Reptile & Amphibian News Blog
Keep up with news and features of interest to the reptile and amphibian community on the kingsnake.com blog. We cover breaking stories from the mainstream and scientific media, user-submitted photos and videos, and feature articles and photos by Jeff Barringer, Richard Bartlett, and other herpetologists and herpetoculturists.
Thursday, January 28 2016
This is the striped phase of the tiny greenhouse frog.
If I concentrate, on almost every warm, humid night, the twitterings and chirpings of greenhouse frogs, Eleutherodactylus planirostris, can be heard in our anuran friendly Alachua County yard. The calls are high pitched, soft, and more reminiscent of the stridulations of some cricket species than of an amphibian. In other words, it might take a dedicated effort to hear and have the tinkling notes you are hearing register as the vocalizations of a frog.
Apparently the first notice of the greenhouse frog, a West Indian species was in 1875 when it was noted in Miami-Dade County. Since then it has spread pretty much throughout the state and has been heard or found in Alabama, Georgia, southern Mississippi, southeastern Louisiana, and eastern Texas, as well. It has also been found in heated greenhouses in more northerly states.
This little reddish-tan to gray with reddish overtones frog is fully grown at from ¾ to 1 ¼ inches snout-vent length. It occurs in 2 pattern forms, a striped and a mottled.
There being no free-swimming tadpole stage this species does not require water to breed. The 6 to 26 eggs are deposited in moist leaf litter, beneath moist ground debris, in the cups or between the leaves of bromeliads, and other places that offer similar protection from predators and drying. Metamorphosis is rapid, with the tiny froglets hatching when conditions are ideal in as little as 13 days after egg deposition.
This little tiny frog eats the tiniest of insects and is not known to compete seriously with any native species. An interloper though they may be, they are always welcomed when we happen upon them.
Continue reading "Greenhouse Frogs"
Wednesday, January 27 2016
This Smooth Earth Snake, Virginia valeriae, is a repeat offender. For the last several years it has been busted utilizing artificial cover! Most often found hiding beneath logs, leaf litter, or other debris Smooth Earth Snakes are fossorial (live underground) and give live birth to as many as 12-14 live young in the late summer.
A scar, blemish, missing tail tips and eyes can often serve as proof that the same individuals have set up shop and thrive for years under cover at study sites. This is another reason to take time to inspect and photograph even the smaller and most common species at your sites!
Tuesday, January 26 2016
Tiny legs having one toe each identify the one-toed amphiuma.
One minute I was standing upright on the edge of a semi-dried creek’s backwater. Then one more step I was thigh deep in soupy mud and if there hadn’t been a bank edge sapling for me to grab I’d have probably been face down in the goop. Kenny was doubled over with laughter. I didn’t know whether to try and back out or to flounder forward another step. In fact, right then I was wondering exactly why we were here. I had expected mud. Just not so quickly (read that unexpectedly) and not so deep. And I had expected to search for the target beast, a one-toed amphiuma, Amphiuma pholeter, by standing high and dry on the bank and dragging the small meshed net through the goo.
This was a colder than cool Florida day in February, and although it was nothing like a Maine winter day would have been I was uncomfortable, and knew that before I could get back in the car I had to get even more uncomfortable cleansing at least most of the mud off in the colder-than-cool fast moving stream ahead of me. Also, since I had fully intended to stay high and dry I had not brought a change of clothes with me. Well, darn it!
So let’s see now—I was in thigh deep mud that seemed to promise it was even deeper ahead of me, Kenny, dry and fairly warm, was busily scooping through the liquid mud with his net, and I had to get at least partially cleaned off. Stream, here I come.
Although I never did get to net up a one-toed amphiuma (aka mud eel) on that trip, it mattered not. While I was trying to extricate myself Kenny got a couple of the little critters, and pix were possible.
Continue reading "The real Mud Eel"
Thursday, January 21 2016
Many buff-striped keelbacks are less colorful than these.
It was back in the 1980s that I made the acquaintance of the natricid (garter, water, and related snakes) species.
Chris had received a shipment from Bangkok, and along with the cobras, kraits, and pipe snakes, was a bag identified only as “keelbacks.” Upon seeing the designation I immediately thought Rhabdophis, a keelback with a virulent toxin. But when Chris opened the bag it contained something very different—a keelback species that I didn’t recognize.
Several of the snakes were similar to each other in body color, being an olive tan (with vaguely bluish interstitial skin) and having a buff colored dorsolateral stripe along each side. The light stripe was indistinguishable on the neck but very apparent on the posterior three quarters of the snake. The heads of these were also olive-tan with black vertical interstitial markings on the upper labials. Most bore broad black bars from lower side to lower side but where the dark bars crossed the light dorsolateral stripes, the latter were markedly lighter. The black barring was most prominent anteriorly, faded posteriorly and was absent from the rear of the body and the tail.
But then there were the odd 3. On these the patterns were the same but the colors differed greatly. On these the head and neck were a rich orange. The scale sutures of the yellow upper labials were black. The ground color was rich olive tan and the dark cross barring was hardly any darker.The light stripes were buff anteriorly but shaded to a rather bright yelliow posteriorly. And trhe interstitial skin of the body was pale but definite blue.
Can you say “pretty?” I sure did, and these 3 snakes were with me for many years, thriving on a diet of ranid frogs.
Strangely, although I have since seen several shipments containing this species, I have never again seen the orange headed form. Beginner’s luck I guess.
Continue reading "Buff-striped Keelback"
Tuesday, January 19 2016
This is a subordinate male rainbow lizard from a Miami population.
The northeastern South American country of Colombia was once the predominant shipper of neotropical wildlife to the United States. Birds of all manner (cock-of-the-rocks to parrots), mammals (wooly monkeys to ocelots to anteaters), amphibians (remember the Colombia horned frog?), reptiles (boas to red-footed tortoises, to rainbow lizards).
Rainbow lizards?
So, How Does One Accurately Describe a Rainbow Lizard?
Well, if I chose to try, describing the little 8-striped (the vertebrals strip is divided!) brownish and greenish female would not be awfully difficult. But to describe the blue, yellow, green, brown (and several hues between) of a dominant male could prove to be a chore and would probably wind up being inaccurate anyways. So, to make things easy, allow me to suggest that you determine the origin of the example in question. As it now stands the lizards making up what is currently known as Cnemidophorus lemniscatus are probably a species complex. They will differ in color and pattern at different locales. Color intensity also varies according to the status of the male within a given population. Dominant males are much more colorful than subordinate males.
So have at it. At least you’ll be more satisfied with your description of the example at hand. That’s a certainty! Oh, by the way, the lizards depicted here are from a Miami-Dade County population that probably contains genes from several Colombian origins.
Rainbow lizards, a teiid, are adult at 10-12 inches in total length. Although the primary diet is insects and other invertebrates these lizards also eat seeds, berries, and blossoms.
Continue reading "Rainbow Lizards"
Thursday, January 14 2016
This is an adult female dusky ameiva in Miami.Until very recently this big lizard (to 22-24” total length, of which all but about 8” is tail length) was considered a dark (dusky) phase of the green and tan giant ameiva. A few years ago a closer look was finally taken at this impressive Central and South American teiid and it was found that rather than A. ameiva, it is actually Ameiva praesignis. At that time a common name of Borriguerro Ameiva, a long standing South American name, was suggested. However, since this lizard has long been known as the "dusky ameiva” in the USA, I suggest that this name be retained. Like the giant ameiva, the original examples in the Florida populations were shipped for the pet trade from Barranquilla, Colombia in the 1950s. Agile and fast, some escaped and were able to establish themselves in the benign climate of South Florida.
When the genus name of Ameiva is used as a common name, it is not italicized. Like other teiids (tegus and relatives) this lizard is usually active only on sunny days when it often remains active through the warmest hours. This alert and wary lizard will quickly dart into areas of dense ground cover or a home burrow if approached. Although omnivorous, this big lizard is primarily insectivorous and will dig insects from beneath the surface of the ground. Besides insects they consume all manner of small invertebrates as well as berries and other vegetation. Captives will accept pinky mice, and there is no reason to believe that those in the wild would not eat nestling mice or nestlings of ground nesting songbirds.
If kept captive this ameiva should be provided a spacious terrarium. I suggest they be provided with a brightly lit hot spot having a temperature of 110-120F. A thermal gradient having a temperature of 75F on the cool end should be provided.
Continue reading "Miami’s Ameivas - The Dusky Ameiva"
Wednesday, January 13 2016
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Crotalus adamanteus
I travel to Florida with my family about every other year and only get to take one day to hunt snakes on each visit, so I am by no means an expert on the finer aspects of Florida snake hunting. Over the years I have been able to locate some really neat and even rare herps, but my favorite find of all time in Florida was this Collier county Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake.
When I discovered this snake crossing a road I was totally unprepared. All I had was a cheap little pocket camera. I was wearing tennis shoes like a true tourist. I did not even have a snake hook, and I had to resort to using a baby stroller to pose this snake for pictures. There were tourists taking pictures of me using the stroller to pose this snake! I got several pictures and I guess this was the best one. I know it is not the best pose and not so great of an EDB image, but for me it is GREAT! When I look at it I remember seeing that big fat beast from at least 200 yards away and stomping the gas so I could get to it before it escaped. The snake struck at me repeatedly and I can only imagine what I looked like with that baby stroller. The sun was bright, and I even remember how the air tasted when I look at the picture. Sometimes I am unable to get the kind of picture that I am after, but years later when I am at home looking over things I am always happy when I see images I got that may have not seemed so good at the time. Sometimes being able to relive the experience and the memories is a better reward than taking a killer picture. Keep this in mind as you are out in your travels, and just keep your cameras rolling!
Tuesday, January 12 2016
A robust build and a length of 16-17 inches (including the long tail) is a typical size for an adult giant ameiva.
For well over a half century Ameivas, the large, economy size of the whiptail/racerunner clan if you prefer, have been prominent in the hobbyist reptile trade. Of the 3 dozen or so species in the genus, 2 are by far the most commonly encountered. These are the giant and the dusky ameivas. For decades the two were considered diverse color phases of the giant ameiva, Ameiva ameiva, but they are now known to be 2 entirely separate species (but more on this later). Firstly, let’s take a look at the big, very pretty, and quite common “green phase” of the giant ameiva. In fact, although the amount of green may vary, the green phase is currently the only phase of this 15 to 20 inch long teiid lizard. Despite the color reference in its name, this neotropical lizard is not entirely green. It is olive-tan anteriorly, olive-lime posteriorly, sky blue in the groin, pale blue to sky blue on the lower sides fading to bluish white ventrally. Trying to describe the positioning of the black flecks and off-white ocelli would be an exercise in futility. It is far better (and much easier) if I simply refer you to the photos.
Like most teiids, ameivas (please note that when used as a common name the word is not italicized) are sun worshippers and can often be seen basking in full sunshine during the hottest part of the day. The examples on which the Miami population is based originated (or at least were shipped) from Barranquilla, Colombia in the 1950s. They are wary lizards and if startled will quickly retire to areas of ground vegetation or a home burrow. Omnivores, in the wild this lizard actively forages during the heat of the day, often scratching insects from beneath the surface of the ground. Besides insects this ameiva consumes all manner of small invertebrates as well as berries and other vegetation. Captives will accept pinky mice, and there is no reason to believe that those in the wild would not eat nestling mice or nestlings of ground nesting songbirds.
I have noticed that some care sheets mention a hot spot of 90F for these lizards. I submit that a brightly lit hot spot of 110-120F would be more appropriate, with the terrarium providing a a thermal gradient to a temperature of 75F on the cool end.
Continue reading "Miami’s Ameivas - The giant Ameiva"
Thursday, January 7 2016
The Concho water snake is a protected species.Although the two occur in different and non-contiguous drainages, the Concho water snake, (formerly Nerodia harteri paucimaculata, now Nerodia paucimaculata) is of very similar appearance to the Brazos water snake. N. harteri. As he had with the latter, Kenny had researched the locales and the probabilities of our finding and photographing the Concho water snake.
Like the Brazos water snake, the Concho has been considered federally threatened since the late 1900s and is primarily a snake of natural and man-made rocky riffles. It has adapted to a few areas of rock-edged quieter waters in reservoirs.
Rather small for an American water snake, the Concho is adult at 24 to 30 inches in length. The sandy dorsal ground color and 4 rows of poorly defined dusky darker blotches blends well with the substrate color on which this snake is found. The belly, usually immaculate but sometimes with a row of indistinct dark spots along each side, is of pink or orangish color.
We searched, we found, we departed. Other herp taxa of Texas still beckoned.
Continue reading "Concho Water Snake"
Tuesday, January 5 2016
The spring peeper's species name, "crucifer," is derived from the dorsal X (the crucifix).
In many areas spring peepers, Pseudacris crucifer ssp., a common chorus frog that ranges from eastern Texas to eastern Manitoba then eastward to Newfoundland to northern Florida is actually a spring breeder, but in the deep southeast it is a late autumn and winter breeding taxon. On wet years, in this latter area we expect to hear these harbingers of the northern spring chorusing from marshes, swamps, and roadside ditches by late November. They and other chorus frog species welcome in the seasonally cooler days and colder nights when our trees are still dropping their leaves rather than recovering from cloaks of snow and ice and greening with expanding buds. The strident peeps of the well named hylids (they are treefrog relatives), boisterous on warm nights, faltering when temps drop below 45F or so, are as eagerly listened for on our winter days as when the little “X backed”, tan harbingers of spring are making their appearance in the northland swamps and puddles.
Continue reading "Peeper Season"
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