Natural history notes: Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta (Black rat snake). Predation
No abstract available.
Herpetological Review↗
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Natural history notes: Gyrinophilus porphyriticus danielsi (Blue-ridge Spring Salamander). Arboreality
No abstract available.
Herpetological Review↗
Gopherus polyphemus (Gopher Tortoise) adult mortality
Gopherus polyphemus has typically high adult survivorship, with some populations reaching a mean annual survivorship of 93.4% (Howell et al. 2019. J. Wildl. Manage. 84:56–65). Instances of adult mortality are not commonly reported outside of large mortality events, and most often result from disease, starvation, dehydration, or chronic stress (Gates et al. 2002. Florida Sci. 65:185– 197; Cozad et al. 2020. Front. Vet. Sci. 7:120). Adult G. polyphemus also have few natural predators, which include Canis familiaris (Domestic Dog), Canis latrans (Coyote), and Lynx rufus (Bobcat; Ashton and Ashton 2008. The Natural History and Management of the Gopher Tortoise—Gopherus polyphemus [Daudin]. Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida. 275 pp.).
Herpetological Review↗
Additions to the reptile fauna of Paraguay with notes on a small herpetological collection from Amambay
Specimens in a small collections of reptiles and amphibians from Parque Nacional Cerro Cora, Departamento Amambay, Paraguay are reported. Included are the first records of Bachia bresslaui, Phrynops gibbus, and Ololygon fuscomarginata for that country. Brief notes on morphology, distribution, and natural history of species collected are included. The systematic status of Phrynops tuberculatus vanderhaegei is evaluated.
Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment↗
Nocturnal arboreality in snakes in the swamplands of the Atchafalaya Basin of south-central Louisiana and Big Thicket National Preserve of Southeast Texas
The southeastern United States is home to a diverse assemblage of snakes, but only one species, the Rough Greensnake ( Opheodrys aestivus ), is considered specialized for a predominantly arboreal lifestyle. Other species, such as Ratsnakes (genus Pantherophis ) and Ribbonsnakes/Gartersnakes (genus Thamnophis ), are widely known to climb into vegetation and trees. Some explanations given for snake climbing behavior are foraging, thermoregulation, predator avoidance, and response to flood. Reports of arboreality in snake species typically not associated with life in the trees (such as terrestrial, aquatic, and even fossorial species) usually come from single observations, with no knowledge of prevalence of the behavior. Here, we report on arboreality of snake species detected during 8 years of night surveys in the Atchafalaya Basin of south-central Louisiana and 5+ years of night surveys in Big Thicket National Preserve in southeast Texas. We recorded a total of 1,088 detections of 19 snake species between the two study areas, with 348 detections above ground level (32%). The Rough Greensnake and Western Ribbonsnake ( Thamnophis proximus ) accounted for nearly 75% of total arboreal detections among the two study areas. However, with one exception, all snake species detected more than once between both study areas had at least one arboreal detection. These observations demonstrate that snakes with widely varying natural histories may be found in the trees at night, and for some species, this behavior may be more common than previously believed.
Louisiana, Texas↗
Boa constrictor (Boa constrictor): foraging behavior
Boa constrictor is often referred to as a sit-and-wait or ambush forager that chooses locations to maximize the likelihood of prey encounters (Greene 1983. In Janzen [ed.], Costa Rica Natural History, pp. 380-382. Univ. Chicago Press, Illinois). However, as more is learned about the natural history of snakes in general, the dichotomy between active versus ambush foraging is becoming blurred. Herein, we describe an instance of diurnal active foraging by a B. constrictor, illustrating that this species exhibits a range of foraging behaviors.
Herpetological Review↗
Natural history, field ecology, conservation biology and wildlife management: Time to connect the dots
Natural history and field ecology are essential building blocks for successful conservation and management of herpetofauna. Thus, natural history and field ecology merit major infusions of funding and increased recognition of their importance in science and management. Others have stated matters well: (1) Academic training in natural history should receive high priority; (2) we need to integrate our work across disciplines (from molecules to communities), and use all of our knowledge toward common goals; (3) natural history is not dead but today is a flourishing enterprise; and (4) mutual respect and collaboration between disciplines best serve our own mental health as well as the future of natural history. We need to merge the best natural history, field ecological data, and biological questions with the latest advances in other fields of inquiry if we are to advance science and solve key environmental issues. It takes a scientific community and many concerned parties to save a species, let alone an ecosystem. We must connect these dots to see the big picture.
Herpetological Conservation and Biology↗
Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi (Valley Gartersnake). Coloration.
During surveys for Thamnophis gigas (Giant Gartersnake), I observed an adult T. sirtalis fitchi with unusual coloration— a yellow-cream background color with some typical red coloration laterally, but with very minimal amounts of the dark slate-black (along the sides of the yellow dorsal stripe and on top of the head) that normally predominates in this subspecies (Fig. 1; LACM [Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County] PC 2339, photo voucher). The snake was captured in a modified minnow trap on 21 May 2017, in Sutter County, Sacramento Valley, California, USA. Prior to this capture, our survey crew made two sightings of similarly marked T. s. fitchi at the same field location, and another snake with similar markings was captured at a nearby field location on 13 May 2016 (LACM PC 2341, photo voucher).
Herpetological Review↗
Osteopilus septentrionalis (Cuban treefrog)
USA: LOUISIANA: east baton Rouge paRish: private property in a garden center on a bromeliad in the 1700 block of Millerville Road in Baton Rouge (ca. 30.443°N, 91.023°W; WGS 84). 29 November 2016. Joseph Roy. Verified by Hardin Waddle. Florida Museum of Natural History (UF 181952; photo voucher). New parish record. This sub-adult was discovered after the bromeliad was bought and placed outdoors under heat lights. It was not collected. A second individual, also not collected, was found at a nursery on a bromeliad in the greenhouse in the 15000 block of Perkins Road in Baton Rouge (ca. 30.357°N, 91.049°W; WGS 84) on 24 January 2017 by Joseph Roy (UF 181953; photo voucher).
Herpetological Review↗
Aspidoscelis deppii (black-bellied racerunner). Predation by turkey vulture.
Aspidoscelis deppii is widely distributed from Veracruz and Michoacan, Mexico, to Costa Rica (Köhler et al. 2006. The Amphibians and Reptiles of El Salvador, Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida. 238 pp.). Neotropical lizards are abundant and common prey to all classes of terrestrial vertebrates, and bird predation of lizards is well known. The Turkey Vulture (Carthartes aura) is widely distributed from southern Canada south to South America and is present throughout the entire range of A. deppii, where it occupies a variety of open and forested habitats and feeds opportunistically on a wide range of wild and domestic carrion. While almost exclusively a scavenger, this species is known to rarely kill small animals or invertebrates (Kirk and Mossman 1998. In A. Poole [ed.], The Birds of North America Online. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca; accessed 15 August 2013). An adult Turkey Vulture was collected during avian control to minimize wildlife hazards at the Aeropuerto Internacional de El Salvador (ca. 50 km SE of San Salvador, 13.4408°N 89.0556°W; datum WGS84) on 10 July 2012 and subsequently cataloged (USNM 646876) in the Bird Division at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) in Washington, DC. Dissection during preparation of the bird as a museum specimen revealed a male A. deppii (ca. 56 mm SVL) in the stomach. It was cataloged at the NMNH in the Division of Amphibians and Reptiles (USNM 580989). Tissue samples were removed from both the lizard and the bird and deposited in the biorepository at the NMNH. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first documented record identifying A. deppii as a prey item of the Turkey Vulture.
Aeropuerto Internacional de El Salvador↗
Osteopilus septentrionalis (Cuban treefrog)
USA: LOUISIANA: St. Tammany Parish: on private property on Allen Road in Slidell (ca. 30.262°N, 89.741°W; WGS 84). 2 April 2013. Aaron Steece. Verified by Hardin Waddle. Florida Museum of Natural History (UF 177727, photo voucher). New parish record. This adult was found ca. 2 m high on a branch at the edge of a wooded area behind a house. It was photographed and released, as the species identity and significance was unknown. The origin of this individual is unknown. The homeowner stated that he bought nursery plants often, but checked them thoroughly as he put them indoors. Since this initial finding, the homeowner learned more about Cuban Treefrogs and searched for them on many occasions at this location for two years, but detected no additional Cuban Treefrogs.
Louisiana↗
Uta stansburiana and Elgaria multicarinata on the California Channel Islands: Natural dispersal or artificial introduction?
Uta stansburiana and Elgaria multicarinata occur on several California Channel Islands, and recent introduction of some populations has been suggested because of similarity in life-history traits and body size to mainland populations. We sequenced representatives of each species from mainland southern California and some of the islands on which they occur. For each species, cytochrome b sequence divergence is low across the narrow geographic area sampled. Analyses of 14 haplotypes of U. stansburiana suggest long-established residency on Santa Catalina and San Clemente Islands but more recent arrival on San Nicolas and Santa Cruz Islands. Analyses of eight haplotypes of E. multicarinata suggest these lizards may have been recently transported to San Nicolas Island.
Journal of Herpetology↗
Storeria occipitomaculata obscura (Florida red-bellied snake)
USA: LOUISIANA: Vermilion Parish: Palmetto Island State Park (29.86335°N, 92.14848°W; WGS 84). 19 February 2016. Lindy J. Muse. Verified by Jeff Boundy. Florida Museum of Natural History (UF 177730, photo voucher). New parish record (Dundee and Rossman 1989. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Louisiana. Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 300 pp.). Storeria occipitomaculata obscura has not been documented in any of the coastal parishes of Louisiana (Boundy. 2006. Snakes of Louisiana. Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 40 pp.). However, this species can be difficult to find in southern Louisiana and other populations in coastal parishes may eventually be discovered. This adult individual (SVL = 292 mm; TL = 70 mm) was found under a log in a wet bottomland forest dominated by Dwarf Palmetto and Bald Cypress.
Herpetological Review↗
Coluber (= Masticophis) flagellum piceus (Red Racer). Arboreal/nocturnal behavior
Many species of snakes display arboreal behavior and are often found in vegetation many meters above ground. Mojave Desert snake species rarely get very far above the ground surface and are perhaps limited by predominantly low growing vegetation. Coluber flagellum piceus is considered strictly diurnal and although may ascend vegetation while active, is thought to retreat to subterranean refugia at night. Werler and Dixon (2000. Texas Snakes: Identification, Distribution, and Natural History. University of Texas Press, Austin. 437 pp.) stated “The western coachwhip is active above ground only during daylight hours. It almost invariably retires to depths of an animal burrow before sundown, where it spends the night.” The normal morning activity period for C. flagellum appears to be from approximately 0700–1000 h from June through September (Jones and Whitford 1989. Southwest. Nat. 34:460–467). Secor and Nagy (1994. Ecology 75:1600–1614), and Secor (1995. Herpetol. Monogr. 9:169–186) determined that the average body temperature for active above ground activity of C. flagellum was (33.1°C + 0.1°C, range of 24.0°C–40.8°C, N = 502), stating that coachwhip snakes were seldom active on the surface with body temperatures below 28°C. Here, I report a C. f. piceus that apparently spent the night draped in a Creosote Bush ( Larrea tridentata ).
Nevada↗
Hemidactylus parvimaculatus (Sri Lankan spotted house gecko)
USA: LOUISIANA: PLAQUEMINES PARISH: 0.15 km S of the intersection of LA-23 and Jump road, Venice (29.266630°N, 89.35570°W; WGS 84). 2 May 2019. V. C. Montross and W. McGighan. Verified by Aaron M. Bauer. Florida Museum of Natural History (UF 189238; photo voucher). New parish record. On 2 May 2019, three Hemidactylus parvimaculatus were observed after lifting an abandoned door left on the side of Jump Basin Road. An adult specimen was photographed. This record extends the known distribution of this species in Louisiana south of all previously recorded parishes and is 105 km SW of the species’ first recorded location in the state at Audubon Zoo, Orleans Parish (Heckard et al. 2013. IRCF Reptil. Amphib. 20:192–196). Four additional parishes in southeastern Louisiana have since been added to its known distribution including Jefferson (Borgardt 2015. Herpetol. Rev. 46:217), St. Tammany (Glorioso 2016. Herpetol. Rev. 47:81), St. John (Borgardt 2016. Herpetol. Rev. 47:258), and Tangipahoa (Erdman 2017. Herpetol. Rev. 48:125), as well as Chambers and Orange counties in east Texas (Davis and LaDuc 2019. Herpetol. Rev. 50:102).
Louisiana↗
Storeria occipitomaculata (Red-bellied Snake)
STORERIA OCCIPITOMACULATA (Red-bellied Snake). USA: LOUISIANA: St. Mary Parish: Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge (29.69425N, 91.46701W; WGS 84). 18 August 2022. William C. Carroll and Aidan G. Phillips. Verified by Coleman M. Sheehy III. Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida (UF 193423; photo voucher). Adult photographed in leaf litter in a wet bottomland hardwood forest with a mixed composition of hardwood trees and Dwarf Palmetto (Sabal minor). New parish record (Dundee and Rossman 1989. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Louisiana. Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 300 pp.). The snake was found 68.5 km to the east-southeast from the nearest other documented specimen in Vermilion Parish (UF 177730; Muse et al. 2016. Herpetol. Rev. 47:266). This record is the second documentation of S. occipitomaculata in a coastal Louisiana parish (Muse et al. 2016, op. cit.). These two recent findings challenge our previous understanding that this species is absent from coastal parishes (Boundy and Carr 2017. Amphibians & Reptiles of Louisiana: An Identification and Reference Guide. Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 282 pp.). Storeria occipitomaculata is fossorial and can be difficult to locate, but these two recent records suggest additional populations may yet be discovered where suitable forested habitat exists along the coast.
Louisiana↗
Hemidactylus parvimaculatus (Sri Lankan spotted house gecko)
USA: LOUISIANA: St. Tammany Parish: private property ca. 4 km S of Abita Springs, E of State Hwy 59, and N of Interstate 12 (30.44000°N, 90.02000°W; WGS 84). 18 August 2013. Brad M. Glorioso. Verified by David Heckard. Florida Museum of Natural History (UF 176422, photo voucher). New parish record. This species was first reported in the Americas in the vicinity of Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, Louisiana (Heckard et al. 2013. IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians 20:192–196). This is the third report of this species in Louisiana (Heckard et al. 2013, op. cit.; Borgardt 2015. Herpetol. Rev. 46:217), and is now documented from Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Tammany parishes in southeast Louisiana. The individual was located at night, ca. 10 m from a dwelling on the forest floor amid a downed picket fence, which was resting atop a thick layer of pine needles. There are H. turcicus at the property, but this individual was recognized as unusual, and many photos were taken before releasing the animal. It was not until much later that it was determined to be H. parvimaculatus. The origin of this individual is unknown, as the owners of this 1.62-ha property are elderly and do not keep any pets. Subsequent casual searches have not turned up any new individuals. I thank David Heckard for his help with identification and discussion of this species in Louisiana.
Herpetological Review↗
Natural history of a northern population of twin-spotted rattlesnakes, Crotalus pricei
The twin-spotted rattlesnake ( Crotalus pricei ) is a small-bodied pitviper that has received little attention in the literature to date. The species reaches the northern limit of its range in southeastern Arizona, where it inhabits higher elevations than any of the state's 10 other rattlesnake species. During 1997–2000, we captured, measured, and marked 127 C. pricei in Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains between 2530 and 2900 m elevation. We also used radiotelemetry to track the movements of 16 C. pricei in the study area during 1997–1998. Mean (± SE) snout–vent length of C. pricei was 387.8 ± 8.3 mm (range = 168–572), and mean mass was 53.5 ± 3.3 g (range = 3.6–188.5). Based on fecal analyses, lizards constituted the bulk of prey (74%), but the diet of C. pricei also included mammals, birds, and a conspecific. Mating was concentrated in August and early September and parturition took place during late July and August. Mean number of embryos was 3.94 ± 0.34 (range = 1–6) and female reproduction appeared biennial or less frequent. Based on shed and growth rates, female C. pricei develop embryos at 4–5 years of age. Gravid females maintained warmer body temperatures relative to substrate temperature than nongravid females or males, presumably by spending more time basking than other snakes. Radiotelemetry revealed that movement patterns varied from year to year, as males moved over six times farther per week during the 1998 monsoon season (July to September) than during the 1997 monsoon season. Additionally, use of talus slopes by males decreased during 1998. During dry years, such as 1998, males may be forced off talus into cooler microclimates where resources are less concentrated than on talus.
Journal of Herpetology↗