The Yucatan Peninsula (YP) is one of the most recognizable parts of Mexico and is characterized by a variety of human activities which are significant sources of metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs). This project adresses the following questions: (1) whether different crocodile populations within the YP are exposed to different chemical contamination levels, released from a variety of human activities?; (2) what are the effects of chemical contaminants and which contaminants cause these effects?; (3) what are the optimal biomarkers for assessing environmental contaminants and its associated effects?. As such, the present research will measure molecular biomarkers to understand the contaminants effects at a molecular level using non-destructive samples. Incorporating transcriptome and metabolome analyses into our research in the YP will allow to identify disturbed biological networks in wild crocodile populations and will provide new mechanistic insights into their toxicological effects. If you are interested in collaborating please contact us: buenfil-rojas.am@outlook.com; mgonzale@uacam.mx

This project involves developing a new VHF-based alternative to more costly telemetry techniques (e.g. GPS, Satellite) currently being used in wildlife studies, by providing an easy to reproduce low-cost open-source technology focused on boosting the trade-off between data obtained vs survey effort & costs. The original plan of this project was to develop a device to be equiped in drones for low-cost autonomous tracking of multiple signals from VHF transmitters at the same time. However, this device is not drone-specific and can also be used to boost conventional VHF telemetry. We are currently trying to develop a script to be integrated into the device for automatically outputting the data obtained by its different components into a single tabular file (e.g CSV), and so are currently looking for enthusiasts with programming knowledge who are interested in collaborating in the development of this software integration. If you are interested in collaborating please contact us: jose.antonio@opwall.com; mgonzale@uacam.mx

Studies exploring the thermoregulatory mechanisms in crocodylians are ever increasing and over the past decade employed the use of a multitude of different tools and methodologies. The use of thermography, through thermal cameras and sensors, was often limited by the difficulty in discerning the exact boundaries between the individuals body limits and the surrounding environment within the framed field of detection. One of the solutions is the combination of imagery produced by both an optical and a thermal sensor. As such, cameras capable of producing multispectral dynamic imagery output thermal images with much higher detail and so allowing more accurate temperature measurements in both the framed individuals and their surrounding environment. This project focus on better understanding thermoregulatory mechanisms in crocodylians and how they use environmental thermic resources by using multispectral thermography combined with corporal and environmental temperature dataloggers. If you are interested in collaborating please contact us: jose.antonio@opwall.com; mgonzale@uacam.mx

Geometric morphometrics is a collection of approaches that provide a mathematical description of biological forms according to geometric definitions of their size and shape (Savriama 2018). In this collaborative project we explore the relationship between the shape and size of the skull with total body length in multiple species of crocodylians. We also investigate how the scutellation patterns (shape, size, distribution and positioning) in the crocodile’s head, cloaca, ventral main body and base of tail vary amongst individuals and gender and if they can be used as an indicative of sexual maturity and individual identification in the studied species. If you are interested in collaborating please contact us: jose.antonio@opwall.com; mgonzale@uacam.mx

Blood analysis is a relatively non-invasive method that can provide important clinical information about health and physiologic condition of animals. In crocodilians, hematologic parameters can also serve to evaluate their exposure to environmental contaminants or toxicants. In this collaborative project we examine blood cell morphology through the evaluation of stained peripheral blood smears, along with the determination of the leukocyte differential count to provide relevant insight and diagnosis of pathological processes in wild crocodile populations in the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula. Additionally, we will be integrating image processing software (Fiji) to streamline the visualization and processing of the cell biology image data. If you are interested in collaborating, please contact us: jose.antonio@opwall.com; sepadill@uacam.mx

The relationship between crocodylians and humans goes back thousands of years. Crocodiles have been revered as sacred animals in some cultures, while in others they have been heavily hunted for their skin, meat, and other body parts. Overall, the human-crocodile relationship is spatially and temporally complex and multifaceted and influenced by cultural, environmental, and societal factors. This project has a strong science and environmental education regarding the human-crocodile interaction in the state of Campeche in Mexico, where amongst other activities it involves: 1) active involvement in the SOS crocodile program and highlighting the wildlife orientation value of crocodiles (e.g. baseline training in crocodile handling to the firefighters and police officials); 2) documenting the history of crocodile ranching in Campeche (the idea is to interview key people from the crocodile industry, from the pioneers to the most recent, to write and record their motivations, expectations, achievements, failures and challenges so to compile an accurate historical account and evaluate what that can tell us going forward). If you are interested in collaborating, please contact us: jose.antonio@opwall.com; sepadill@uacam.mx