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.
Monday, February 22 2021
Fowler's Toads are often rather precisely marked with 3 pairs of dorsal spots.
By Dick and Patti Bartlett
Fowler’s Toad, Bufo fowleri, ranges widely in sandy habitats from central New England to southeastern Iowa, eastern Texas and the panhandle of Florida. It is one of the more precisely marked toad species. In some parts of its range it may be the dominant species, in other it is a comparative rarity. Where I (Dick) grew up in central New England, Fowler’s Toad was abundant but always 2nd in a lineup of 2. The American Toads would arrive first at the breeding ponds to voice their slow-pulsed melodious trills. Then a couple of weeks later, when many American toads had already left the calling sites, the rapidly pulsed, very non-melodious, “whirring notes” of Fowler’s Toads, back then a subspecies of Woodhouse’s , could be heard. Occasionally we would hear a vocalization that confused us and when we tracked it down it would be as intermediate between the 2 species in appearance as it was in voice—a hybrid between the 2. Mother Nature at work.
Continue reading "Fowler’s Toad"
Sunday, February 21 2021
We have an urgent action alert from USARK regarding the return of the "animal program ban" that has returned in Illinois. As it is written, it could end even the most common of after school educational programs. From USARK:
This bill bans much more than lions jumping through rings of fire. It is a ban on taking a Greek tortoise into a classroom for an educational program about reptiles. It is a ban on taking a ball python, a red-eyed tree frog, a parakeet, and a hedgehog into a library for an educational show discussing the differences between reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals. It is a ban on llamas and any other non-traditional livestock at the State Fair or county 4-H fairs. Basically, if an animal non-native to Illinois is placed into a vehicle and taken to any location where someone will see it, other than a veterinarian in a private room, then it would become an illegal activity, and you a criminal. You could receive a year in jail and a $2,500 fine for taking a leopard gecko into your child’s classroom for a presentation.
The Chicago Herpetological Society hosts the largest and oldest hands-on reptile exhibit in the country. It reaches tens of thousands of people annually and this bill could destroy it. It could end programs coming to your child's school, day care or scouting program. The impact to the reptile community in Illinois would be devastating.
USARK has detailed instructions for reaching out to representatives and what we as a community can do here.
Monday, February 8 2021
Often said to be cannibalistic, very little is known with certainty about the hylid frogs of this genus.
by Dick & Patti Bartett
It had been 2 days in the Peruvian rainforest and the rainforest was acting like a rainforest should act--it was raining, hard then softly, then torrentially, then softly. It was a wonderful day. Everybody could get caught up on photographing and then we'd hit the trails again for after dark amphibs.
Darkness approached, Danilo prepared our evening meal, we ate, checked flashlight batteries, put on hats to try and keep some rain out of our eyes, and we were on our way. I chose the medium trail and a couple of herpers decided to accompany me. Another few chose the short trail and one, with the guides, chose to hike the 5 milelong loop.
When we began the rain had almost stopped but when the Gods of rain determined we were all so far away from camp that there was no way we could avoid getting drenched, the torrents came. Band after band found its way through the treetops, each one harder than the last. I needed windshield wipers on my glasses. Going was slow. The trails were ankle deep mud and footing was precarious on the slopes. But all of that was forgotten when I spied that small frog sitting crossways on a vertical sapling-- Hemiphractus proboscideus, a Long-nosed Casque-headed Treefrog.
Who said herping in this weather wasn't worth the effort?
Continue reading "A Rainforest Adventure"
Monday, February 1 2021
Slender of tail and narrow of head, meet the Indopacific Tree Gecko.
by Dick & Patti Bartlett
Perhaps the least well known of the gecko fauna in the USA, this tiny arboreal gecko, known by three appropriately descriptive common names, Indopacific tree gecko, Indopacific slender gecko, or common dwarf gecko, the tiny Hemiphyllodactylus typus, ranges widely over much of southern and eastern Asia and many tropical islands of the western Pacific.
Of more slender build, with a narrower head and skinnier tail than the various house geckos that many of us have now become familiar with, the favored habitats of the Indopacific tree gecko are—are you ready for this—trees! But with that having been said, tree geckos are occasionally found on both the exterior and interior of houses. So far, in the USA they are known only from Hawaii. This tiny (2 ½ - 3 ½” total length) non-communal, olive-colored, lizard waif is so thin-skinned that on many examples the body cavity is translucent. It is an all female, parthenogenetic species.
The diet of this arboreal lizard consists of tiny insects.
Continue reading "The Indopacific Tree Gecko"
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