BULLETIN of the. Chicago Herpetological Society. Volume 40, Number 9 September 2005

Transcription

1 BULLETIN of the Chicago Herpetological Society Volume 40, Numer 9 Septemer 2005

2 BULLETIN OF THE CHICAGO HERPETOLOGICAL SOCIETY Volume 40, Numer 9 Sepemer 2005 Body Amient Temperature Relationhip of the Endemic Chihuahua Fringe-toed Lizard, Uma paraphyga Critina García-de la Peña, Héctor Gadden, Gamaliel Catañeda-Gaytán and Hugo López-Corrujedo 165 Herping in Autralia Field Note and More. Part 6: Leon Learnt from Snake on the Road Raymond Hoer 169 Herping in Autralia Field Note and More. Part 7: Catching Snake and Frog Raymond Hoer 171 Book Review: Stewardhip of the Spiny Softhell Turtle y Scott D. Gillingwater... David S. Lee 174 HerPET-POURRI...Ellin Beltz 175 Herpetology Unofficial Minute of the CHS Board Meeting, Augut 19, Advertiement Cover: Ring-tailed gecko, Cyrtodactylu louiiadeni (a Gymnodactylu olivii). Drawing from Some Reptile and Batrachian from Autralaia y Samuel Garman. Bulletin of the Mueum of Comparative Zoology, Volume 39, Numer 1, STAFF Editor: Michael A. Dloogatch --- madadder0@aol.com Advertiing Manager: Ralph Sheptone 2005 CHS Board of Director Linda Malawy, Preident Zorina Bana, Vice-Preident Jim Hoffman, Treaurer Melanie Apan, Recording Secretary De Krohn, Correponding Secretary Mike Dloogatch, Pulication Secretary Jennifer Spitzer, Memerhip Secretary Ron Humert, Sergeant-at-Arm Sean Boer, Memer-at-Large Bety Davi, Memer-at-Large Steve Sullivan, Memer-at-Large Jenny Vollman, Memer-at-Large The Chicago Herpetological Society i a nonprofit organization incorporated under the law of the tate of Illinoi. It purpoe are education, conervation and the advancement of herpetology. Meeting are announced in thi pulication, and are normally held at 7:30 P.M., the lat Wedneday of each month. Memerhip in the CHS include a ucription to the monthly Bulletin. Annual due are: Individual Memerhip, $25.00; Family Memerhip, $28.00; Sutaining Memerhip, $50.00; Contriuting Memerhip, $100.00; Intitutional Memerhip, $ Remittance mut e made in U.S. fund. Sucrier outide the U.S. mut add $12.00 for potage. Send memerhip due or addre change to: Chicago Herpetological Society, Memerhip Secretary, 2430 N. Cannon Drive, Chicago, IL Manucript pulihed in the Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society are not peer reviewed. Manucript hould e umitted, if poile, on IBM PC-compatile or Macintoh format dikette. Alternatively, manucript may e umitted in duplicate, typewritten and doule paced. Manucript and letter concerning editorial uine hould e ent to: Chicago Herpetological Society, Pulication Secretary, 2430 N. Cannon Drive, Chicago, IL Back iue are limited ut are availale from the Pulication Secretary for $2.50 per iue potpaid. Viit the CHS home page at < The Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society (ISSN ) i pulihed monthly y the Chicago Herpetological Society, 2430 N. Cannon Drive, Chicago IL Periodical potage paid at Chicago IL. Potmater: Send addre change to: Chicago Herpetological Society, Memerhip Secretary, 2430 N. Cannon Drive, Chicago IL Copyright 2005.

3 Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 40(9): , 2005 Body Amient Temperature Relationhip of the Endemic Chihuahua Fringe-toed Lizard, Uma paraphyga Critina García-de la Peña, Héctor Gadden, Gamaliel Catañeda-Gaytán and Hugo López-Corrujedo Atract We tudied the ody amient temperature relationhip of the lizard Uma paraphyga in the and dune of the Mapimí Biophere Reerve, Durango, Mexico. The mean ody and amient (utrate and air) temperature were imilar for male and female. The mean ody temperature for oth exe pooled wa C, which i the lowet reported among the five pecie of the genu Uma. Analyi of daily temperature variation howed that ody temperature wa lower in the morning than in the afternoon, while utrate and air temperature were higher in the morning than in the afternoon. Body temperature wa ignificantly related to amient temperature through the day, ut the regreion lope etween ody and air temperature were greater than thoe otained etween ody and utrate temperature. Keyword: Uma paraphyga, ody temperature, amient temperature, temperature relationhip. A challenge facing many lizard i to conduct activitie within a ody temperature range that optimize phyiological and ethological function while diminihing mortality rik (Huey and Slatkin, 1976; Avery, 1982). Depite daily variation in thermal environment many lizard manage to maintain relatively contant ody temperature while performing a variety of ehavioral and phyiological mechanim (Huey, 1982). The thermal environment exert a great influence on the ody temperature of lizard in deert haitat (Porter et al., 1973). The dryne and pare vegetation cover of the Chihuahuan deert preent a thermal challenge to the reident pecie. In particular, the homogeneou thermal environment characteritic of mot dune ecoytem ha a trong potential to contrain the way lizard thermoregulate. Uma paraphyga, the mallet pecie of it genu (Adet, 1977; Trèpanier and Murphy, 2001), i endemic to the Chihuahuan Deert Province and i conidered at rik of extinction in Mexico (SEMARNAT, 2001). However, ince 1979 it ha een protected at the Reerva de la Biofera de Mapimí, Durango, Mexico. Until now no data have exited addreing U. paraphyga ody temperature a they relate to amient air and utrate temperature. Here, we provide information aout thee parameter for thi pecie and attempt to identify the thermal challenge that U. paraphyga face in it deert environment. Methodology During a 1998 population tudy of Uma paraphyga in the and dune of the Reerva de la Biofera de Mapimí (26 29 N, W; elev m), we otained amient (air and utrate) and ody temperature data on U. paraphyga. Dune vegetation i almot entirely perennial hru: whitehorn acacia (Acacia contricta), catclaw acacia (A. greggii), deert enna (Caia covei), Texan goatuh (Catela texana), ocotillo (Fouquieria plenden), creoote uh (Larrea tridentata), Berlandier wolferry (Lycium erlandieri), American threefold (Trixi californica) and oaptree yucca (Yucca elata). We conducted 15 day of fieldwork from May through Augut etween 1000 and 1900 h. Individual of U. paraphyga were captured with a nooe or y hand on a 2-ha plot. We otained ody temperature only from lizard captured almot immediately after eing ighted. Alo, we did not otain ody temperature on lizard that ran more than 5 m efore capture. Each lizard wa permanently marked y toeclipping and given a temporary, eaily een, doral acetate mark to avoid recapturing individual on the ame day (Waldchmidt, 1980). We excluded gravid female from thi analyi a too few were captured. One ody temperature (T ; to 0.1 C) wa otained for each lizard with a rapid-reading cloacal thermometer on each day. Data were taken within 10 of capture to avoid change in T that might reult from manipulation. Gender wa identified y the preence of large potanal cale or everted hemipene in male. We meaured nout vent length (SVL) to the nearet mm uing a flexile ruler and TM ody weight (W) to the nearet 0.1 g with a Peola pring cale. Lizard were releaed at the point of initial ighting following proceing. Air temperature (T a; 15 cm aove the and urface to the nearet 0.1 C) wa regitered uing a thermo-hygrometer. Sutrate temperature (T ; in contact with the and urface to the nearet 0.1 C) wa regitered through a flat ul thermometer. Both operational temperature were taken immediately after capture at the exact place in which the lizard were firt ighted. Kolmogorov-Smirnov goodne of fit tet revealed that the 1. Facultad de Ciencia Biológica, Univeridad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Ciudad Univeritaria 66450, San Nicolá de lo Garza, Nuevo León, Mexico. crigp15@yahoo.com. 2. Intituto de Ecología, A. C. Centro Regional Chihuahua, Km Carretera Chihuahua-Ojinaga, C.P , Apartado Potal 28, Cd. Aldama, Chihuahua, Mexico. 3. Ecuela Superior de Biología, Univeridad Juárez del Etado de Durango, Av. Univeridad /n Fracc. Filadelfia, Apartado Potal 329, Suc. B, Gómez Palacio, Durango, Mexico. 165

4 data for SVL, W, T, T and T a were compatile with the aumption that all thee variale are normally ditriuted, o we ued one-way analyi of variance (ANOVA) to compare mean of SVL and W etween female and male. An analyi of covariance (ANCOVA: SVL and W a covariate) wa applied to compare mean T etween female and male. To compare mean T and T a etween female and male two one, T way ANOVA were ued. To identify difference among T and T a at each hour of day, we ued one-way ANOVA and regreion etween T and each of T and T a. We aumed all tet to e ignificant at = 0.05; meaurement are reported a mean ± SE. Reult Mean SVL for female wa 60.9 ± 0.5 mm (n = 140; range = mm) and for male 70.4 ± 1.0 mm (n = 99; range = mm. The mean W for female wa 6.5 ± 0.1 g (n = 140; range = g) and for male 10.1 ± 0.4 g (n = 99; range = g). Female were ignificantly maller than male in length (F 1,237 = 74.50, P = ) and ody weight (F 1,237 = 83.61, P = ). The mean T for female (33.2 ± 0.2 C) and male (34.7 ± 0.2 C) were not ignificantly different (ANCOVA, SVL and W a covariate: F 1,235 = 0.23, P = 0.62) and the mean T for oth exe pooled wa 34.2 ± 0.1 C (n = 239, range = C). The mean T elected for female (34.9 ± 0.5 C) wa not ignificantly different than T elected for male (36.3 ± 0.6 C), F 1,237 = 4.95, P = 0.27; and the mean T elected for oth exe pooled wa 35.5 ± 0.4 C (n = 239, range = C). The mean T a elected for female (30.6 ± 0.3 C) wa not ignificantly different than T a elected for male (31.7 ± 0.4 C), F 1,237 = 4.48, P = 0.35; and the mean T a elected for oth exe pooled wa 31.0 ± 0.2 C (n = 239, range = C). The variation of T, T and T a for each hour of day are hown in Figure 1. There were no lizard oerved etween 1400 and 1600 h. We analyzed eparately two period of day: morning (1000 to 1400 h) and afternoon (1600 to 1900 h). In Temperature ( C) Time of Day Figure 1. Hourly mean of Uma paraphyga ody temperature (circle), utrate temperature (rectangle) and air temperature (triangle). Bar repreent ± SE. the morning there wa ignificant difference for T (F 3,140 = 6.03, P = 0.001), T (F 3,140 = 16.55, P = ) and T a (F 3,140 = 11.44, P = ). A Tukey tet for each tempera, T ture variale indicate that T and T a were ignificantly lower at 1000 h, and from 1100 to 1300 h remain at imilar value. The regreion analyi etween T and each of T and 2 T a at thi period of day were ignificant (T - T : R = 0.23, 2 F 1,142 = 42.7, P = , T = T ; T - T a: R = 0.24, F 1,142 = 46.9, P = , T = T a). In the afternoon there were no ignificant difference among each hour for T (F 3,39 = 0.49, P = 0.68) and T a (F 3,39 = 0.44, P = 0.72). T howed ignificant difference (F 3,39 = 5.97, P = 0.002) and a Tukey tet indicate that T wa lower at 1900 h. The regreion analyi etween T and each of T and T a at 2 thi period of day were ignificant (T - T : R = 0.12, F 1,41 = , P = 0.022, T = T ; T - T a: R = 0.48, F = 38.7, P = , T = T ). 1,41 a The lizard mean ody temperature in the morning (34.4± 0.1 C, range = C) wa lower than in the afternoon (36.7 ± 0.3 C, range = C), F 1,183 = 32.0, P = Inverely, mean T and T a were higher in the morning (T : 38.8 ± 0.5 C, range = C; T a: 35.1 ± 0.4 C, range = C) than in the afternoon (T : 36.4 ± 0.5 C, range = C; T a: 31.0 ± 0.3 C, range = C; F 1,183 = 5.17, P = 0.02 and F 1,183 = 44.12, P = , repectively). Dicuion The mean T of U. paraphyga otained in thi tudy i the lowet ody temperature value reported in the genu Uma (ee Tale 1). Uma paraphyga i the mallet in it genu and therefore it ha a greater urface area to volume ratio than the other pecie of Uma and thi mean a proale lower ody temperature (Heatwole and Taylor, 1987), ee Tale 1. On the other hand, U. paraphyga denity i the highet regitered in it genu with 24 ind/ha (Catañeda-Gaytán et al., 2003). Thi could allow a high intrapecific competition which can retrain the ue of pace-thermal reource that thee organim need (Huey, 1982). The reult for U. paraphyga could e a lower ody temperature than the other Uma. However, thi hypothei need to e proed through patial and thermal reource partition tudie in everal dune patche inhaited y Uma at varying denitie (Norri, 1958; Trépanier and Murphy, 2001; Gadden et al., 2001). Additional data are needed to under tand the factor that influence interpecific variation of T in the genu Uma from a phylogenetic approach (Garland and Adolph, 1991). Though male of U. paraphyga were larger and heavier than female, mean ody temperature did not differ ignificantly etween the exe and oth exe preferred imilar utrate and air temperature a i the cae in other pecie of phrynoomatid (Smith and Ballinger, 1994). Some thermoregulation tudie (Peteron, 1987; Chritian and Weaver, 1996) indicate that many reptile maintain relatively contant T during daily activity. In thi tudy U. paraphyga howed a low ody temperature at 1000 h related to the low amient temperature at thi hour of day. In the next hour, utrate 166

5 Tale 1. Mean ody temperature and mean nout vent length reported for five pecie of the genu Uma. Data ource in parenthee. Specie Mean ody temperature Mean nout vent length Uma inornata 38.0 C (Mayhew, 1964) 91.0 mm (Muth and Fiher, 1991) Uma notata 37.9 C (Mayhew, 1964) 83.8 mm (Turner and Schwale, 1998) Uma coparia 37.5 C (Licht and Bau, 1967) 90.0 mm (Mayhew, 1966) Uma exul 35.0 C (García-de la Peña et al., 2005) 74.2 mm (Gadden et al., 2001) Uma paraphyga 34.2 C (preent tudy) 64.5 mm (Catañeda-Gaytán et al., 2003) temperature rie continuouly ut ody temperature remain relatively contant. In the afternoon, the T value were higher than in the morning ut were imilar each other in thi period of day. Thi mean that individual of thi pecie are ale to maintain their ody temperature within a relatively narrow range y ehavioral or phyiological mean (Waldchmidt, 1980; Huey, 1982). Turner and Schwale (1998) reported that urface temperature wa (on average) 2 C higher than the correponding ody temperature of Uma notata at the Mohawk Dune, Arizona, while air temperature were lower than ody temperature. They agree that thee difference reveal the effectivene of the lizard ehavioral thermoregulation proce in achieving and maintaining a preferred ody temperature. In thi tudy we found for U. paraphyga that T averaged 2.09 C higher than T, and T a were lower than T at an average of 2.91 C which are imilar to the U. notata oervation. a Following Huey (1982), thermoregulation i indicated y a lope near 0 and thermoconformity y a lope near 1 when T i compared to T. In thi tudy we oerved that in the morning there wa a lope of 0.29, which indicate a thermoregulatory ehavior. On the other hand, in the afternoon there wa calculated a lope of 0.65, which indicate that at thi period of day U. paraphyga could tend to act a a thermoconformer. Similar lope were oerved for other lizard pecie of the outhwetern deert of North America. For example, Middendorf and Simon (1988) reported a lope of 0.40 for Sceloporu jarrovii, Smith et al. (1993) calculated a lope of 0.23 for Sceloporu calari and Smith and Ballinger (1995) otained a lope of 0.30 for Uroauru ornatu. However, the ue of iophyical null model i neceary to otain definitive concluion aout U. paraphyga thermal relationhip. Acknowledgment We thank Joe L. Etrada-Rodríguez, Ulie Romero-Méndez and Anelmo Orona-Epino for their valuale help in the field and Marc P. Haye for valuale uggetion on the manucript. Thi tudy wa upported y CONACYT (1367-N9206) and CONABIO (L173). Literature Cited Adet, G. A Genetic relationhip in the genu Uma (Iguanidae). Copeia 1977(1): Avery, R. A The role of thermoregulation in lizard iology: Predatory efficiency in a temperate diurnal aker. Behavioural Ecology and Socioiology 11: Catañeda-Gaytán, G., H. Gadden, L. López-Corrujedo and J. L. Etrada-Rodríguez Hitoria de vida de Uma paraphyga (Sauria: Phrynoomatidae) en la Reerva de la Biofera de Mapimí, Durango. Acta Zoológica Mexicana (n..) 89: Chritian, K. A., and B. W. Weaver Thermoregulation of monitor lizard in Autralia: An evaluation of method in thermal iology. Ecol. Monogr. 66: Gadden, H., H. López-Corrujedo, J. L. Etrada-Rodríguez and U. Romero-Méndez Biología polacional de la lagartija de arena de Coahuila Uma exul (Sauria: Phrynoomatidae): Implicacione para u conervación. Boletín de la Sociedad Herpetológica Mexicana 9(2): García-de la Peña C., H. Gadden, H. López-Corrujedo and D. Lazcano Uma exul (Coahuila Fringe-toed Sand Lizard). Body temperature. Herpetological Review 36(1): Garland, T., Jr., and S. C. Adolph Phyiological differentiation of verterate population. Annual Review of Ecology and Sytematic 22: Heatwole, H., and J. Taylor Ecology of reptile. Chipping Norton, New South Wale, Autralia: Surrey Beatty & Son Pty Limited. Huey, R. B Temperature, phyiology, and the ecology of reptile. Pp In: C. Gan and F. H. Pough, editor, Biology of the Reptilia, Volume 12, Phyiology C, Phyiological ecology. New York: Academic Pre. 167

6 Huey, R. B., and M. Slatkin Cot and enefit of lizard thermoregulation. The Quarterly Review of Biology 51: Licht, P., and S. L. Bau Influence of temperature on lizard tete. Nature 213: Mayhew, W. W Photoperiodic repone in three pecie of the lizard genu Uma. Herpetologica 20(2): )))) Reproduction in the pammophilou lizard Uma coparia. Copeia 1966(1): Middendorf, G. A., and C. A. Simon Thermoregulation in the iguanid lizard Sceloporu jarrovi: The influence of age, time, and light condition on ody temperature and thermoregulatory ehavior. Southwetern Naturalit 33: Muth, A., and M. Fiher Population iology of the Coachella Valley Fringe toed lizard, Uma inornata: Development of procedure and aeline data for long term monitoring of population dynamic. Final report. California Department of Fih and Game contract 86/87 C-2056 and 87/88 C pp. Norri, K. S The evolution and ytematic of the iguanid genu Uma and it relation to the evolution of other North American deert reptile. Bulletin of the American Mueum of Natural Hitory 114(3): Peteron, C. R Daily variation in the ody temperature of free-ranging garter nake, Thamnophi elegan. Ecology 68: Porter, W. P., J. W. Mitchell, W. A. Beckman and C. B. Dewitt Behavioral implication of mechanitic ecology. Thermal and ehavioral modeling of deert ectotherm and their microenvironment. Oecologia (Berlin) 13:1-54. SEMARNAT-Secretaría de Medio Amiente y Recuro Naturale-Norma Oficial Mexicana ( ) Protección amiental- Epecie nativa de México de flora y fauna ilvetre-categoría de riego y epecificacione para u incluión, excluión o camio- Lita de epecie en riego. Diario Oficial de la Federación (6 de marzo 2002), México, D.F., México. Smith, G. R., and R. E. Ballinger Thermal ecology of Sceloporu virgatu from outheatern Arizona, with comparion to Uroauru ornatu. J. Herpetology 28(1): Smith, G. R., and R. E. Ballinger Temperature relationhip of the tree lizard, Uroauru ornatu, from deert and low-elevation montane population in the outhwetern USA. J. Herpetology 29(1): Smith, G. R., R. E. Ballinger and J. D. Congdon Thermal ecology of the high-altitude unch gra lizard, Sceloporu calari. Canadian J. Zoology 71: Trèpanier, T. L., and R. W. Murphy The Coachella Valley Fringe-Toed Lizard (Uma inornata): Genetic diverity and phylogenetic relationhip of an endangered pecie. Molecular Phylogenetic and Evolution 18: Turner, D., and C. R. Schwale Ecology of Cowle fringe toed lizard. Final Report, Arizona Game and Fih Department Heritage Fund. IIPAM Project No. I pp. Waldchmidt, S Orientation to the un y the iguanid lizard Uta tanuriana and Sceloporu undulatu: Hourly and monthly variation. Copeia 1980(3):

7 Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 40(9): , 2005 Herping in Autralia Field Note and More Part 6: Leon Learnt from Snake on the Road Raymond Hoer 488 Park Road Park Orchard, Victoria 3134 AUSTRALIA Taking a Leaf from Another Herper Book Ron Sayer i a name familiar to ome of thi magazine older reader. He wa a prominent name in North American herpetology in the 1960 and That wa no mean feat conidering he alo had to maintain and keep at leat ten kid from two marriage. He told me aout not knowing what caued it (having kid) and aid omething ele aout ad TV reception. I think he wa joking. I recall pending a hot night with Ron Sayer on 26 Feruary 1978 in earch of herp on Wet Head Road. We found a large female (nongravid) gray death adder that night. But that may not have een the mot important feature of the night. A we talked, I wa ale to pick hi rain for the widom many year of chaing herp had given him. Having pent hi formative year in the North American uh, he told me aout hi foray in earch of rattlenake (Crotalu pp.) and the like. I alo aked him aout other apect of nake iology like denning, which i not o common here in Autralia. Sayer noted that if he drove along a road during fall and aw a numer of DOR ( Dead on Road ) rattlenake in a given area he d alway take note of a few key element. Thee were which way the nake were facing when hit (if that could e determined) and if there were any good outh facing lope and rock outcrop neary. You ee thi wa often indicative of a den. And ye, Ron aid that y thi method he wa ale to find quite a few hitherto unknown denning ite. Later that ummer, or perhap more accurately I hould tate, at the end of that ummer, there wa yet another night hot enough for me to go nake hunting in Kurringai Chae. It eem to e the cae that at the end of the warmer month, nake activity tend to drop off, even if the hot weather lat lightly longer than normal. It eem that the nake are wie to the change of the eaon and get ready for the cooler month almot regardle of the day to day variation in weather condition. And o it wa on thi night. The weather wa hot, and everything ele wa alo A1 for the nake. Air preure falling and no moon in ight. But all I found thi night wa a ingle young diamond python croing the Coal and Candle Creek Road, jut near the top of the hill, where it meet the Wet Head Road. Now I m o familiar with the area, that I know every twit and turn on thee road and alo have a good inkling of the haitat adjacent to thee road. A few month later and in the depth of the mild Sydney winter I returned to thi very pot and aw that the nake had een croing at a pot where the road made a hallow cutting through the andtone ecarpment. On the high ide of the road there wa a cutting aout 2 meter high, that happened to e facing the afternoon un (a northwet apect). But even more ignificantly I noticed that the rock wa flaking off into large la. I decided to lift thee to ee what hid underneath. Within minute I d caught four young diamond python. Three were from the previou ummer reeding, while one wa of the ize cla indicating that it wa a year older. And o even ack a far a 1978, it ecame evident that diamond python (juvenile at leat) were actively eeking out warmer overwintering pot. Going through the earlier record of oth myelf and my colleague, we oon realized that thi cae I d jut had with the diamond python wan t a one off. Another friend found three juvenile in a imilar ituation at neary Belroe a few year earlier. Thee nake were hiding under rock on a northwet facing rock outcrop in winter a well. And ye, y uing thi new-found knowledge, the finding of diamond python uddenly ecame that much eaier. The quet for northwet facing lope y diamond python alo explained another anomaly I d noticed over previou year. Thi wa the huge numer of young diamond python getting run over on Tumle Down Dick Hill on Mona Vale Road. Mona Vale Road cut from the Sydney uur of St. Ive, through the uhy uur of Terrey Hill to the eachide uur of Mona Vale. While there are ome houe along mot of the road, in the area from Tumle Down Dick Hill (near the entrance to McCarr Creek Road, Kurringai Chae), the road actually pae through uhland along the top of a well-defined ridge. Tumle Down Dick Hill i the highet point in the area and a uch it wa acting a a funnel for diamond python eeking a unny ite to pend winter. The main road run along the eat ide of the top of the hill and a the young python were continuing their quet for the higher ground with a northwet apect, they were eing forced to cro the uy road. And ye, a a reult, mot were ending up platted on the road intead. More Snake Seeking Winter Warmth The ame theory explained why ome houe in Melourne were alway finding themelve awah with nake in the autumn month. Melourne i another 889 km outhwet of Sydney y road and a a reult i an average of 3 5 C cooler mot of the time. Thi make the quet for heat y herp that much more critical. A a nake-removalit, I oon noted a cluter of houe in the uur of Warranwood got far more call to remove nake than did other in the ditrict. The local terrain imply aid it 169

8 all. The area wa hilly and emi-rural with mainly open grazing country and mall paddock, punctuated y old hed, tin and other ruih a well a fallen log and a mattering of rock and concrete lock. Ditche alo had thick vegetation allowing reptile plenty of hiding pot. Thi wa not unique for the ditrict, ut what wa relatively unuual wa the gully that ran up to thi group of propertie. It made the local lope face northwet and a a reult the area got the full afternoon unlight every day. The nake pecie in quetion wa the lowland copperhead (Autrelap uperu) and a every herper know, thee nake frequent wampy area where they tend to feed mainly on frog. But come winter, they eem to eek out warmer pot to hide and hence the quet for higher ground. And o in thi area we had the eaonal hift from the gullie to the reidential ack garden on the unny northwet lope. Acro Melourne, I aw the ame cenario with ome eatern rown nake (Peudonaja textili) at Thomatown hiding ehind a north-facing retaining wall at the ack of a large factory. The concrete rick that made the wall ranged up to 15 cm thick, which allowed the nake to effectively ak and remain under cover. And once again the nake jut couldn t mi the ite a they moved up the northwet facing lope in the autumn. The Microhaitat of Death Adder Now death adder (genu Acanthophi) are trange nake. In theory they hide in and amongt leaf litter, particularly in etween rock outcrop and near watercoure where they lie in wait for their prey to come along. By caudal luring, more commonly known a tail twitching, thee nake fool their potential prey into eizing for what i thought to e an inect, and intead finding themelve eized y a pair of nake jaw and fang. But in pite of thi knowledge aout death adder, they are aout the only Autralian pecie I ve een unale to find during the day. And ye, I pent many year trying to find thee nake y day ut without ucce. Sure other have done thi, ut I never could. For example I received a numer of report of death adder eing found y day in a gorge in the lower Blue Mountain. The exact pot wa Fitzgerald Creek, near Glenrook, near where it run into the Nepean River. In fact I inherited three adder caught from here, all y day and wa keen to find ome myelf. A day of earching intenively here in the exact pot that the other three were caught failed to reveal any. Sure I found other andtone region herpetofauna, ut no death adder. That wa way ack in the early And ye, ince then there have een quite a few death adder caught around thi location during the day. Mot of the captive orn death adder I currently hold (a of 2002) actually derive from parent ourced from here. Then there were the report of adder from Croroad in Sydney north. Thi uhland area form a peninula in the watercoure of the lower reache of the Hawkeury River, more or le to the wet of Berowa. I went there with a rake and after a day work of raking leave, I again came home empty-handed. Another herper Craig Bennett found three death adder in the vicinity of Middle Harour Creek, to the Eat of St Ive, all y day. One wa a gray uadult male een in the open. It died of unknown caue hortly after capture. Another wa a monter gray female found reting under an overhang near the creek. It wa a total length of 86.5 cm and had jut eaten an overized eatern water dragon (Phyignathu leueurii) of ome 80 cm total length. Thu the lizard wa effectively the ame ize a the nake. The tail of the lizard wa till hanging out of the nake mouth, the nake eing unale to wallow any further. Within day the nake wa dead, eing oth unale to diget or regurgitate the lizard (ee Hoer, 1981). Prior to thi I had een with Craig Bennett (on 6 Augut 1977) when he found another (the third) death adder in uhland adjacent to the ame creek. It wa a recently orn (21 cm total length) red female. The nake had een hiding under a light overhang under a mall rock ( cm high), meaning that it wa inviile unle the rock wa lifted. Craig had lifted the rock and found it. It took me 14 month to raie to adult ize (58 cm). Elewhere, I ve hunted y day for death adder (of variou pecie) throughout all the right part of Queenland y day, ditto for the Northern Territory, including hot-pot like Barrow Creek, and even in good part of the Pilara. Have I ever een any? No, not a trace. Not even a lough. But change the picture to night drive and I ve found heap. Not jut in Sydney and Wetern Autralia, ut elewhere a well. In the right area, death adder (Acanthophi pp.) uddenly ecome one of the more commonly een pecie! And o thi poe a erie of intereting quetion. Jut where do thee nake go during the day? And what exactly i their preferred microhaitat? I had a call once from fellow herper Neil Davie who wa aking me uch quetion aout death adder on ehalf of one of hi mate who wanted to find ome and then keep them a pet. The converation went roughly along the line a follow: Neil Where do you uually find Death Adder? Hoer Wet Head Road. Neil I mean what kid of haitat? Hoer Road. Neil Be more pecific pleae. Hoer Thoe long lack thing you drive your car on. Neil Funny, funny. No Raymond. Pleae tell me their preferred microhaitat. Where exactly they re found. Hoer Tarmac. Bitumen, get the drift. Neil But where do they actually live? Hoer I ve never een them anywhere ele. The Taxonomy of Death Adder I don t want to get ogged down on taxonomy in thi arti- 170

9 cle, ut in my formative year a a herper I took a trong interet in thee nake. And while I wa unale to find any y day and at that tage wan t into driving along road at night to find thee nake, I till had ome knowledge of them. In fact, aed on the large numer of preerved pecimen I had availale to me, I wa even ale to write a preliminary diagnoi for the genu Acanthophi. It read a follow: Genu Acanthophi. Allegedly one of the family Elapidae (fixed, front-fanged venomou land nake). A medium ized and thick-et nake. It cannot poily e confued with any other Autralian nake ecaue of it uild, a ratlike tail that terminate in a pine and the fact that all pecimen known eem to lack a head. Ye, the latter part wa true! You ee of all the nake that occurred around Sydney, there wa none a good at having it head chopped off a a death adder. They are hort, tout and low-moving. Slow enough moving that anyone can get a good go at chopping their head off with a hovel. And o it wa. Nearly all the firt ten death adder I aw lacked head! Twenty to thirty year ago, to have an interet in nake wa a freakih thing. Even now, it nowhere near a maintream to have an interet in nake in Autralia a it i in the United State. And o, ecaue I wa unuual in my oeion with nake, I oon ecame known around Sydney a the nakeman. Okay, o Autralian aren t noted for their originality in naming people! And ye, whenever there wa a nake that crawled into omeone ack garden, invarialy I d get the call on the phone to remove it. And that when I tarted to get all the headle death adder. You ee, thee people jut couldn t wait for you to get to their houe and o they took to chopping off the death adder head intead. The other pecie that tended to turn up, like eatern rown nake (Peudonaja textili), red-ellied lack nake (Peudechi porphyriacu) and the like were uually mart enough to duck into a pile of wood or imilar cover and ecape or hide --- at leat until I arrived with my nake-finding dog. But the death adder were never in the race. Slow and clumy in term of their movement, they invarialy got cloered. Then one day came a call from omeone with a maive death adder in their yard. I told them traight keep your eye fixed on the nake, don t loe it, don t kill it, for Pete ake don t give it the hovel, I m coming over now! Racing acro to Belroe, I arrived to find aout a hundred people circling omething in the middle of a lawn. Hooray! I had an intact death adder... or o I thought. It turned out to e a naty one-meter tiger nake (Notechi cutatu). Literature Cited Hoer, R. T Note on an unuitale food item taken y a death adder (Acanthophi antarcticu)(shaw). Herpetofauna 13(1):31. Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 40(9): , 2005 Herping in Autralia Field Note and More Part 7: Catching Snake and Frog Raymond Hoer 488 Park Road Park Orchard, Victoria 3134 AUSTRALIA Dog and Human Ye, I had thi nake and lizard finding dog. Hi name wa Freud. Named after the famou pychologit, my parent got to chooe the name ecaue they thought the dog wa intelligent. It wa a cro Dachhund/Doerman, or o it looked. We got it a a ix-month-old (etimated) tray on a train one day when we were going to ee a movie. The dog oon took to hi true vocation, ye, finding herp, and there egan a rewarding nine-year relationhip, which not only took u all around Sydney and it environ, ut over the year mot part of outheat Autralia and even the Top End. The dog tarted out finding lizard mainly, ut oon graduated to rait, foxe, cow, kangaroo, echidna and jut aout anything ele that moved. The nonherp were at time our igget drawack. You ee when rait were thick on the ground, the dog would pend the day chaing them and not finding much herp. A the dog got older, he got etter at finding creature and after a few year tarted to find nake. At firt it wa mainly green tree nake (Dendrelaphi punctulatu). Now thee are not a particularly common pecie around Sydney a compared to many other, ut the dog wa finding lot of thee and not much ele. Preumaly thi had omething to do with a tronger cent or omething like that. Thi I aume alo explained why the dog wa etter at finding lizard than nake. Perhap the lizard gave off a tronger cent. The next mot commonly found nake y the dog were red-ellied lack (Peudechi porphyriacu). Again that may have had omething to do with their cent. In fact it wa one of thee that eventually led to hi demie. At nine year old he wa getting a it lower, ut hi downfall wa hi ecoming increaingly old. Sometime he d not only find a reptile, ut he d alo attack it. Thi wa relatively rare. You ee the dog would chae the reptile down a hole or under a rock and tart 171

10 to dig it up. We d catch up and then we d imply tie him up immediately neary while we then dug out the reptile or lifted the rock. However on a warm unny day during Eater 1978, the dog wa too fat and too old. I and another herper, John Scanlon, were in thick cru near Deep Creek, Oxford Fall (Garrigal National Park, aout 23 km north of the Sydney Central Buine Ditrict), when my dog tarted arking. Knowing thi wa the meage I ve found omething, John and I ahed through the cru to catch up with him. We reached him within econd, only to find him lying unconciou on a rock outcrop with the rear end of a 1.5-meter red-ellied lack nake lying next to him. The dog had een itten numerou time on the nout, oviouly while he wa chewing the nake in half. The front half of the nake had amazingly made off into the cru. In pite of the fact that it proaly went no more than a few feet away, the vegetation wa o thick that we never found it. The dog died an agonizing death over the next hour. And a it happened, we couldn t have choen a more remote piece of uhland o cloe to Sydney for uch a thing to happen. We were at leat an hour hike though thick cru from the nearet road. A few year later and a few kilometer away, I and another two herper were again looking for nake when we tumled upon a houe in the middle of the uh. A man in hi fiftie walked out and aked u what we were doing. My mate told him we were looking for nake, to which the man replied Oh, you won t find any here. I ve een here for thirty year and I ve never een any! A my friend continued talking my aic herper intinct made me lift a heet of tin jut a few feet away and y the ide of the houe. And ye, a eautiful 1.5-meter red-ellied lack nake wa lying underneath jut waiting to e caught. The man in hi fiftie had to eat hi word. But getting ack to the dog that found nake, I once met a herper who wa nearly a good. Or at leat he eemed to think o. Roert Croft (they called him Hare, ecaue he ran o fat) took me chaing reptile in the uh at the top end of Warrimoo Avenue, St. Ive. Thi i in Kurringai Chae and we were couring the rock outcrop along the wet-facing lope of the Wetern Branch of Cowan Creek (etween the creek and the Warrimoo Walking Track). Croft wa howing me how common rown tree nake (Boiga irregulari) were in thi area during the winter month. It wa a typical Sydney winter day. Cool and unny. And for thoe who don t know, mot herp in Sydney tend to find a reting place for winter and then tay put for the coldet month (the period from mid-may to at leat mid-augut). And thi i when people like myelf can imply come along and lift the andtone rock and find them. Getting ack to thi particular area, I mut ay that a far a nake went, the uh didn t exactly reek of herp. To me it eemed a it dark and overgrown and while the haitat wa rocky, it wan t a rocky a many other area in Kurringai Chae or elewhere around Sydney. But the nake oviouly didn t mind. We found everal within a few hour and thi wa fairly normal for the area. Included were rown tree nake (all found in crevice), green tree nake (under rock [rock on rock] or in crevice) and yellow-faced whip nake (Demania pammophi) (under rock on rock or rock on dirt). Then of coure we found the other taple of the Sydney andtone ridge haitat, like Leueur gecko (Oedura leueurii), copper-tailed kink (Ctenotu taeniolatu) and red-crowned toadlet (Peudophryne autrali). Other pecie reaonaly common to the area, ut not found y u were diamond python (Morelia pilota) and mall-eyed nake (Rhinoplocephalu nigrecen), (I d caught oth in North Turramurra, one uur to the north, and St. Ive Chae, one to the Eat). But what I found mot notale aout thi particular day wa when walking through the cru, Croft exclaimed, I mell green tree nake! He tarted to niff profuely and follow the mell. Within minute he d wandered through the uh to a rock crevice where the nake wa reting. He later recalled that he often found green tree nake thi way. But he went on to ay that thee were the only nake with a cent trong enough for him to track. And that wa oviouly why my dog alo found thee nake the eaiet to find. Keep Autralia Ugly When I wa a child, people dumped their ruih everywhere. It wa great! Now you have thee do-gooder antilitter campaign and they really are making it hard for the herp and the herper. When I wa a child a fellow herper y the name of Roert Croft (whom I jut talked aout) came to my houe and told me of the even alpine lotched luetongue lizard (Tiliqua nigrolutea) that he d found at Katooma in the Blue Mountain aout 100 km wet of Sydney. I aume mot reader are familiar with how eautiful thee lizard are, o it wan t unnatural for me to ak Roert more aout hi find. It turned out that he d een on a day trip to ee the Three Siter. Thi i a rock formation at the edge of the plateau, which draw tourit like flie to you-know-what. On the way home he d topped at a vacant plot of land and lifted numerou heet of tin. That where he found the lizard. At the time, I d never een lotched luetongue o cloe to Sydney, only ever having een them at Oeron, which wa twice a far away and hidden out on a ack road. By contrat Katooma wa dead eay. The next weekend I and a mate caught a train along the main wetern train line and alighted at Katooma Railway tation. We walked off the train and into the townhip to the outh ide of the railway track. Katooma wa then one of thoe relatively poor country town, and wa characterized y old and hay houe, interpered with long-aandoned houing lot that had een effectively left to rot in a mixture of weedy gra and general houehold ruih dumped y the local reident. Within minute we were in one uch vacant lot lifting up 172

11 cardoard oxe, heet of tin and anything ele we could find. In thoe day I wa, I uppoe, jut half a herper ecaue I ignored the numerou mall rown kink I aw, which I now know of a Leiolopima entrecateauxii. But another kink I didn t ignore wa what we knew then a the he-oak kink (Cyclodomorphu cauarinae). We oon found a few of thee ditant relative of the luetongue (Tiliqua pp.) that apparently mimic young rown nake (Peudonaja textili) with dark marking on their head and nape. Having reduced lim, they move aout like a nake, and even flicker their road flehy tongue like that of a nake. That wa another reptile I had never caught efore. A it happen they are common throughout the upper Blue Mountain. (In 1983 Well and Wellington renamed the local Blue Mountain variant Cyclodomorphu michaeli. The deignation wa effectively ignored y Autralian herpetologit until Shea (1995) not only confirmed the deignation via a more detailed tudy, ut further udivided cauarinae a then known into three geographically ditinct taxa y adding another new pecie C. praealtu from the Snowy Mountain region of New South Wale.) Shortly thereafter we found our firt alpine lotched luetongue and y the end of the day we d found over 20 hiding under tin and other ruih on vacant houing lot. By that tage we d managed to walk to Leura train tation (one top cloer to Sydney), and thu we caught the train home. The irony i that in later herping trip in the uh in the upper Blue Mountain, we never aw any lotched luetongue or he-oak kink, and the mall Leiolopima entrecateauxii were alo relatively uncommon. Another pecie known from the Blue Mountain i the pink-tongued kink (Tiliqua gerrardi). Thi i a luetongueized lizard, ut a the name ugget, adult uually have a pink tongue. They occur in wetter foreted haitat from aout Goford (60 km north of Sydney), to Queenland and along the Queenland coat. However there i an apparently iolated population at Springwood in the mid Blue Mountain, which i way further outh and wet than otherwie known for the pecie. The haitat there i largely wet foret, o it fit the ill for the pecie, even if the location eem to e a it out. The firt I heard of the pecie in Springwood wa while attending an Autralian Herpetological Society meeting at the Autralian Mueum in Sydney. The ociety had jut had a field trip to ome uhland near Springwood and aout the only herp of note that they d een wa a ingle adult pinktongued kink found in a rock crevice. I took a punt and ued the houehold ruih theory for the pink-tongued kink. I oon found myelf tanding at Springwood railway tation. Springwood wan t quite like Katooma. Quite the oppoite in fact. The area wa dominated y newer houe and clean, manicured lawn. There didn t even appear to e any vacant lot etween houe a wa common in the treet of Katooma. I wanted ruih and needed it fat! Thankfully there wa a railway line and where you find thee there alway other nice thing for herper --- like railway leeper! Within a few hour I d found even pink-tongued kink in land adjacent to the railway line. All were found heltering under man-made ruih. I felt pretty good. After all, aout twenty herper managed one animal in the uh from Springwood, while I got even jut y hitting the ruih! Jut a few year ago I had the ame ort of thing happen here in Victoria. Ro Valentic and I went in earch of the Victorian wamp kink (Egernia coventryi). He d read the ook and knew where to look --- Melaleuca wamp. We went to the right place --- Tootgarook Swamp, on the Mornington Peninula. We d oth read a paper y Mike Taylor on thi very colony. Now don t get me wrong, Ro a good herper, ut I had it all over him thi time. He checked out the wamp and the Melaleuca tree. I cheated. I went to the ruih tip next door. And ye, I got the lizard firt! Where wa it? Under a la of concrete of coure. Ro complained, But the ook don t ay that. I replied. My ook alway ay check out the local ruih tip firt! Which get me ack to Katooma and many other place for that matter. In 1999 I wa ack there eeing a few friend and I decided to take a poke around the town. I wa hocked with what I aw. The vacant lot were till there. But the overgrown vegetation and ruih weren t. Intead all I aw wa mowed lawn and nothing more. It turned out that thi local council (and many other like it) have effectively outlawed ruih on vacant lot and unkempt vegetation. They ve decreed that in the name of keeping Autralia eautiful, all the old heet of tin found on vacant lot of land mut e gotten rid of and the land cleaned up. Area that ued to e littered with roken down houe, car wreck and the like, now reemle golf coure. The net reult --- the herp are gone too. To e continued Literature Cited Shea, G. M A taxonomic reviion of the Cyclodomorphu cauarinae complex (Squamata: Scincidae). Record of the Autralian Mueum 47(1): Well, R. W., and C. R. Wellington A ynopi of the cla Reptilia in Autralia. Autralian J. Herpetology 1(3-4):

12 Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 40(9):174, 2005 Book Review: Stewardhip of the Spiny Softhell Turtle y Scott D. Gillingwater pp. The Upper Thame River Conervation Authority, London, Ontario, Canada David S. Lee The Tortoie Reerve P.O. Box 7082 White Lake, NC torreinc@aol. com It would appear that our Canadian friend are well ahead of u regarding turtle conervation. Not only are mot of their native pecie protected now, ut conervationit in Canada recognize the importance of pulic ector participation for long term pecie protection and management. It i an uplifting pleaure to e reviewing thi guide, and it make me hopeful that omeday our country regulatory agencie will finally recognize that they are unale to reolve complex conervation iue y themelve. Thi continued approach ha led to what i at et limited ucce for mot pecie under their management. In our country fund are pent on reearch and quandered on overhead, ut eldom do population actually enefit. In addition to protective legilation (maximum fine of $25,000 to $100,000 and imprionment for violation of the 1997 Fih and Wildlife Conervation Act in Ontario) Canada ha aemled recovery team for many of their pecie of conervation concern. Thee team not only develop peerreviewed recovery plan ut the team initiate collaorative reearch, education and local tewardhip program for each pecie. The guide reviewed here wa written with the knowledge that there i a lot that private ector folk can do to help the recovery proce for Ontario population of piny ofthell turtle. After a well thought out introduction the guide cover the following topic: the appearance, ehavior and iology of the piny ofthell turtle, a chapter on ten/eleven additional pecie of turtle native to Ontario a well a the introduced red-eared lider, a dicuion of the variou aquatic/geographic ytem of Ontario a they relate to the mall iolated population of thi ofthell, a lit of factor threatening the turtle urvival, recovery action and tewardhip requirement. In addition, there i alo information on current reearch and recovery effort, legilation and policy, information contact, a gloary, and appropriate reference. The guide i well laid out and include numerou color photograph. If you get a copy don t overlook the awe inpiring conervation and let get it done quote almot uliminally netled throughout the text. They are from ource a divere a Thoma Jefferon, Aldo Leopold and Martin Luther King. The attitude of the pulication i expreed y a quote from Margaret Mead: Never dout that a mall group of thoughtful, committed citizen can change the world, indeed, it the only thing that ever ha. The focu of the guide i of coure tewardhip of the turtle. After reviewing the uual cat of threat including, haitat lo, haitat alteration (dam, dike, riprap and other eroion control technique) pollution, predation from uidized predator, commercial hunting and encounter with oat and fihing-hook, the author dicue tewardhip. Thi i more than a checklit of do and don t; it organize the practical thing variou local people can do to help. For homeowner within the waterhed there are guideline for the dipoal of chemical and application of peticide. There i alo advice for reponile people who want pet turtle. Owner of agricultural land are made aware of prolem reulting from unfenced grazing, watewater runoff, eroion, and land ue. For landowner living adjacent to ofthell haitat there are practical uggetion for creating and improving haitat, and for all people uing the waterhed there are common-ene idea for fihing and oating, trail ue, the ue of off-road vehicle, river clean-up program, reporting violation, reporting ighting of ofthell, and way to dicourage uidizing their predator. In another ection of the guide there i pecific information a to where to report wildlife poaching and environmental miue a well a ource to contact for information on haitat improvement. While thi guide focue on a pecific turtle, the reality of the ituation i that good tewardhip for almot any pecie will poitively affect mot of the aociated native pecie haring their haitat. In thi cae the uggetion preented will help a numer of lake and river ytem in outhern Ontario and their aociated iota. We need to move pat the point that conervation interet in turtle and other wildlife are olely the reponiility of regulatory agencie and recognize that interet i not jut limited to ardent academic profeional. The author make the point that funding for reearch and conervation ha not een availale at the ame level it ha for ird and mammal, and that thi i due partly to pulic perception and the lack of program that ring thee pecie into pulic awarene. Educational guide uch a thi one will do much to alleviate thi prolem. The Ontario Spiny Softhell Recovery Team i doing what mot other recovery effort fail to do --- they are oliciting the involvement of local land owner, and people who ue the aquatic ytem inhaited y thee turtle. Pulic education and involvement in conervation effort i the only hope for long-term urvival for any numer of pecie. The time i here! We hould all look forward to eeing imilar tewardhip guide for other turtle with defined conervation need. The point of the guide, in fact the driving point of all conervation, can e found in one of the uliminal quote uried at the ottom of page 29: Without haitat, there i no wildlife. It that imple Wildlife Haitat Canada. Without correcting the iue that are putting pecie in decline individual pecie management program are doomed to failure. Game iologit have undertood thi for decade, yet for ome reaon mot U.S. agencie overeeing reptile and amphiian of conervation concern fail to undertand thi. Perhap thi well-thought-out guide i a ign of good thing to come. 174