Daren Riedle is the Desert Tortoise Coordinator for the

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1 Volume 18 March 2005 Number 3 T H I S M O N T H ' S G U E S T S P E A K E R Daren Riedle Amphibians and Reptiles Biologist Desert Tortoise Coordinator Arizona Game and Fish Department Chasing Lizards in Big 5 Country: Herping the Northern Province and the Free State of South Africa 7:15 PM Tuesday, March 15th Arizona Game and Fish Department Office 555 North Greasewood Road (between Speedway and Anklam, west of Pima Community College) Daren Riedle is the Desert Tortoise Coordinator for the Arizona Game and Fish Department and has been employed as a herpetologist by the department since He received his B.S. from Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas and his M.S. from Oklahoma State University. He spent 5 years studying aquatic turtles, primarily alligator snapping turtles, in Oklahoma and Missouri. Daren is currently responsible for overseeing desert tortoise management and research issues for Arizona Game and Fish, and is also involved in conservation issues surrounding the Rio Sonoyta drainage in southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico. In December 2004, Daren had the opportunity to travel to South Africa and provide herpetological training to N E X T M O N T H ' S G U E S T S P E A K E R Daren Riedle and a Leopard Tortoise (Geochelone pardalis). a small group of professional hunters and tour guides. This training will allow them to provide more diverse offerings to future clients. The possibility of leading herp-centric wildlife watching tours was also discussed, and a trip planned for December Daren s talk will be part travelogue and part discussion of the herpetofauna and the game ranching business in South Africa. Conference on Current Research on Herpetofauna of the Sonoran Desert This is a final reminder that CRHSDIII will be held on April 2005 at the Best Western Grace Inn and Conference Center in Phoenix. It's not too late to register for this conference, which will feature speakers from THS and other organizations. For details visit the website at To be Announced Tuesday, April 19th Tucson Herpetological Society meetings are open to the public and are held on the third Tuesday of each month starting at 7:15PM SONORAN HERPETOLOGIST 18(3)

2 P A T R O N Y M S O F T H E P I O N E E R W E S T Figure 1. Captain Howard Stansbury, From the Collection of Dr. William Schultz. XI. Uta stansburiana, Baird and Girard, Common Side-blotched Lizard Edward O. Moll School of Natural Resources University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, Both the genus and species of this lilliputian lizard were described by Spencer Baird and Charles Girard in 1852, based on four specimens collected by an expedition exploring and surveying the valley of the Great Salt Lake of Utah in Baird and Girard (1852) provided the specific epithet, stansburiana, in honor of Captain Howard Stansbury of the U.S. Corps of Topographical Engineers, the leader of the survey and the man listed as the collector of the specimens. Based on the only known photograph (Fig. 1) however, Stansbury looks a little portly, and possibly a tad slow, to have been catching lizards. Nevertheless, his name is on the labels, so who am I to question history? For all I know he may well have used a 12' cane pole with a noose of fishing line on the end to accomplish the feat. If so, he failed to mention it in his final report of the expedition. The genus was presumably named after the territory of Utah (which became a state in 1896) or the principal tribe of American Indians inhabiting that region, the Uta or Ute. Baird and Girard never specified the derivation of the name choice in their discussion within the Reptiles section of the final expedition report. The common name, Side-blotched Lizard (now Common Side-blotch Lizard), refers to a small dark blotch located on each side of the lizard just posterior to the axilla (or in layman terms, the armpit). Before reviewing the biology of this animal, I want to present a quick discourse on the etymology and pronunciation of the generic name. I did my doctoral work at the University of Utah and here the herpetologically inclined pronounced Uta with a long U like the state. Decades later, when my wife and I settled in Tucson and I began attending Tucson Herpetological Society meetings, I frequently heard the name oota being bantered about. However, I believe the long U pronunciation used by Arizona s northern neighbors to be correct. Utah, itself, is a corruption of the name of the aforementioned tribe of American Indians that ranged through Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. According to writings of the early Mormons and Spaniards, they pronounced their tribal name as Eutaw, Youtah, Yuta, or Yutah. Today they are known as the Ute. So whether the lizard was named after the Ute or after Utah, it should be pronounced with the long U. Not only does this lizard vie for being the most common lizard in Western U.S., it is also one of the best studied. One of the most thorough investigations of the natural history of the Common Side-blotched Lizard was that of the late Don Tinkle (1967), who made nearly 26 SONORAN HERPETOLOGIST 18 (3) 2005

3 13,000 captures of 3,729 lizards and examined several thousand more, chiefly from Kermit, Texas but also Colorado and Nevada. Based on Tinkle s findings, in Texas these insectivorous lizards lay at least three clutches of four eggs each. Average incubation time is two months and hatchlings began to appear in mid June. They grow at a rate of 0.2 mm (0.008 in) per day during warm months but slow to half that rate in cooler months. Rapid growth continues until sexual maturity (between 4 and 8 months) at which time growth greatly slows or ceases. Mortality of hatchlings and adults is high. Survivorship of hatchlings to maturity is typically less than 20% and the turn-over of resident adults approaches 90% annually. Rare individuals approach the ripe old age of two years, but average life expectancy is around 19 weeks. Practically the entire breeding population each year is composed of animals less than a year of age. Small lizards with high mortality, such as Uta, are in many respects reptilian equivalents of annual plants. Due to high mortality their chances of surviving beyond a year are slim. Thus only the genes of those producing eggs that hatched into individuals, that grew, matured, mated and produced eggs within the confines of a single annum survived to staff present day populations. An interesting analysis of male reproductive behavior in a population studied by the Barry Sinervo lab from the University of California Santa Cruz (Sinervo and Lively 1996) suggests that these lizards are practitioners of a complex game of rock-paper-scissors. Males come in three color/behavioral types. Orangethroated males are particularly aggressive and territorial. Blue-throated males are territorial, less aggressive, but guard their mates. Yellow-throated males defend no territory but thrive as female impersonators, sneaking liaisons with real females by slipping into the territories of the other two types. Each strategy has strengths allowing it to out-contest one morph but also weaknesses that leave it susceptible to another. Orange throats hold large territories but can be cuckolded by the yellow-throated sexual impersonators. Blue throats have smaller territories but avoid cuckolding by closely guarding their females from yellow throats. They in turn are overpowered by the more aggressive orange-throats. All types are successful enough to remain moderately abundant in the population. The collection of the first specimens of Uta stansburiana is also a story of the Great Salt Lake Expedition and the Corps of Topographical Engineers. In a historical article it is always difficult to decide where to begin, inasmuch as the history of anything is a network of links with the past. Thus historians must draw the line somewhere and rather than go all the way back to the Big Bang, I choose to begin the story of the Great Salt Lake Expedition in the year This was the year when General George Washington paved the way for the Corps by appointing Robert Erskine of New Jersey as the geographer/surveyer for the revolutionary army. This was significant as it paved the way for creation of the topographical division of the military established during the war of An early appointment to the division was John James Abert, the man destined to be its chief from 1829 to The division was reorganized and took the name, U. S. Corps of Topographical Engineers, in Under Abert the Corps endeavored to be scientifically oriented requiring that engineers be both proficient military commanders and have the scientific skills necessary to report on the flora, fauna, and geology of the regions that they were sent to survey. In the 1840s, spurred by the hue and cry of Manifest Destiny, the Corps began dispatching expeditions to explore western United States. According to historian Brigham Madsen, expansionists of the day were clamoring to see the stars and stripes flying from the Aurora Borealis in the North to Tierra del Fuego in the South. The West was first on the agenda to be explored and conquered. Thomas Jefferson had set the precedent for federally sponsored exploration of the American West with the Lewis and Clark expedition in The Topographical Engineers now took over the mission to map and survey this great expanse. The first major western expedition by the U. S. Army Figure 2. Drawing of Uta stansburiana from the type series collected by Howard Stansbury in the valley of the Great Salt Lake. Plate V from Baird and Girard (1852). SONORAN HERPETOLOGIST 18(3)

4 The exploration of the Great Salt Lake carried with it much of the same glamour and excitement to the American public that John Wesley Powell s exploration of the Colorado River commanded a decade or so later. Topographical Engineers was in 1819 when Lt. Stephen Long led a party to the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Particularly well known were the expeditions led by John C. Fremont. It was Fremont s expeditions to South Pass in 1842 and to Oregon and California in 1843 and 1844 that paved the way for the later Stansbury expedition by furnishing essential information about the routes through and the geography of the Utah territory. Other Western exploration was undertaken by First Lieutenant William Emory, the topographer who accompanied General Stephen Kearney s Army of the West and supplied extensive new information in his report about the region between the Rio Grande and California. This was followed in 1849 by a report of Navaho country by topographer Lieutenant James Simpson who accompanied the wellpublicized expedition to chastise the natives. Next on the Corps docket was the Great Salt Lake Expedition under the leadership by Captain Howard Stansbury. Stansbury was born February 8, 1806 in New York. A civil engineer by profession, in 1828 he was put in charge of surveying a large project of proposed canals to unite Lakes Erie and Michigan with the Wabash River. Other projects preceding his military career involved surveys of rivers, railroads, and roads in the Midwest. In July of 1838, Stansbury became a Lieutenant in the U.S. Corps of Topographical Engineers. His credentials must have been particularly impressive because Abert typically insisted on West Point graduates for his Corps. John C. Fremont was the only other non-west-point appointment of the time. Despite this handicap, Stansbury moved quickly up the ladder and was promoted to Captain in Over the next decade, he was put in charge of a variety of projects ranging from surveys of the Great Lakes and the harbor at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to building an iron lighthouse on Carysfort Reef in Florida. However, it was the Great Salt Lake Expedition from 1849 to 1851 that made his place in history. The exploration of the Great Salt Lake carried with it much of the same glamour and excitement to the American public that John Wesley Powell s exploration of the Colorado River commanded a decade or so later. Here in the midst of an arid region lay the largest body of water between the Great Lakes and the Pacific Ocean, a huge body of water that apparently had no outlet. Minimal exploration had been carried out prior to the Stansbury expedition. Dominguez and Escalante were in the area around 1776 and made a map indicating that the lake drained by a river into the Pacific Ocean. This idea was eventually dispelled by a group of four trappers who explored the lake in Nevertheless, John C. Fremont s expedition in 1843 searched once again for a river draining the lake only to confirm that there was no drainage to the sea. Brigham Young led a party of Mormons to the lake in 1847 and shortly thereafter established salt collection from it for the settlers. Stansbury s primary assignment was to survey the Great Salt Lake, explore the surrounding region, and determine the ability of the Mormons to supply army bases in the region. In addition he was to seek a better wagon road to Ft. Bridger from Salt Lake City and look over the country as a potential route for the transcontinental railroad. Second in command of the group was First Lt. John W. Gunnison, a West Point graduate. The expedition, which left Fort Leavenworth on May 31, 1849, got off to a rocky start. Gunnison began the trip in the back of a wagon recovering from illness (presumably cholera that was raging in the region). California gold fever, a sickness of a different nature, caused many of the party to jump ship and join forty-niners heading for the Diggings. Upon the expedition s arrival in Salt Lake City, the Mormons were reluctant to cooperate as they feared that the soldiers were there to spy on them and possibly to deliver punishment on the society for their stand on polygamy. Fortunately, Stansbury was an outstanding diplomat who soon gained the confidence of Brigham Young and the cooperation of the Mormon people. Most of the objectives of the project were accomplished and Stansbury and his men became the first to successfully encircle the entire lake. By the end of the project both Stansbury and Gunnison came to have strong admiration for the Mormons, which was reflected in the final report. The expedition achieved a number of scientific accomplishments. Stansbury was first to recognize that the Great Salt Lake was a relatively small remnant of a former vast inland sea. The system of triangulation used by the expedition to map the Lake was the first application of the method by the Corps of Topographical Engineers. It became the system of choice by not only the Topographical Engineers but also the U. S. Geographical and Geological Surveys that succeeded the Corps. The transcontinental railroad route recommended by Stansbury was ultimately the route chosen. The natural history specimens collected by the expedition were reported by Spencer Baird to be the most important additions to the field since the 1831 expedition of Major Long. In regard to the herps (a Tiger Salamander was included in the reptile report), Baird stated that all but two of the eleven were new to science. However, over time, only four of the species escaped the indignity of synonomy Aspidoscelis tigris, Phrynosoma platyrhinos, Sceloporus graciosus, and Uta stansburiana. Another, Coluber mormon, still exists as a valid subspecies, C. constrictor mormon. Interestingly, in addition to Baird and Girard s report on Reptiles, the final report of the expedition includes A Monographic Essay on the Genus Phrynosoma by Girard. It was not unusual for the Smithsonian staff to take advantage of a govern- 28 SONORAN HERPETOLOGIST 18 (3) 2005

5 ment-funded publication by including extraneous material that could not be published elsewhere. Following the expedition, the principals did not live long and fruitful lives. Stansbury s final report appeared as a congressional document in His descriptions of the Mormons and how they lived made the publication particularly popular and led to a number of reprintings over the years. This report stands today as an important historical and cultural work documenting settlement of the Great Salt Lake and the role of the Corps of Topographical Engineers in its exploration. Stansbury survived a little over a decade after completing his report. A note on the back of his photograph suggests that he picked up some disease in the Rocky Mountains that led to deterioration of his health and eventually his death. Nevertheless, he continued engineering work in the Midwest, was appointed Major in 1861 and was serving as a mustering officer in Madison, Wisconsin at the time of his death in His second-in-command Gunnison returned to Utah in 1853 leading a survey party for the Transcontinental Railroad. His party was attacked by Indians in the vicinity of Sevier Lake and Gunnison and six others were killed and dismembered. The names of Stansbury and Gunnison are perpetuated in the region they explored by a number of land marks. They made sure of some recognition by naming islands in the Lake after themselves. But they need not have worried. Today Gunnison is also remembered by a town and a reservoir in Utah as well as a county, a town and a river in Colorado whereas Stansbury s name is attached to an Ice Age terrace of Lake Bonneville and a range of mountains. However, only Stansbury will go down in the annals of herpetological history being the namesake of the West s ubiquitous, little, side-blotched, game-playing saurian, Uta stansburiana. Sources Baird, S., and C. Girard Appendix C, Reptiles. Pp in H. Stansbury, Exploration and Survey of the valley of the Great Salt Lake of Utah. Lippincott, Grambo & Co. Philadelphia. Madsen, B Exploring the Great Salt Lake, the Stansbury expedition of Univ. of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. Stansbury, H (reprint). Exploration of the Great Salt Lake, Exploring the American West, with an introduction by Don D Fowler. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C. Sinervo, B., and C. M. Lively The rock-paperscissors game and the evolution of alternative male strategies. Nature 388: Tinkle, D. W The life and demography of the Side-blotched Lizard, Uta stansburiana. Miscellaneous Publications, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan. (132): International Herpetological Symposium in Scottsdale The International Herpetological Symposium (IHS) will be held on July 2005 in Scottsdale, Arizona. The symposium is a forum for the dissemination of information and research results pertaining to the natural history, conservation biology, captive management and propagation of amphibians and reptiles. The symposium mixes academia and herpetoculture and is of interest to reptile breeders, veterinarians, artists, dry-goods vendors, and commercial importers.the 2005 event is sponsored by the Phoenix Zoo. The IHS meeting will take place at the Chaparral Suites Resort, 5001 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, Arizona ( ). Speakers include Jon Coote on animal rights groups targeting herpetology, Jeff Ettling on radio-tracking vipers in Armenia s Khosrov Reserve, Bill Griswold on the husbandry of the Rough Green Snake, and Dr. Kevin Wright of the Phoenix Zoo on 10 years of success in the Antiguan Racer Conservation Project. The IHS also holds a herpetological photography contest. Anyone interested in registering or submitting a paper for presentation for the symposium may find further information at the IHS website at New Theory on Spread of Chytrids A recent paper suggests a potential connection between frog die-offs around the world (including in Arizona) and the international trade in the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis). Researchers studied the fungal disease chytridiomycosis in 697 archived specimens of Xenopus collected from 1879 to 1999 in southern Africa. The earliest case of chytrids found was in a Xenopus laevis in 1938, and overall prevalence was 2.7%. The prevalence of chytrids showed no significant differences between species, regions, season, or time period. Chytrids was apparently a stable endemic infection in southern Africa for 23 years before any positive specimen was found outside Africa. The authors suggest that Africa is the origin of this fungal disease and that trade in African clawed frogs that began in the mid-1930s led to its dissemination. The paper (C. Weldon, L. H. dupreez, A. D. Hyatt, R. Muller, and R. Speare Origin of the amphibian cytrid fungus. Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases 10: ) is available at pdf.asp. This information is from a news release from the Center for North American Herpetology, SONORAN HERPETOLOGIST 18(3)

6 N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y N O T E Figure 1. Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) and Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum) encounter at Saguaro National Park. Photo by Erin Zylstra. Field Observations of Interactions Between the Desert Tortoise and the Gila Monster Erin Zylstra, Josh Capps, and Bruce Weise School of Natural Resources University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, Published reports of direct observations of Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum) and Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) interactions are relatively rare. Observations of Gila Monster predation on desert tortoise eggs have been reported (Barrett and Humphrey, 1986; Beck, 1990); however, few of these reports included observations of agonistic interactions between Gila Monsters and defensive adult tortoises. The only documentation of such an event was by Barrett and Humphrey (1986) in the Picacho Mountains, Pinal Co., Arizona. During the summer of 2004, we observed two separate interactions between adult female Desert Tortoises and Gila Monsters attempting to depredate the tortoises nests. J. Capps and B. Weise observed the first event on 16 July 2004 on the south side of the Rincon Mountains in Saguaro National Park. A female tortoise was encountered at her nest site with an adult Gila Monster. The nest site consisted of an outcropped rock ledge with soft loose soil beneath it. A small opening about 0.5 m (1.6 ft) wide extended back approximately 1 m (3.3 ft) beneath the rock and provided a shelter site that would conceal the tortoise. The nest was located towards the front of the shelter, just beneath the overhanging rock, and along the left side. The tortoise was positioned outside the entrance of the shelter facing outward while the Gila Monster lay behind her facing inward toward the nest. When initially encountered, the Gila Monster was in the process of digging at the soil of the nest while eggshell fragments from what appeared to be two previously consumed eggs lay scattered about the area. The lizard was first observed excavating an egg with its front limbs (Fig. 2), exposing just enough of the egg for it to grab with its gaping mouth. The lizard then pulled the egg from the soil and bit a small hole in the side, from which it consumed the contents of the egg using its tongue (Fig. 3). Once the lizard had eaten nearly all of the egg contents, it broke the eggshell open further and licked the inside of the shell fragments clean. The lizard also licked at the soil in places where small amounts of egg had spilled. After the lizard had finished consuming the egg the tortoise backed up, pushing the Gila Monster further into the rear of the shelter. The lizard then disappeared into a rock crevice at the rear of the shelter, returning 3 minutes later to continue licking and digging at the soil where the eggs once were. At this time, the tortoise lifted up and pushed backward, pinning the Gila Monster beneath the rear of her plastron. The lizard withdrew from beneath the tortoise and retreated to the rear of the shelter shortly thereafter, concluding the interaction. Upon further examination we determined that the Gila Monster had successfully consumed all the eggs in the nest. By piecing together eggshell fragments we concluded that the clutch contained 2-3 eggs that were buried approximately 10 cm (3.9 in) beneath the surface of the soil. The Gila Monster did not reappear and the tortoise remained in the vicinity of the nest for the remainder of the observation. Less than a week later E. Zylstra observed the second event on 22 July 2004 on the west side of the Rincon Mountains. A female tortoise that had been tracked using radio-telemetry since 2002 was found scuffling with a Gila Monster on a west-facing slope 30 SONORAN HERPETOLOGIST 18 (3) 2005

7 under a hackberry bush (Celtis pallida). A large conical hole approximately 25 cm (9.8 in) deep had been excavated just north of the hackberry s base and there were small pieces of eggshell in the soil. It appeared that the Gila Monster had just consumed at least one of the tortoise s eggs because its mouth and lower jaw were wet. Despite the tortoise nest s location in an open and vulnerable place, and the Gila Monster having already eaten at least one of the eggs, the tortoise defended the area. When the Gila Monster attempted to enter the hole from either side of the shrub, the tortoise chased the lizard back in the opposite direction (Fig. 1). During most of the observed encounter, the tortoise sat in the bottom of the excavated hole, blocking the Gila Monster from digging the base any deeper. On three separate occasions the Gila Monster approached the tortoise while she sat in the hole and attempted to push the tortoise out of the way. In response, the tortoise rammed the Gila Monster with her head and gulars and shoved the lizard with her forelimbs, successfully preventing the lizard from digging the hole any deeper. The observed encounter lasted approximately fifteen minutes before the tortoise retreated and began climbing up the hillside. After the tortoise left the area, the Gila Monster scrambled into the nest and dug at the bottom of the hole for another ten minutes; however, no other eggs were uncovered. The Gila Monster then retreated in the opposite direction and entered a rodent hole under another hackberry approximately ten meters to the south. It is thought that Desert Tortoises defend their nests against potential predators, particularly for the first month after the eggs have been deposited; however, nest guarding behavior has rarely been reported except in response to humans (Averill-Murray et al., 2002). These observations provide evidence that tortoises may remain at the nest site for a short period after egg deposition, defending the nest against potential predators. As with almost any field observation, it is important to consider the possibility that human presence during these interactions influenced the natural behavior of the animals. Despite this shortcoming, observations of this nature are essential to better our understanding of Desert Tortoise and Gila Monster ecology. It is difficult to determine whether events like those described here are indeed as rare as the published literature would suggest. Considering the elusive nature of Gila Monsters and the often well-concealed Desert Tortoise nest locations, it is more likely that these events are not so uncommon, but simply rarely observed. Funding for this field work associated with this note was provided by the Arizona Game and Fish Department Heritage Fund and Saguaro National Park. Literature Cited Averill-Murray, R. C., B. E. Martin, S. J. Bailey, and E. B. Wirt Activity and behavior of the Sonoran Desert Tortoise in Arizona. Pp in T.R. VanDevender, ed. The Sonoran Desert Tortoise: natural history, biology and conservation. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. x pp. Barrett, S. L., and J. A. Humphrey Agonistic interactions between Gopherus agassizii (Testudinidae) and Heloderma suspectum (Helodermatidae). Southwestern Naturalist 31: Beck, D. D Ecology and behavior of the Gila Monster in southwestern Utah. Journal of Herpetology 24: Figure 2. Gila Monster in nest of Desert Tortoise, Saguaro National Park. Photo by Joshua Capps.. Figure 3. Gila Monster eating Desert Tortoise egg. Photo by Joshua Capps.. SONORAN HERPETOLOGIST 18(3)

8 L O C A L R E S E A R C H N E W S Figure 1. Adult male Mexican Lanceheaded Rattlesnake (Crotalus polystictus). Photo by Melissa Amarello. Antipredator Behavior in the Mexican Lance-headed Rattlesnake Melissa Amarello, a senior at the University of Arizona, investigated the antipredator behavior of Mexican Lance-headed Rattlesnakes (Crotalus polystictus) for her honors thesis. She was interested in how temperature and reproductive condition affect defensive behavior. Mexican Lance-headed Rattlesnakes (Fig. 1) are an ideal candidate for this study for several reasons. First, very little has been published on the species and virtually nothing has been published on their behavior. Second, due to habitat conversion, many populations of Mexican Lance-headed Rattlesnakes live in environments that put dense populations of snakes in contact with people. This situation has led to a high occurrence of snakebite and persecution of rattlesnakes. In June 2004, with the help of numerous volunteers, Melissa obtained 76 snakes from agricultural fields near Toluca, Mexico on the southern Mexican Plateau. She measured defensive responses of gravid females and males at two temperature levels (18-19 and C) in trials designed to mimic a predatory 32 SONORAN HERPETOLOGIST 18 (3) 2005 encounter. In addition, she recorded the behavior and environmental conditions of each encounter with a Mexican Lance-headed Rattlesnake in the field. There are two elements needed to head off threats to both humans and rattlesnakes: a clear understanding of rattlesnake defensive behavior and the education of local people on how to avoid dangerous encounters with rattlesnakes. As a small step toward educating the locals about rattlesnakes, Melissa gave Tucson Herpetological Society coloring books and crayons to all of the children on the ranch. T & E, Inc., The Tucson Herpetological Society s Charles H. Lowe Research Fund, and The University of Arizona Honors Alumni Legacy Grants funded this research. The investigator would like to thank Belinda Victoria Santos and the many other volunteers for field and lab assistance in Mexico. She would also like to thank the following people for their assistance, advice, and support of all other aspects of the project: Kevin Bonine (Melissa s thesis advisor), Jeff Smith, Matt Goode, Roger Repp, and Bob Steidl. For more information on this project, Melissa can be reached at School of Natural Resources, 104 Biological Sciences East, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, 85721, cascabel@ .arizona.edu.

9 B O A R D M E E T I N G S Y N O P S I S 22 February 2005 Cristina A. Jones and Elissa Ostergaard, filling in for Robert L. Bezy, Secretary Arizona Game & Fish Department Region V, Conference Room 555 North Greasewood Road. Tucson, AZ Directors Present: Directors: Kevin Bonine, Young Cage, Cristina Jones, Elissa Ostergaard, Roger Repp, Eric Stitt, Marty Tuegel, Robert Villa, Erin Zylstra. Members Present: Dennis Caldwell, Bill Savary. Excused Absence: Robert Bezy, Taylor Edwards. Treasurer s Report Marty Tuegel 22 February 2005 Beginning Balance $10, Deposits Expenses Ending Balance 10, Speakers Bureau Jarchow Award FTHL Fund C.H. Lowe Research Fund 3, General Fund 6, CD Total 7, CRHSD Fund 5, General Fund $2, Itemized Deposits: Donation $160.00, FTHL $10.00, Jarchow Award $20.00, Lowe Research Fund $10.00, Membership $ Itemized Expenses: Bank fees (Dec and Jan) $3.74, CRHSDIII $2,000.00, S. H. Printing $163.89, Gift for departing president $ Committee Reports Conservation Dennis Caldwell. Printing of the Living with Venomous Reptiles brochure has been postponed, awaiting suggested changes by Bruce Taubert (AGFD). Dennis Caldwell will evaluate suggestions, and if they are significant, he will bring them to the March Board meeting. Hope to have brochure printed for spring distribution ideally ready for the Ironwood Festival on 05 Mar 05. Cristina Jones mentioned that the first (very) active rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) was found at Arizona- Sonora Desert Museum today. Pond liners and pumps for the Notch Neighborhood, near Saguaro National Park (east), are en route, and should be installed and filled this month. The ponds will be ready for Rana yavapaiensis this spring. Speakers Bureau Ed Moll and Robert Villa 03 Feb Robert Villa delivered a talk to 30 children and 5 adults at the T. Rex Museum. 07 Feb Roger Repp delivered a talk on writing field notes to 8 teachers at the Science Resource Center at Tucson Unified School District. 16 Feb Robert Villa delivered a talk to Mrs. Romero s science class at Wakefield Middle School. Robert will also be delivering the same talk to another science class on 23 Feb. Sonoran Herpetologist Young Cage for Don Swann. President Cage suggested that SH needs more active contributors specifically the need for more articles, book reviews, natural history notes. Program Elissa Ostergaard. Elissa requested criteria for speaker selection, the Board suggested: variety balancing husbandry, research, and tours and lesser known species. Speakers could be selected from the many conferences in Arizona this spring. Coming up on 15 March: Daren Riedle. C. H. Lowe Research Fund Young Cage for Taylor Edwards. Proposals are solicited for the 1 March deadline. Cristina Jones contacted Taylor Edwards and learned that one proposal has been received and reviewed. AZ PARC Eric Stitt. The position for National PARC Herp Coordinator has been advertised on the CNAH Herpetology website, the position is based at the Arizona Game and Fish Department in Phoenix. The Conservation Forum on the AZ PARC website was shut down on 18 February 2005 because a few have been using the forum as a medium for personal attacks and attacks on partner organizations. The conservation forum will be a topic of discussion at the next AZ PARC meeting. Current Research on Herpetofauna of the Sonoran Desert III Cristina Jones and Marty Tuegel. Cristina reports no request for additional funds from Dale DeNardo, though in a recent , Dale suggested that we use the funds to sponsor a speaker from Mexico. It was also suggested that whomever THS sponsors also be available for the April THS general meeting. Cristina Jones will contact Dale DeNardo to find out how many slots he would like us to fill, and report back to the Board. Old Business Heritage Fund Advisory Council Young Cage. The position has been filled for 2005, President Cage will investigate the position that will be available for 2006, and bring it back to the board in 9 months. THS Support for CCCC Proposal Young Cage for Taylor Edwards. By the Board approved participating in a co-operative agreement with the Cienega Corridor Council Emily Brott (Rincon Institute) will be sending papers to join the CCCC to President Cage. Bill Savary will be the THS SONORAN HERPETOLOGIST 18(3)

10 B O A R D M E E T I N G S Y N O P S I S liaison, stated the need for volunteer support (in the form of public presentations, building databases), and suggested that more THS members get involved. Desert Tortoise Council Meeting Eric Stitt. The DTC attracted 150 people, and went great. THS members presented at the conference (Cecil Schwalbe for Cristina Jones, Taylor Edwards, Roy Averill-Murray, and Phil Rosen). THS donated $50 for the conference and 3 T-shirts for the raffle. Marty Tuegel reported that DTC is starting a scholarship fund in the name of David Morafka, and suggested the board consider making a donation at some point. Cienega Creek Pioneer Days, 02 April Ed Moll. Ed Moll is waiting for official word from Emily Brott, coordinator, on times for the event. Ed Moll and Bill Savary will be able to staff the THS table, Ed will only be available from 10 AM 12 PM. Additional THS volunteers are needed. New Business Round Table discussion of personal and overall THS goals Young Cage. Board members, committee members, and members present at the meeting each shared their thoughts on THS, and included how and what they will be contributing to THS this year. Photos Requested by Cabeza Prieta Natural History Association President Cage. Cabeza Prieta Natural History Association has requested photographs of herps for their website. University of Arizona Earth Day, 21 April Eric Stitt. The University of Arizona will be holding their annual UA Earth Day on the UA Mall from 10 AM 3 PM, 21 April The THS booth has been very popular since adding live animals to their display. THS will have a table with live animals at this event. Eric Stitt will take care of registration and also be staffing the table and Robert Villa, Elissa Ostergaard, Erin Zylstra, and President Cage have expressed interest in assisting. Community Earth Day Celebration, 23 April President Cage. This event is sponsored by the Center for Biological Diversity and held at Himmel Park on 23 April President Cage will find out what is required of participants, and bring the information to the next board meeting. Gopher Snakes in need of homes Dennis Caldwell. There are 3-4 gopher snakes that need homes, and could be used for THS or other outreach. Please contact Dennis for more information. M E M B E R S H I P Membership Information Individual $20 Sustaining $30 Family $25 Contributing $50 Student $14 Life $500 To receive a membership form and recent issue of Sonoran Herpetologist call (520) or write: Tucson Herpetological Society P. O. Box 709 Tucson AZ Time to Renew Your THS Membership? I hope this is a helpful reminder to those of you whose membership renewal is due this month. Please call or with corrections and errors or dhardysr@theriver.com Dave Hardy Sr. Membership Secretary Due in March: Sandy Anderson Bayard Brattstom Stephen Cumberworth Harry Green & Kelly Zamudio Dennis Pepe Michael Schroff Allison Titcomb & Chuck Fellows Membership Update As of 24 February 2005: Sustaining Jim Rorabaugh Christine Wolner General Fund David Garst Royce Ballinger Justin & Nancy Congdon Brendan Cummings Norma & Abe Lackow Charles Rau Gorden Schuett Glendale, AZ Tucson Salem, VA 34 SONORAN HERPETOLOGIST 18 (3) 2005

11 Sonoran Herpetologist is the newsletter-journal of the Tucson Herpetological Society, and is Copyright The contents of Sonoran Herpetologist may be reproduced for inclusion in the newsletters of other herpetological societies provided the material is reproduced without change and with appropriate credit, and a copy of the publication is sent to the Tucson Herpetological Society. Occasional exceptions to this policy will be noted. Contents are indexed in Zoological Record. A complete set of back issues are available in the Special Collections area of the University of Arizona library. They are accompanied by a copy of The Collected Papers of the Tucson Herpetological Society, Editor Don Swann, donswann@dakotacom.net Associate Editor Dale Turner, dturner@theriver.com Art Editor Dennis Caldwell, dennis@caldwell-design.com Book Review Editor Eric Stitt, stitt@cox.net Distribution Fred Wilson, fredtj@comcast.net Trevor Hare, trevor@skyislandalliance.org Membership Dave Hardy Sr., dhardysr@theriver.com Information for Contributors Authors should submit original articles, notes, book reviews to the Editor, either via using an attached word processed manuscript or by mail to the Society s address. The manuscript style should follow that of Journal of Herpetology and other publications of the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. For further information, please contact the editor. The Tucson Herpetological Society is dedicated to conservation, education, and research concerning the amphibians and reptiles of Arizona and Mexico. Tucson Herpetological Society is a registered non-profit organization. Officers President Young Cage, ydcage@aol.com Vice President Eric Stitt, stitt@cox.net Secretary Bob Bezy, bezyr@theriver.com Treasurer Marty Tuegel, mtuegel@yahoo.com Directors Kevin Bonine, kebonine@ .arizona.edu Cristina Jones, cajones@u.arizona.edu 2005 Elissa Ostergaard, elissaco@yahoo.com Roger Repp, rrepp@noao.edu Robert Villa, azherper16@aol.com Erin Zylstra, erinzylstra@hotmail.com Past President Taylor Edwards, taylore@u.arizona.edu Society Activities Monthly Members Meeting Elissa Ostergaard, Program Chair 3rd Tuesday, 7:15 PM Board of Directors Meeting Last Tuesday of each month (except December), 7:00 PM Arizona Game and Fish Department Office 555 North Greasewood Road Speakers Bureau (scheduled presentations) Robert Villa, Director Ed Moll, Director Conservation Committee Dennis Caldwell, Director Herpetological Information Hotline Bob Brandner Jarchow Conservation Award Taylor Edwards, Chairperson Publications: Sonoran Herpetologist, Living with Rattlesnakes, Living with Gila monsters, Backyard Ponds, THS Herp Coloring Book, THS Collected Papers, THS Internet World Wide Webpage Erik Enderson eenderson@cox.net Deadline for Sonoran Herpetologist 18(4): March 15 For more information about the THS and the reptiles and amphibians of the Tucson area visit tucsonherpsociety.org SONORAN HERPETOLOGIST 18(3)

12 Your membership has expired. This is your only reminder. Please renew! March 2005, Volume 18, Number 3 FEATURE ARTICLE 26 Howard Stansbury - Common Side-botched Lizard NATURAL HISTORY NOTE 30 Desert Tortoise - Gila Monster Interactions LOCAL RESEARCH NEWS 32 Mexican Lance-headed Rattlesnake 36 SONORAN HERPETOLOGIST 18 (3) 2005