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March 13, 2009

Biologist confronts “snaky” movie myths March 17 as part of monthly lecture series at ËÄÉ«AV’s Museum of Natural History

Starting with Adam and Eve’s encounter, snakes have taken a hit to their image for years.

It hasn’t helped that the motion picture industry often diverts from the facts when using snakes to scare the wits (and other things) out of folks. But myths often need a little debunking, so the public is invited to a public lecture titled “Snakes: Farces and Facts in Films,” at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 17, at the Museum of Natural History on the campus of the University of Louisiana at Monroe. The museum is located on the third floor of Sandel Hall.

Professor of Biological Sciences and Assistant Dean, Brian I. Crother, of Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, will present the lecture.

Crother and other biologists believe an innate fear of these legless vertebrates has been passed on through the generations, so it is only natural that moviemakers would turn to snakes as the principal character of countless horror films. This lecture will examine celluloid-created snakes and compare them with the real thing. Be prepared for lots of pictures, some graphic.

For example, anacondas are certainly big enough to eat people, but just how big do they really get? And are all those snakes in the film, Snakes on a Plane, really deadly? Crother will explore these and other topics as part of his interesting and diverse talk about one of the world’s most reviled movie creatures.

About the lecturer: Crother earned his Ph.D. from the University of Miami in Florida, and conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Texas in Austin. He has over 70 publications, on a broad range of topics including a book on Caribbean amphibians and reptiles. He is active in several professional organizations and is the current president of the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, the world’s largest professional herpetological society. His research interests are broad but often cover amphibians and reptiles and/or evolution.

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