Declines, denial and disconnect: Victorian reptiles in a time of mass extinction

Nick Clemann will outline the “Sixth Extinction”, and how the reptiles of south-eastern Australia exemplify this bio-catastrophe. Our planet is entering a mass extinction event unmatched in 66 million years. Although charismatic megafauna feature in this ‘Sixth Extinction’, and get the lion’s share of attention from the public, lesser known species make up the bulk of the losses, yet fare poorly in terms of conservation attention and funding. Reptiles are the least popular of the terrestrial vertebrates, and are therefore particularly challenging to conserve. To highlight the value of some our least popular fauna, Nick will conclude with the story of Venom Bank – a new biological resource that explores the biopotential of venoms.

Nick leads the Threatened Fauna Program at the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research.