Three South Australian Snake Handlers have been recognized for their wildlife conservation work in a scientific paper published this week, by having species of geckos named in their honour.

Media release August 2016.

The three men, Ian Renton, Corey Renton and Tim Mensforth have been handling dangerously venomous snakes and other reptiles for decades.
Ian Renton and son Corey Renton have managed Snake-away services, Adelaide’s best known 24/7 emergency snake removal service for decades. Their willingness to remove dangerously venomous snakes from people’s homes at all hours has directly saved many people’s lives. The Rentons also educate about reptiles in Schools, public events and the like.
Tim Mensforth has for many years owned and run “Ultimate Reptile Supplies” (better known as URS), which is a diverse enterprise that among other things manufactures essential items needed to keep captive reptiles in optimal health. URS supplies major zoos and private keepers across Australia as well as internationally including via the retail pet trade. Mensforth’s business also supplies quality captive-bred reptiles to zoos and private keepers, which removes the need to poach specimens from the wild, which would otherwise potentially put species at risk. Author of the relevant paper, Melbourne-based scientist Raymond Hoser (better known as the Snakeman) said “I am glad that I had the opportunity to recognize the great work of these three men from South Australia, by naming Australian gecko species in their honour.” The species, known as Nephrurus (Quazinephrurus) ianrentoni, and N. (Q.) coreyrentoni and Underwoodisaurus mensforthi were all discovered via an audit of molecular and morphological evidence, showing that they had until now been confused with similar species. The author of the relevant paper, Snakeman Raymond Hoser, named another gecko after Adelaide snake catcher Roly Burrell in 2005, that species coming from Ardrossan beach in South Australia. Burrell was a former co-ower of URS. At the time Hoser wrote: “Named in honour of reptile keeper and breeder, Roland (Roly) Burrell, of Reynalla, South Australia, who has over many years bred and supplied to the captive trade hundreds of reptiles. He has been particularly successful with Death Adders (Acanthophis spp.), including the variant known from the type locality of this gecko subspecies.”
The paper that named geckos in honour of the three South Australian snake handlers is cited as follows:
Hoser, R. T. 2016. Carphodactylidae reviewed: Four new genera, four new subgenera, nine new species and four new subspecies within the Australian gecko family (Squamata: Sauria). Australasian Journal of Herpetology 32 (1 August): 3-25.
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