding. What does that involve?
TI: The most effective aphrodisiac for a snake seems to be a change in temperature. Once the weather changes from cold to warm, their sexual desire grows – part of my job is to artificially create this kind of temperature change. Amphibians like frogs prefer to breed in the rain, so sometimes I have to turn on the water spray.
HK: Speaking of frogs, I’ve heard frogs that were frozen thousands of years ago can be resuscitated.
TI: This is true. Theoretically, the body stops functioning under a cold condition, but the exact mechanism is unknown. There were studies conducted and some frozen frogs really came back to life after they were defrosted. But the rule doesn’t apply to all species; some frogs just die in a fridge.