Candidate for Mascot: Eastern Spadefoot Toad

The Eastern Spadefoot Toad (Scaphiopus Holbrookii) would just love to be nominated as the Herp Class Mascot! I've spoken with Earnest (featured below), and he has asked me to be his campaign mangager. Of course, I agreed right away. Over the course of the semester, we have been digging around looking for herps. No one knows digging better than Earnest, who has his very own spades built into his cute little froggy feet... (hence the genus Scaphiopus: skaphis is Greek for "shovel or spade", and pous is Greek for "foot".) As a professional burrower, he is quite busy, but if chosen to be class mascot he will make appearances to support and encourage the students after heavy rains during the warm months of the year.
Just look into his vertically elliptical pupil, and you will know it was meant to be!




Look... He toadally DIGS herpetology!!!!!

Quenby Keisler

Dwarf Waterdog Mascot!

I think the lovely Dwarf Waterdog (Necturus punctatus) would make a most excellent mascot for Herpetology!

Amphibians are superb icons as they are the unfortunate canaries of many ecosystems - helping in the detection of pollutants and other things going awry in the environment. The dwarf waterdog's vibrant filamentous gills, smiling gape, and tiny eyes set in its large head would make for an admirable mascot in anyone's eyes!

(Channing Derry, SC)

I just really love them:)

As I was sitting on the stairs that lead into the backdoor of my house, I spotted another Anole shading himself from the sun under the lid of our garbage can. I captured a couple of great shots--Enjoy!!

(Samantha Reeves, Charleston SC)

Mascot: Hellbender

The Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) is a very large salamander with a flat body and folds of skin. The Hellbender has a large head and tail and very small eyes. I think that this should be our class mascot, because we found a lot of salamanders in the field. This is personally my favorite salamander that we studied and in my opinion, the most memorable. Why not have a memorable mascot for a class full of great memories?

(Alexis Kocher)

Mascot: Albino Alligator

As we saw on our field trip to the SC Aquarium, they have an albino American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). I believe this one should be the mascot for our class. His name is Alabaster. The American alligator is a local species of great abundance. According to CBS News, there are only about 50 albino alligators in the world. I know two of these alligators are at Alligator Adventure in North Myrtle Beach, SC (or they used to be). I think it is really cool that 3 of about 50 are located in this area of South Carolina. There may even be more in aquariums and zoos in SC of which I am unaware.



http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6317438n

Mascot!

So I have always been a fan of the Komodo Dragon, Veranus Komodensis, because it's the world's
largest lizard and it's just so intense with its talons and backward slanting teeth. I personally think
it would make a fantastic mascot. I took the liberty of preparing this little advertisement, hope you enjoy. I enjoyed the class Dr. Welch, thanks!
Bess Pierce

leucistic hognose anecdote

I ran across this interesting story while stumbling around off the search tag 'leucistic pet snakes'.


http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85114

Evidently, leucistic (all white with black eyes, not albino) colored "morphs" have been bred domestically in Python regius at least once successfully.


(TJ Mistler)

Serpents, DNA, Shamanism, Magic, and Biology

a relavent tangent


This link is to a brief interview with anthropologist Jeremy Narby about his book The Cosmic Serpent. I highly recommend all curious people to check it out!


here is the link
http://deoxy.org/narbystew.htm


(TJ Mistler)

Class mascot

With all due respect to Clyde, I'm taking nominations for a class mascot.

Submit your nomination as a comment to this post. Include the common and scientific name, a photo, and explain why you think this species should be our class mascot. (Nominations must be for an amphibian or reptile, no matter how much fun your classmates may have been on field trips!)

All nominations will be considered for extra credit. After grades are turned in I will announce the winning mascot here. The nominator(s) will also be recognized, for bragging rights.

Good luck!

Ion Swamp

On 3-24-11 our class traveled to Francis Marion National Forest to visit the Ion Swamp. This swamp is a series of overgrown rice fields separated by a network of dikes. Here a student found an adult marbled salamander (Ambystoma opacum). This salamander is very easily identified by its black and silvery/white marbled coloration. It is thick bodied and has costal grooves. No nasolabial groove is present like those in the family Plethodontidae. This particular salamander was about five or six inches long and was found in the woods bordering the swamp. Marbled salamander larvae are born in the water and metamorphose into terrestrial adults.

We also found a bunch of green anoles (Anolis carolinensis) all those that were found were adults and appeared to be females due to the lack of a dewlap. The anoles were about four inches long and all changed colors from brown to bright green over a few minutes after being caught. Some were caught in the forest bordering the swamp, but I caught a large one in the swamp. They are highly territorial so we made sure to release them very close to where they were found. (Logan Bryan, SC)

Healthy Population of Banded Water Snakes

Our class took a field trip to Dungannon Heritage Preserve in the ACE Basin on 4-21-11. The habitat we investigated was made up of mostly old rice fields turned to swamp. Here we found a vast amount of southern cricket frogs (Acris gryllus) which varied in morphology greatly. We also found four banded water snakes (Nerodia fasciata) all but one were caught in minnow traps. The fourth was found slightly under a log on the outskirts of a swampy area. We knew they were Nerodia due to their keeled scales and dark, thick bodies. They have rounded pupils and fairly slender heads, so we knew they were not cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus). Furthermore, their bellies were brightly colored with red and yellow alternating marks and faint yellowish bands were on their sides. Two of the water snakes we found appeared to be adults because they were a few feet long. Both of these had tapering tails posterior to their anus, so we deduced that these were females. One of the smaller ones was very aggressive biting one student in the hand and arm many times. The snake that was found under the log flattened its head to make itself appear like a venomous species.

In the same area we caught two of the water snakes (on a dike next to where an old rice trunk appears to have been) I saw a black snake. I yelled, “snake snake”, in hopes Keith, our snake enthused lab TA would come assist. Eventually, with the help of another student we cornered the snake and Keith caught it. The snake turned out to be a black racer (Coluber constrictor). This snake, like one of the water snakes, was very aggressive biting him on the hand and fingers many times. We determined due to the thickness of the tail that this snake was most likely a male. It was several feet long with a very thin body, and probably an adult. It was all black with a dark grey belly and smooth scales. (Logan Bryan, SC)

Kayak camping and Herping

Two Summers ago my girlfriend and I went kayak campign on Eschaw creek in the Francis Marion National Forest. Eschaw creek is a tributary of the Santee River. We took some time to herp on our trip and managed to find some pretty cool stuff.

On the way out there we found a dead snake in the roadd. The snake was long and black with smooth scales. Based on the smooth scales, black coloration, slender body, and head shape we identified this snake as a black racer Coluber constrictor. These snakes are fast moving active foragers and are commonly seen crossing forest roads. It is not a suprise that we found this one dead on the road.

We saw one small alligator (~4 ft) while paddling to our camp site but we could not get close enough for a photo. Arriving at the campsite we took some time to set up camp and then went exploring. We found several large sliders, a southern toad, and an eastern spade foot toad, none of which I photographed. After flipping over several logs we came across my favorite salamander species, the marbled salamadner (Ambystoma opacum). This Salamander was identifiable as a member of ambystomatidae because of its robust size, lack of nasolabial grooves, and conspicuous costal grooves. It was identifiable as a marbled salamander by its unique silvery/grey dorsal pattern. The photos aren't the best because of the camera I was using but the salamander is still easily identifable based on the dorsal pattern. These salamdnres are typical of low swampy areas such as eschaw creek but are also found on drier sites. They are sit and wait predators with small home ranges. This one probably spends a lot of time under the log where I found it.

Finally on the way back to civilization we came across a reddish snake crossing a forest road. Stopping to examine the snake more closely it became clear it was a corn snake based on the dark spear mark on the dorsal surface of the head and the checkered pattern on the ventral surface. This scientifc name is Elaphe guttata and it is a member of the family Colubridae. These snakes are common in all types of woodlands. This particular specimen was found in a pine flatwood. These snakes are primarily nocturnal but I've personally encountered them frequently crossing roads during the day, especially during the summer. Perhpas they are searching for mates more actively during this time of the year.

(Kevin Maginn, SC)

Exciting finds in Dixie!

On 3-31-11 we took a field trip to Dixie Plantation. Here we retrieved a few turtle traps from a freshwater pond which contained several yellow bellied sliders (Trachemys scripta) of both sexes and one snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina). The sex of the yellow bellied sliders can be determined by the length of their claws. Males typically have much longer claws than females that they use to “stroke” her face during courtship. In the picture you can see that the snapping turtle’s plastron is very small, an indication that it lives on the pond floor. A hole in its tongue can be seen, but the purpose of this I do not know. Upon research I found that snapping turtles have a worm-like feature on their tongue for catching prey, so that may be what this is. This turtle was obviously not a juvenile with a plastron width of a little over a foot.
Later in the field trip we visited a swamp on the other side of Dixie Plantation. In the minnow traps here we caught many marbled salamander larvae (Ambystoma opacum). These larvae are aquatic and when they metamorphose they turn into terrestrial adults. One major identifying feature of the marbled salamander larvae is their two rows of light dots: one ventrally and one dorsally.
On the other side of the dike in an adjacent swamp, I pulled up a minnow trap and to my surprise I saw what appeared to be a snake! Then I realized its head and skid did not resemble a reptile’s at all. Excited, I hurried up the bank and opened the trap to discover a two-toed amphiuma (Amphiuma means), the only amphiuma species in the area. We identified this by observing four tiny feet each with two little toes, and no external gills were present. Dr. Welch was particularly excited, because this was the first time she (or us for that matter) had seen a live amphiuma in the field. Based on pure observation I would guess that it was just over a foot long: not big by any means but definitely an adult. We also know it is an adult based on its lack of external gills which are present in larvae before metamorphosis. (Logan Bryan, SC)