Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

The Periodic Table and Organismal Elements

The Periodic Table and Organismal Elements

Elements are the smallest units of matter that cannot be broken down further by chemical processes. There are 118 known elements, but not all of these are naturally occurring, and only a few of them are essential for life. Living matter is composed primarily of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen, with smaller amounts of other elements like calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and sulfur. Other elements are also necessary for life but only in trace amounts.
Periodic Table Provides Information...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Application of 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing in the investigation of novel ovine skin lesions in Norway.

Frontiers in veterinary science·2026

Same author

JWST Observations of Segregated <sup>12</sup>CO<sub>2</sub> and <sup>13</sup>CO<sub>2</sub> Ices in Protostellar Envelopes.

ACS earth & space chemistry·2025

Same author

A crustal Pb isotope map of southeastern Australia.

Scientific data·2024

Same author

TORPP - Turtles, One Health Research & Plastic Pollution: A multidisciplinary consortium to evaluate the environmental and health impact of Micro/NanoPlastics (MNPs) pollution.

One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands)·2024

Same author

Multilocus sequence typing of pathogenic treponemes isolated from contagious ovine digital dermatitis stage five lesions: Implications for disease transmission dynamics.

Research in veterinary science·2024

Same author

Bioaccumulation and metabolic impact of environmental PFAS residue on wild-caught urban wetland tiger snakes (Notechis scutatus).

The Science of the total environment·2023

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 18, 2025

Use of Autometallography to Localize and Semi-Quantify Silver in Cetacean Tissues

Use of Autometallography to Localize and Semi-Quantify Silver in Cetacean Tissues

Published on: October 4, 2018

Snake scales record environmental metal(loid) contamination.

D C Lettoof¹, K Rankenburg², B J McDonald²

¹School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Brand Drive, Bentley, Western Australia, 6102, Australia.

Environmental Pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987)

|February 6, 2021

Summary

Snake scales effectively indicate wetland contamination. Laser ablation with inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) quantified 19 metals in Western tiger snake scales, revealing accumulation and potential bioindicators.

Keywords:

Bioindicator LA-ICP-MS Non-lethal Pollution Urbanisation

More Related Videos

Clean Sampling and Analysis of River and Estuarine Waters for Trace Metal Studies

Clean Sampling and Analysis of River and Estuarine Waters for Trace Metal Studies

Published on: July 1, 2016

Salinity-dependent Toxicity Assay of Silver Nanocolloids Using Medaka Eggs

Salinity-dependent Toxicity Assay of Silver Nanocolloids Using Medaka Eggs

Published on: March 18, 2016

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Nov 18, 2025

Use of Autometallography to Localize and Semi-Quantify Silver in Cetacean Tissues

Use of Autometallography to Localize and Semi-Quantify Silver in Cetacean Tissues

Published on: October 4, 2018

Clean Sampling and Analysis of River and Estuarine Waters for Trace Metal Studies

Clean Sampling and Analysis of River and Estuarine Waters for Trace Metal Studies

Published on: July 1, 2016

Salinity-dependent Toxicity Assay of Silver Nanocolloids Using Medaka Eggs

Salinity-dependent Toxicity Assay of Silver Nanocolloids Using Medaka Eggs

Published on: March 18, 2016

Area of Science:

Environmental Science
Toxicology
Herpetology

Background:

Wetland snakes are crucial bioindicators of contamination.
Livers are traditional but lethal sampling sites; non-lethal methods are preferred.
Snake scales bind metals to keratin, offering a non-lethal sampling alternative.

Purpose of the Study:

To quantify metal concentrations in Western tiger snake scales using LA-ICP-MS.
To assess snake scales as non-lethal bioindicators of wetland contamination.
To compare metal accumulation in wild versus captive snakes and correlate with sediment and liver tissues.

Main Methods:

Laser ablation with inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) quantified 19 metals in snake scales.
Scales from wild Western tiger snakes (Notechis scutatus occidentalis) and captive controls were analyzed.
Scale metal concentrations were compared to wetland sediment and captive snake data.

Main Results:

Wild snake scales showed significantly higher metal concentrations than captive ones, indicating environmental exposure.
Metal patterns in scales mirrored sediment contamination levels across four wetlands.
Four metals (Mn, As, Se, Sb) in scales strongly correlated with liver tissue concentrations.

Conclusions:

Snake scales are a viable non-lethal indicator for assessing wetland contamination.
LA-ICP-MS analysis of scales can detect a wide range of accumulating metals.
This method advances environmental monitoring using bioindicators like wetland snakes.