A Whole New (Herp) World

Even though the course has ended, I find myself still set in that mindset and frequently behaving like a herpetologist. Prior to the course, I never would have given a frog by the pool or a lizard on a wall a second thought. Post-herp, however, I chase after the frog by the pool to get a closer look and stop to take pictures of every passing Anole or Gecko I can. 

I may not remember many of the details of the course, but what I do come away from this course with is a more open mind and curious spirit. As bizarre as my friends might find this  new found fascination with the "slippery slimy", I'm happy with my widened interest and grateful to Dr. Welch for opening up my eyes to a whole new realm of creatures slithering, hopping, and crawling all around us.  People often say to slow down in life and stop and smell the roses, but why stop there? We should take notice of all that nature has to offer. The more we understand (& appreciate) the creatures we share this Earth with, the better off we all (toad to human to ape) will be! 

So in honor of this course, and my continued interest in the herp world, here are a few of my post-graduation finds!

This little Common House gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) found his way into my house while I was letting the dogs out. He quickly hid behind the dog bed. Like any good friend-of-the-herps, I chased after him to safely remove him from the house (knowing his fate would not be so sweet if he was there when the dog returned). Unfortunately, my approach startled him and the tail was lost in the process (seems I haven't lost my tail autotomy inducing touch). After a little back and forth with a cup and a napkin he was safely removed from the house and back in the garden where he belongs!

The familiar face below is the prevalent city dweller Anolis carolinensis. While enjoying my coffee at a Tallahassee Starbucks, this fella came by to perch himself on the window sill and enjoy morning sun. He did a few head bob/push ups and showed off his dewlap which I explained to my friend is a behavior used in both mating ritual and territory defense. Then as quickly as he had come he disappeared down the wall. 

My last discovery was a result of a pool rescue mission. This tiny frog was recovered during a dip in the pool and returned to the bushes outside. I have had more difficulty identifying this one, so if any one is familiar with N. Florida frogs (or perhaps the area inhabited overlaps with Charleston), I'd love to know the name of this 'little dipper'. 

I plan to keep updating my herp discoveries and adventures, so hopefully my fellow herp-bloggers will have some identification input as well as posts/pictures of their own adventures!

Till next time!

Herps at the Beach!

Hudson, Shannon, and I took our studying to the outdoors a few days ago and headed to Sullivan's Island.  After a few hours we decided to head back to the car (along with my horrendous sunburn I attained).  On the walk back, we noticed the tide had risen, and with it came an overwhelming amount of tadpoles.  Sadly, we did not get a chance to catch a specimen to determine the species but I thought the video would be enjoyable!

Underwater Sound Locating Capability in the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)

Article Review:

In this article, researcher Vladimir Dinets of the University of Miami, investigates the ability of American Alligators to locate the source of underwater sound.

Picking up sound waves, and especially localizing their source is much more difficult when they're transmitted underwater as opposed to through the air. The water is much more dense and scatters sound much more effectively than air. However, as living on both land and water, Crocodilians have adapted hearing to be able to function in both environments. Perhaps most the most notable Crocodilian aquatic communication is the head slap. This mating behavior is done by slapping the water with the head. This sharp (higher frequency) sound is one of the easiest to be detected.

In order to test if alligators showed a directional bias towards water based sounds, Dinets conducted two tests, one in canals, and one in lakes. In both Dinets used a submerged diving bell to produce underwater sound waves. This was crucial because to truly test only underwater 'hearing' the sound could not be audible above the water's surface.

After completing the tests, Dinets found that American Alligators do indeed show a directional bias towards water-borne sounds. His results suggest that underwater sounds, like the slaps, are used as long-distance communication because they're audible a much greater distance away than only air-borne sounds.

Dinets, Vladimir. (2013). "Underwater Sound Locating Capability in the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)." Journal of Herpetology 47:4 521-523

Disease Spread Through Amphibian Trade!

Recently, scientists have discovered that the spread of many amphibian viruses can be traced back to the animal trade.  Each year, over 100 million amphibians are taken from the wild and sold into the animal trade circuit.  More often than not, these amphibians contain either the ranavirus or the chytrid fungus, which is currently a major problem with Dendrobatids in South America.  Hong Kong, being the hub of the pet trade, is where most of the amphibian shipments to the U.S. come from.  Scientists sampled shipments that came into the U.S. from Hong Kong and found that 11.7% of amphibians had the chytrid fungus and five out of eight shipments carried the virus in the water (amphibians are shipped in water).  Astonishingly, the scientists also discovered that 56.8% of these specimens carried the ranavirus (another detrimental amphibian virus).  The problem with the trade today is that sanitation sanctions implemented in the United States are not carried out in Hong Kong, allowing the presence of these diseases to continue to be an issue.  The World Organization for Animal Health suggests that water transporting amphibians be sanitized before being disposed of.  Clearly any laws we implement here in the United States concerning the greater health of our wild amphibian populations are not seen as important in other nations like China, allowing this issue to continue to go on.


https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/wild-things/amphibian-diseases-flow-through-animal-trade

Climate Change Effect on Coqui Frogs

There was an article published recently by Science Daily, bringing attention to research that has come to light on the coqui frogs of Puerto Rico.  The study focused on Eleutherodactylus coqui and how climate change is causing a change in the species.  The experiment consisted of male coqui frogs being examined in 1983 and again in 2006, all from different altitudes in Puerto Rico.  The male coqui frogs were observed to have become smaller over the years, which in turn created a higher pitched, shorter mating call.  This can be linked to temperature change and a way for the coqui species to adapt to that change.  The research has clearly proven that climate change is having an effect on the coqui frog.  The continuation of climate change will keep changing the coqui frogs, and could quite possibly drive the species to extinction.  If this little species is being influenced this much by climate change, how many other species are also being effected?  Climate change has a large effect on every organism on the planet and this is just a look into what could happen to many of the species that call this place home.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140414160854.htm

Effects of Movement and Mating Patterns on Gene Flow among Overwintering Hibernacula of the Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)

This article tested the gene flow of Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) between 6 different  neighboring snake dens (hibernacula). The males of this species tended to mate at wider rangers than females which helped encourage gene flow between hibernacula. Also there was no bias preference between snakes from home and neighboring habitats. This random mating lead to the mating following the hardy weingburg equalbirum parameters. While there was some genetic differentiation between the six different hibernaculas, there was not enough to cause subsative genetic drift. 

Corey Devin Anderson (2010) Effects of Movement and Mating Patterns on Gene Flow among Overwintering Hibernacula of the Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). Copeia: February 2010, Vol. 2010, No. 1, pp. 54-61.

When Predators Bite Off More Than They Can Chew (article)

This article goes into detail about how some snakes can eat prey that are fattily harmful to them. In one example it talks about how a coral snake would eat its own suborders and these suborder snakes would be as large as the snake itself. The way the snake can digest these huge snakes is by a processed of scrunching up their prey's body once they have been swallowed. In the most bizarre example, It shows a snake with a massive centipede eating its way out back out of it.

Turns out the centipede was still alive when swallowed and ate through all of the snakes internal organs but died when it was almost completely out of the snake. Another example is when a  grass snake (Natrix matrix) tried to digest an introduced fish species, a brown bullhead fish (Ameiurus nebulous). When the fish was passing through the snake one of the spikey bones of the fish pierced the snakes abdomen and the snake died.

Most of the occurrences in prey resulting death happened with juveniles due to biting off more than they could choose. In this article it also described how introduced species caused a great deal of these deaths by meals.

http://www.popsci.com/article/science/when-predators-bite-more-they-can-chew

Are we sure about tetrapod evolution? Tiktaalik takes the Challenge!

Before learning about extant herps, we had to learn about how herps became herps and the evolutionary history of tetrapods. One of the most well known stem tetrapods that we also discussed in lecture was Tiktaalik from the mid to late Devonian (393 - 359 mya). Research compiled by Shubin et al. is attempting to shine light on how we understand tetrapod evolution because of research that had not previously been focused on. When we think tetrapods we think 4 limbs, but even with that said it is important to understand how the 4 limbs became what they are especially since we see evidence in the fossil record of the pelvic and pectoral girdle and appendages having different origins and evolutionary history. Previously because of the fossils being poorly preserved or not found, the pelvic girdle has been ignored with most of the focus on the pectoral girdle. Because of this the "front wheel drive hypothesis was created explaining that the closest tetrapod relatives were more emphasized on pectoral support for locomotion and that locomotion and support from the pelvic girdle is actually a tetrapod innovation. Most of the fossils of stem tetrapods (tetrapomorphs) examined showed a much larger pectoral girdle with a very small pelvic girdle, like we see in fish. Then once we see what we call tetrapods the pelvic girdle is much more robust, larger and has extra anatomical features that help with muscloskeletal support for both posture and locomotion. Although, this new research includes findings from 5 Tiktaalik specimens discovered with pelvic girdle and appendages that were decent enough for examination. In so Shubin et al. show that the pelvic girdle of Tiktaalik which because of it being a finned tetrapomorpha should have a much smaller pelvic girdle, actually shows ratios similar to those seen in tetrapods. The pelvic girdle also showed other interesting features such as a deep acetabulum that would allow more lateral orientation of the appendages and a very broad iliac blade that made it to the level at least of the vertebral column. It does not have a sacral rib which helps in support, but the other details are show traits that were not noted before. Overall this research shows that from analyzing the remains of Tiktaalik, "pelvic propelled locomotion in stem tetrapods actually began in the finned taxa before enhanced in more derived digit forms."
This research is not only interesting but it is a game changer. This could show a difference in how we understand tetrapod  evolution and the transition between water and land and overall the evolution of herps. This research was compiled and completed by Neil H. Shubin, Edward B. Daeschler and Farish A. Jenkins, Jr. and presented and published for the PNAS.


Kimmy Profitko
Article Review
(Link) http://www.pnas.org/content/111/3/893.full.pdf

New River Turtles?

"Two new river turtle species described"

A few days ago on April 24, 2014, researchers from Florida and Vermont released news that the Largest river turtle in North America, The Alligator Snapping Turtle, is not only just one species but they are two new species. The researchers examined old museum specimens and other turtles to get found the new species. The species that the found live in the southeastern part of the United sates. One of the turtles are called the Suwannee Alligator Snapping Turtle and it's mainly found in Florida and Georgia. They can be found in the Suwannee River. The Other snapping turtle they discovered was the Apalachicola Alligator Snapping turtle that lives in Alabama, Florida and Georgia in the Aplalchicola River. 

According to one the researcher, Joe Roman, they turtles don't migrate to different bodies of water like most turtles do. They are isolated and found in that one body of water that they are found in. They way that the study was conducted was by catching the turtles and gathering blood samples form their tales. After gathering samples, they collected DNA and found that they were "genetically isolated" from other bodies of water.  They also examined the skulls and shells of specimens to , they basically used the shell to tell the distinct characteristics of the Macrochelys. 

Wonder's why there's so much hype about finding these new species? Well the Alligator Snapping turtle used to be Hunted and used in the 1960s for Campbell's Turtle Soup, ew. I wonder if it was delicious. According to Roman, the turtle soup was served to politicians. They numbers began to drop because hunters could wipe out an entire river. 

.

The reason why I think this article is interesting because personally, when a new species is found or named it always captures my attention. The article didn't really get into detail about the experimental design, therefore, I can't really comment on their findings. Overall, I found this study interesting, and maybe we'll be about to hear some more about these new species.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140424102057.htm

http://images.sciencedaily.com/2014/04/140424102057-large.jpg

Alligator mississippiensis

Alligator mississippiensis, the American Alligator, belongs to the order Crocodylia, and they can be found in swamps, rivers, and marches. They have nasal disk to help them breath above water, that what we usually see their snouts when they are swimming water. 

The average sizes for female alligators are about 9-10 feet long, and the males are usually about 10-15 feet long. Their legs are short. They have five toes on the front and four toes on their back legs. When they hibernate they keep their nose above the surface. They have osteodorms and scutes on their backs  and they are usually dark brown.  Alligators breed at night. Males often bellow to makes bubbles when they want to attract a female.  They are polygynous and males become territorial and they will found off other male alligators. They may reproduce with more than 10 females in their natural habitats.  Courtship happens in April and then matting occurs in May, they then lay eggs thirty to fifty eggs in June and they hatch in August.  The sex determination depends on the on the temperature, when it’s about 90 ^oF males are produced.  An alligator’s diet typically consists of turtles, fish, snakes, and small mammals.

The picture above is a group of alligators that we saw on our last field trip of the semester. It was fascinating to see these reptiles outside of the zoo, but to be around them in their own habitat. Even though we couldn't go up and pet them, I still found it interesting to see how massive and unique these animals are.

Class Mascot

I believe that our class mascot should be the Carolina anole (Anolis carolinensis) . Like college students around Charleston, these anoles can often be found sunbathing on sunny days which make an ideal Charleston animal. The males can be found doing push-ups and head bobbing while flaring their dewlaps to defend territory to other males or impress females.

Ambystoma talpoideum

This is Ambystoma talpoideum or the mole salamander. The name fits well because it kept trying to burrow under my sleeve. Once there, it would become calm and did not move much. I found it at the last place we got out of the vans at Donnelley Wildlife Management Area under a log in an area that looked like it had been burned recently. Compared to most of the salamanders we have found, it was much squatter than the rest. They are facultatively paedomorphic and may remain in the larval stage for their entire life. The one I had found had metamorphosed since it did not have external gills and was found on dry(ish) land. The mole salamander is also a burrower, which makes its flat head useful for getting under things. The mole salamander also is easily distinguishable by the two vertical stripes on the belly and the costal grooves

Acris gryllus

The southern cricket frog, Acris gryllus, is a small frog that is characterized by the shape of a Y on its back. Similar in appearance to the northern cricket frog, Acris crepitans, the southern cricket frog has less extensive webbing and has a straight line on its thighs rather than a jagged line like the northern cricket frog. Along with slight webbing between its toes, the southern cricket frog also has very long back legs to help it jump long distances. While these frogs vary in color, they generally range from being green to brown to red. The southern cricket frog is active both during the day and during the night, feeding on small insects around ponds or marshes. Breeding season for the southern cricket frog is anywhere between late spring and summer, and the female cricket frogs lay their eggs singly or in small clumps. The tadpole stage for cricket frogs lasts between six and thirteen weeks, and the tadpoles are characterized by having black tips on their tails.

On the last field trip of the semester, I found a southern cricket frog on the bank of a swamp. When I first approached the frog, it jumped about 2 feet away from me into the water, and I was surprised to see how far it could jump. After I was able to grab the frog out of the water, I noticed that the frog had very long hind legs and it also had a much different color pattern than the other southern cricket frogs we had seen previously; it was tan with brown spots rather than green. I knew that I had found a cricket frog because the frog's skin was bumpy, it had a pointy nose, and it had the distinct Y shape extending from its eyes down the center of its back. While I wasn't able to distinguish the sex of the frog, it was clearly a fully grown adult.

Over the course of the semester, I haven't had the best luck finding any herps, so I was really excited to finally catch something of my own on the last field trip...Acris gryllus!

Thermoregulatory Behavior in Reptile and Bird Embryos

As we have learned in class, thermoregulation is an extremely important behavior that allows herps to survive in different environments, and certain herps (like turtles) have the ability to thermoregulate even before hatching from their eggs. Studies have shown that embryonic thermoregulation is very similar to post-hatching thermoregulation, but a lot about this behavior still remains unknown. The ability for an embryo to thermoregulate is mostly dependent on the thermal gradient within the egg and the size of the egg, so researchers have asked the question: is a similar embryonic thermoregulation mechanism used in some reptiles used across different species of reptiles and birds?

In the article "Thermoregulatory Behavior Is Widespread in the Embryos of Reptiles and Birds," the authors conducted an experiment to test this hypothesis. In order to set up the experiment, the authors used the embryos of two species of lizards, three snakes, two turtles, one crocodile, and four birds. After the eggs were collected, they were incubated individually and then randomly assigned to a treatment group (control, warm, or hot). The results of this experiment showed that the lizard embryos did not move inside their eggs, but the embryos of snakes, turtles, alligators, and birds all moved inside of their eggs closer towards the heat source. This study shows that certain reptile and bird embryos have the ability to reposition themselves inside the egg to seek sources of heat and/or remove themselves from dangerously hot temperatures.

While this is study adds to the already known literature on herps and thermoregulation, this research also highlights the evolution of reptilia and their common ancestors. On the phylogenies that we have studied in class, the group "lizards" is listed multiple times, and in this study, the two species of lizards were the only herps that did not perform embryonic thermoregulation. This information suggests that this behavioral mechanism was somehow lost in certain lizard species but retained in other members of the group reptilia.


Article Review:
Li, Teng, Bo Zhao, Yong-Kang Zhou, Rui Hu, and Wei-Guo Du. "Thermoregulatory Behavior Is Widespread in the Embryos of Reptiles and Birds." The American Naturalist. 2014: 445-451. (http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/675065)

Venom Superman

There is a man a in California who injects himself with different kinds of snake venom. This man is 46 years old and accruing to test done by doctors his skin and health conditions are of a 28 year old. The different kinds of snake venom used for injecting are both neurotoxins and hemotoxins. He even gets a feeling of euphoria from certain neurotoxins. he has become slightly immune to snake venom and if any other person takes the dosage he does they would die. He has been using venom injection for twenty years after learning about it from a famous herpetologist, Bill Hast. he using snakes such from cobra and  rattlesnake lineages. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q_m-rDUNw0

Class mascot

The class mascot should defiantly be the marbled salamander (Ambystoma opacum). It is freaking awesome thats why

The crocodile man

There is a truly amazing story of a man in Coasta Rica who The crocodile man a has developed a bond like no other with an American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus). Tito is a Costa Rican native who rescued a crocodile that got shot by a local farmer for attacking its cattle. Tito rehabilitated the crocodile for 3 years and not once did the crocodile try and bite him. During this time a bond was being formed, Tito says they the crocodile not only needed food but also a feeling of connection and love. Tito named the crocodile "Pocho" which means a big strong hansom man. The relationship has been going on for more than twenty years and recently ended in 2011 with Pocho's Death. never before has a man been able to swim with a 16 foot crocodile. The documentary is amazing and I highly recommend watching the whole thing. It teaches people how little we truly understand nature. American crocodiles are known to be the one of the lesser aggressive species of crocodiles but is still known to attack humans especially small children. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PefKwpNynyc

Pickerel Frog (Lithobates palustrus)

Perusing my pictures on my computer, I stumbled across a picture I took at my lake house last summer of a pickerel frog (Lithobates palustrus).  I took this picture down in the dense vegetation around the corner from my dock.  The specimen was approximately two and a half inches in size, definitely a mature adult.  It's easily distinguishable as a pickerel frog from its prominent dorsolateral ridges and square-like camouflage patterning.  Lithobates are considered the "true frogs," laying their eggs in water, going through a tadpole stage, and maturing, only to continue to live in and around a water source.  The specimen I observed appears to be a male, as it was making its low-pitched, snore-like call as I approached for the picture.  I normally collect smaller specimens around the grassy areas just above the water line, but the larger individuals tend to reside around the pond.  L. palustris seems (from what I've seen) to have a much larger population around my lake than other common species like L. catesbeianus or L. clamitans.

Our Class Mascot

I think Our Class mascot should be the Hyla Cinerea because it's really pretty tree frog and I think that it'll be an adorable mascot for our Class.

http://www.clemson.edu/cafls/cef/images/herpetofauna/anura/hyla_cinerea.JPG

"The effect of stress and stress hormones on dynamic colour-change in a sexually dichromatic Australian frog"

• Christina Kindermann^a, , 
• Edward J. Narayan^a, 
• Francis Wild^b, 
• Clyde H. Wild^a, 
• Jean-Marc Hero^a

Amplexus is a form of psuedocopulation found in mostly amphibians. Its when the male holds on to the females with his front legs and fertilized the female eggs with his sperm.  An Austrailian Tree Frog, Litoria wilcoxii, changes colors during amplexus. They go from brown to a bright yellow. Kindermann et al  2013, conducted a study to compare and illustrate how the color of amplecting males change. They also wanted to investigate to see if a stress hormone had anything to do with the dynamic color change of these animals. Adult males were studied in Numinbah Valley, The different types of stressors they used were, handling, saline injection, toe-clipping, and ACTH hormone injection.  The color change was measured using photography during amplexus.  They used different methods and protocols for the experimental stressors. After the first photograph, 12 frogs where handled and toe clipped, six frogs were injected with ACTH and five were injected with saline. For handing, they measured the frogs from snout to urostyle  in mm and they were weighed. The ACTH and Saline doses for the  each frog was by a 25 gauge needle. The ACTH dose for the frogs was 0.446 mmg ACTH g-1 body mass and the dose for the saline was 100uL of 0.9% saline solution. Photographs were taken within 5-10 min and then 20-30 mins after each experimental stressor.

They found that toe clippings were the only experimental stressor that  had a significant change in color.

I found this article interesting because I only thought that Chameleons where the only herp that changed colors. It's interesting to know that there are frogs that change colors also. I think it's pretty cool that these animals change colors during copulation. 

http://www.sciencedirect.com.nuncio.cofc.edu/science/article/pii/S109564331300069X?np=y

    Loggerheads sea turtles,  (Caretta caretta) are the most widespread and commonly found sea turtle that nests in the southeastern United States. Partially due to the large number of annual nesting sites found in South Carolina, in 1988 the state legislature designated the loggerhead to be the state's state reptile. While they can be found as far north as Canada and as far south as Argentina, they typically live in more temperate waters. Since 2004, nesting sites have been well documented and have averaged 3,378 nests per year over in SC.
    When compared to other sea turtles, loggerheads have: a relatively thick jaw, red-brown coloration, and two claws on each flipper. Furthermore they have non-overlaping scutes and the first costal scute touches the nuchal scute. Adult loggerheads can weigh as much 300 pounds and reach up to four feet in shell length. 

    One of our local loggerheads, a female named Huntington, came to the SC Aquarium's Turtle Rescue Hospital due to being unable to dive below the surface due to air being trapped in her digestive system. This was caused by an intestinal impaction consisting of a large mass of scallop shells. Over time doctors were able to break up this mass and help Huntington regain the weight she had lost by not being able to eat during the process. While she has not yet been released, Huntington will hopefully continue to make progress and be reintroduced to the wild sometime this year.

I nominate Lepidochelys Kempi (the Kemp's ridley sea turtle) to be our class mascot. With the close proximal distance to the South Carolina Aquarium and the it's sea turtle rescue hospital, our class and the College of Charleston more generally, is in a great place to help local herps. There is no reason not to get involved and students could potentially have some one-on-one interactions with some amazing creatures. The following picture is of a rescued turtle named Dennis as he/she returns to the ocean in September 2013 after recuperating.

I nominate the Carolina anole as our class mascot. This organism is part of the family polychrotidae and its scientific name is Anolis carolinensis. I wrote one of my life history articles on these little rascals and attached is a photo of another anole that I recently came in contact with on my way to MUSC. I nominate this specific species because of their prominency in the area and because we recently found one on our last excursion and it made quite the impression on our group. This organism bit Jake Pimental which is regrettable, but luckily he is okay and there were no hard feelings. This animal will represent our class well because its visually appealing, with its granular scales and normally light green pigment. Specifically I think a male anole is the best choice as our mascot, not for sexist reasons, but because their reddish dewlap is more prominent and displays sexual dimorphism. This animal is arboreal and has toe pads which is a cool aspect as well. I mean, who wouldn't want to be able to climb trees with ease? This lizard does cool push-up like movements when it courts its mate and also when it defends its territory. Sometimes I also do push-ups to get the attention of the ladies, which draws a personal parallel between me and this organism, which only serves to reinforce that it is a good choice as our mascot.

Class Mascot: Crotalus adamentus

Picking a herp to represent an exuberant and determined group of students is not an easy task.  The class was motivated throughout the semester to find a Crotalidae on our trips, only to come up empty handed.  Upon meeting with the resident herpetologists on our excursions, they discussed their ongoing efforts on projects with intentions of preserving the existing eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamentus) populations.  Coupling our eagerness to observed a Crotalus in the wild and the state of South Carolina's love to preserve the species I feel that it is only just to make Crotalus adamentus our class mascott.  C. adamentus, as part of family Crotalidae, has heat-sensing pits (which lets face it, we all wish we had), allowing it to use infrared radiation to sense its prey.  It is also one of the largest north american members of Order Serpentes.  As we push through finals, our willpower will be put to the test, but we will survive; as will the eastern diamondback rattlesnake with the extensive ongoing conservation efforts.

Class mascot nomination

I nominate the Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea) to be our class mascot! I think they are the cutest herp we have encountered on a field trip, and the prettiest! This frog has a clean and modern appearance, and I think he would represent our class well!

The Pulmonary Anatomy of Alligator Mississippiensis

In this article, they studied the lungs of juvenile American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis). They inspected fresh lungs in situ and ex vivo and also looked at inflated dry specimens to study the pulmonary anatomy. They also imaged a live UNSEDATED alligator! Computed tomography was used to generate images of the lung tissue. The authors found in their research that the lung anatomy of the American Alligator is very similar to the embryonic avian respiratory system, and is very unlike the pulmonary anatomy of Nile Alligator (studied from previous research). The authors hypothesize homologous bronchi of the alligator to bronchi of avian bronchi.  This research could be very helpful in clarification of phylogenetic relationships, thus adding to our understanding of these curious reptiles. This work is valuable because it is the most recent research on the subject, and the authors are able to use much more updated methods of studying.

Authors: R.K. Sanders and C.G. Farmer
Journal: The Anatomical Record
Click here to see the full article
Citation: Sanders, R.K. and Farmer, C.G. (2012), The Pulmonary Anatomy of Alligator mississippiensis and Its Similarity to the Avian Respiratory System. Anat Rec, 295: 699-714. doi: 10.1002/ar.22427

New species? of Reptiles? 77-75 mya?!

DINOSAURS! GATORS! DINOSAURS! TURTLES! DINOSAURS!

Even though most are not around today, except birds, dinosaurs are in fact reptiles and deserve their time in the herpetology spot light! In a current National Geographic article they discuss the discovery of new species of not only dinosaurs but also other reptiles like crocodiles and turtles.
Since about 2000, men like the Miller brothers, Scott Sampson (chief curator at the Denver Museum of Natural History) and Joe Sertich (Denver Museum of Natural History's museum paleontologist) have been on a quest within Utah. That quest is to discover new plants and animals fossils from the "lost continent" of Laramidia. 90 million years ago in the late Cretaceous, the sea levels were dramatically rising and the North American continent was divided into two section down the middle by the Cretaceous Interior Seaway. The area to the west of the sea way (the west coast) was Laramidia. Accessing the layers of mudstone and sandstone from Laramidia today is very difficult because over time other layers have been deposited. The only areas we are able to access today have undergone erosion from wind and rain surfacing these layers with the main area of interest being the Kaiparowits formation aged between 77 and 75 million years old. Within this area not only have they discovered thousands of plants and animal fossils but these include crocodiles, turtles and many dinosaurs. To add on to this not only were these remains unearthed and discovered in such large numbers, but the species diversity is mind boggling! These remains show animals of almost all new species!  Even though many of the animals found were related, they were so different. For example in 2002 Gryposaurus monumentensis was recognized as a new species because even though it looked similar to Gryposaurus found in Canada, the overall size and other small details made them as they say in the article "the Arnold Schwarzenager of duck-billed dinosaurs". As well as a rhino sized Triceratops that had 15 horns which is a new record!
Although the question remains of why such species diversification with not only dinosaurs but also lizards, turtles, crocodiles, mammals and fishes? Why did they evolve so differently from their neighbors? Sampson and the other men claim that having a mountain range or a large river between populations should have not been so dramatic for some of these guys because they could just walk over them, like has already been observed. Instead two ideas were considered. First being that once populations are spread out through out a massive amount of land, those individuals become accustomed to climate zones and vegetation effecting natural selection eventually causing speciation. The other idea is more based upon the use of sexual selection. Finally the other question that came from the fact that these animals discovered were of such massive size! So why the massive size? Miller claims that unlike what some believe, 75 million years ago this area was more similar to the Amazon not a desert. Large, dense amounts of vegetation were easily available so many of the animals did not need to travel far for food at all. At the end they say that they are still working on the remains they discovered and further work is being completed.
This is not just a find, this is a HUGE find! Finding not only finding new species but also studying the ecology of the area with the diversity of animals helps show a clear example of evolution throughout a smaller range based on some similar trends we find today. Laramidia still holds so many of its secrets and is now becoming uncovered. Examining the time of the dinosaurs, the giant reptiles in this area is so diverse from any others it is like examining Darwin's finches that change from island to island but during the Cretaceous with dinosaurs and other reptiles. I am really interested in the work that will be uncovered soon with more research.

Kimmy Profitko
Herps in the News

(National Geographic article link)
 http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/05/utah-dinosaurs/miller-text

Class Mascot

I would like to nominate the marbled salamander, Ambystoma opacum, to be our class mascot. Out of all of the herps that we have found in the field, this salamander was my favorite because of its color, pattern, and overall cuteness (just look at that face!) Salamanders in the family Ambystomatidae are all adorable because of their stocky bodies and wide eyes, and they're also unique because of their varying color patterns. Although we were only able to see this salamander once in the field, I think the marbled salamander would make a great class mascot.

Effects of pesticides on Ambystoma maculatum

After reviewing some primary literature, I came across an interesting article about the effects of two pesticides, one of which was carbaryl, an insecticide used to combat misquito populations. I was astounded because I just finished writing a paper for my plant taxonomy class about threats to the Venus fly-trap (Dionaea muscipula), one of which being this same pesticide. The article experiments with the effects of carbaryl on Ambystoma maculatum by exposing salamanders to carbaryl for a 24 hour period. The effects show that the pesticide increases fatigue in the salamanders, which could of course affect their ability to escape prey, forage, and pretty much survive in general. In the research for my paper I found out that carbaryl also affects the survivorship of D. muscipula and also reduces the number of leaves per plant. We learned in class about agrochemical repercussions with the use of atrazine, in the West specifically. Carbaryl seems to be detrimental to our some of our local species. We need to consider the consequences of our actions on the environment. Title: The effects of 24-h exposure to carbaryl or atrazine on the locomotor performance and overwinter growth and survival of juvenile spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) Journal: ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY. Vol. 33 No. 3. 2014 p. 548 - 552. Author: Mitchkash, Matthew G Links: ebsco - http://ejournals.ebsco.com.nuncio.cofc.edu/Direct.asp?AccessToken=7D3L9T3B3F0VX9TDRTX9IRXN3MTIBTDOTO&Show=Object (you might need to be logged in to mycharleston)

Batesian Mimicry Article

As we have seen in our Lab portion of Herpetology, bright coloration of an organism is often associated with either toxicity of the skin, which is seen as aposematic coloration in poison dart frogs, or as a warning mechanism to predators that they are venomous, which is seen in species like Micrurus Fulvius, the coral snake. There is a phenomenon seen in certain species of organisms in which the warning through coloration mechanism associated with poisonous or venomous organisms is copied and used with the same intent of protection but lacking the presence of the danger it warns of. This copying of the coloration is called Batesian mimicry and this is the primary topic of the article entitled, A Batesian mimic and its model share color production mechanisms, written by David W. Kikuchi, David W. Pfennig. This article was published in August of 2012 in Current Zoology, Volume 58. Issue 4. Essentially, those that use Batesian mimicry are harmless species of prey and what protects them is the fact that they resemble its dangerous counterpart, ultimately protecting it. Mimicry can be understood as convergent evolution within two different species. The ambiguity, in which this article seeks to clarify, is the actual physiological mechanism from which this coloration created. If an ancestor has a similar mechanism associated with the making of the coloration, then this allows for the phenomenon of convergent evolution that almost seems to have occurred with intent to be explained more objectively. Because evolution does not occur with a specific intent and is merely genetically acquired advantageous traits, a ancestral mechanism consistent with the species allows for this definition to remain in tact. An example of Batesian mimicry can be seen between a local species of snake in the family Elapidae, Micrurus fulvius (the coral snake), and in a species of snake in the family Colubridae, Lampropeltis elapsoides (the scarlet king snake). The poisonous snake is Micrurus fulvius and it has a black nose and is banded with red to yellow to black and repeats this pattern. The mimic of this snake is the Lampropeltis elapsoides and this snake has a red nose and is red then black and then yellow and the pattern repeats. The phrase that helps keep the patterns straight to determine the poisonous from the harmless snake is: “Red on Black a friend to Jack, red on yellow will kill a fellow.” I struggled with the concept of Batesian mimicry prior to reading this article do to the very concept this article sought to disentangle, namely, how mimicry evolutionarily came to be since traits are not created simply because they are advantageous and the organism wants and could benefit from it. This article shows that the mechanism behind the coloration of both of these snakes is the same for the two. This leads to the conclusion that this mechanism was genetically passed down to these two different species by common ancestor and therefore is not exactly convergent evolution but rather the same evolution passed on by their common ancestor. The investigators investigated the mechanism by using an Transmission Electron Microscope or TEM to view the skin cells of the snakes and determine composition and other factors associated with pigmentation within the upper-epithelial layers. The histology techniques were extensive and absorbance spectroscopy was used to determine if the tissue samples were similar both species. The consistencies between the snakes were enough to discern the mechanism to be primarily equivalent. This is the website for the article:

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=2981aabc-57da-4417-aa15-fad1db2f04b4%40sessionmgr198&vid=2&hid=107

Class Mascot Nomination

I nominate Amphiuma means, the two-toed amphiuma, to be our class mascot.

We came across the two-toed amphiuma twice during our field trips.  It might not be the prettiest salamander out there, but it is one of the most unique ones.  With it's reduced limbs and aquatic life history, it definitely stands out.  They were extremely hard to hold due to the mucus it excreted and could possibly give you a nasty bite, but I still believe they are a great species.  I think it was one of the best finds we encountered.  What better species to represent our class than one that is like no other?

 

Class Mascot Nominee: Ambystoma talpoideum

Ambystoma talpoideum for Class Mascot!

In our herpetology class, I believe we all agree that we have learned way more about amphibians and reptiles then we thought we could ever know. One of the most interesting facts that I learned was paedomorphism and how often it occurs. Salamanders in my opinion are one of the herps that does not get the attention they deserve in relation to the other herps. Salamanders are each in their own ways unique and show such diversity in life history, life styles, and how they look and more specifically the Ambystoma talpoideum. I think after what we have learned in our class this semester having a herp that is so unique in itself and with how it determines its life history by both external and internal cues gives it a rightful place as a nominee for our class mascot. Not only that, but we spent so much time when discussing salamanders with a lot of focus on family Ambystomatidae, the mole salamanders. So why not have the big honcho, Ambystoma talpoideum nicknamed the mole salamander represent us. He is different and what he does in his life is dependent on him and the environment around him, kind of like the students in the class. We also found one the very last field trip and everyone thought he was cute with the black base and silver blue speckles. For these reasons I believe Ambystoma talpoideum should be out class mascot.

Kimmy Profitko
Class Mascot Nominee

Spotted Salamander on the Move

In my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, there is a park system that has thousands of acres of untouched land.  It's the perfect location to find all types of herps.  It was documented within the last few weeks that amphibians have started to migrate at night to breeding ponds from surrounding forests.  This is a good sign that spring is in the air.  The spotted salamander, Ambystoma maculatum, was amongst the species migrating.  While I didn't witness it personally, there were many pictures to document the event.

The spotted salamander can be found in eastern North America, with a wide range along the coast.  The salamander likes to stay in moist areas under logs and leaf litter.  Females of this species tend to be larger than the males.  They are pretty easy to identify by their long, slender body with a dark gray or black color with round yellow or orange spots going down the body in a line.  The spotted salamander has a metamorphic life history, and the one in the picture is an adult.  When it is time to breed, the spotted salamander will try to return to the pond that it hatched in, even if there are other ponds that are closer.  The spotted salamander, if it survives past metamorphosis to a juvenile, can live anywhere from 20-30 years.  I find that very interesting because I never thought they could live that long.  It's kind of hard to tell from the picture whether the spotted salamander is a male or female, but it seems rather large so I would say it is a female.  It's amazing that such a little organism can have such a large impact on the environment.

 

"The Curse of the Chameleon (A Traditional Zulu Story)"

Kids around the world are well known for at least one trait, that trait is best portrayed by one word, why? Filled with questions and needing answers, in Africa one well known tale is told to children to help answer one of the more difficult questions of "why do people grow old and die?"  Now you would expect this tale because of the question being asked to be based on people. Instead, people are the subject matter and a chameleon and snake are the main characters in "The Curse of the Chameleon (A Traditional Zulu Story)". It not only helps to elaborate the age old question but also tells why snakes shed their skin and people don't like snakes as well as why chameleons change colors, move slow, and seem so hidden.

The overview of this tale is that God, the Creator was proud of his work, especially man and woman because they are said to be just like him. Although he noticed they were clumsy and always injuring themselves leaving scars on their skin causing their bodies to become worn out. His solution was, they need new skin! Creator called his friend the Chameleon to help deliver this gift to the man and woman since chameleons were quick, swift and "fast as lightning"! On Chameleons way to deliver the gift, he stopped for water where he ran into his cousin Snake. Now, snake is not a fan of man and woman because of the attention they obtain from Creator. When Snake finds out what Chameleon is doing, Snake jealousy plots a way to stop Chameleon from delivering the gift. Snake tricks Chameleon into coming over for lunch after making Chameleon feel bad about not spending time with his own kin,  delaying the delivery. After food and beer Chameleon fell asleep and Snake opened the gift! Chameleon woke up screaming stop but Snake and his wife stole the new skins for themselves. Afterwards, Chameleon feels sad from betrayal and guilty from letting down Creator. He began moving slower, hiding in trees limbs changing colors in order to hide from Creator. Snake on the other hand, every time he felt old and worn, shed his skin to feel young again. Although, as a consequence from Creator, Creator never stops man and woman from stepping on Snake or worse because Creator believes Snake is getting what he deserves.

In this tale Chameleon is at first speedy and considered very trust worthy, by they end his is slow, hiding from the world and changing colors from his sadness and guilt. Snake is sly, devious and filled with jealousy that eventually results in him being treated poorly by humans as revenge. In reality we do see that chameleons move slowly and change color as well as snakes shedding their skins. Both reptiles are depicted in some ways of how they are in real life. Although because of this tale, children who learn based on stories they hear may as a result look at snakes as evil and bad creatures. In the the chance they run into one, they may react in a ways they should not. This is a common theme in many tales and stories causing people to think poorly of snakes and be afraid of them when many should not be feared at all. Just like people, some people are good and some people are bad. Tales like this one are good to help teach children and carry on traditions but it does not give the best idea of the animal in the real world.

Kimmy Profitko
Herps in Society and Culture

(Link to Tale)
http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/africa5.html

A Mascot Who Will Make You Jump With Joy!

From the moment we stepped out of the classroom and into the field, one herp in particular has made it's presence known, rain or shine, crying out in repeated vocalizations (reminiscent of metal balls being clinked together) as if to say "PICK ME AS YOUR HERPETOLOGY LAB MASCOT!" 

Acris gryllus

Take one look at the net below if you need further proof that the southern cricket frog is jumping at the opportunity to be a part of our class. 

 This highly vocal frog  is a member of the Family Hylidae and is an avid jumper. Finding one is often as easy as looking down when you walk through a swampy trail, they spring out in every direction as if each one is trying to initiate its own game of tag with you. No matter how many you may catch, you'll never seem to get tired of playing a game of tag with your good 'ol buddy Acris gryllus.  

 Sometimes they like to play hide, taking advantage of the range of coloration found within the species, and they do fairly well at it when clad in suitably cryptic coloration. 

While others wear a brighter shade of green, standing out from the foliage and coming up to spend some time with their favorite herpetology students. 

It doesn't matter how well you are doing on lab quizzes 

or how much you were interested in this class going into it (or even if you're an 'indoor cat')... 

we can all identify and will always remember 

Acris gryllus 

and that's why it should be our class mascot!

Exotic Venemous Snake Still on the Loose in Mt. Pleasant

This story began three weeks ago when a snake skin was found and identified to be an African Baboon Viper (Bitis gabonica). The viper is only native to sub-saharan Africa and is believed to be a released or escaped exotic pet. After the snake skin was found traps nuisance animal specialists were hired to catch the reptile. Traps with live rodents as bait were set up as well as thermal imaging cameras but after three weeks there has been no success. The search for this viper was called off on Monday when the director of the search learned that the nearest anti-venom for this species is located in Africa. The anti-venom also cannot be imported because it has not met FDA approval yet. The snake could be almost anywhere in Mount Pleasant as the snakes have been found to travel up to two miles. The good news is it is not an apex predator in our local ecosystem. Alligators, king snakes, birds of prey, and coyotes have all been known to feed on large venomous snakes. Hopefully one of these predators will take care of our snake problem before someone gets bit.

source
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20140421/PC16/140429863
The author of this article tends to be a little sensationalist and  plays on peoples fear of snakes. The negative image of snakes can result in unnecessary killing of many species of snakes, even those that are not venomous. In this case however the snake must be eradicated because it is an invasive species making it a threat to both the ecosystem and the community.

Effects of the American Alligator on Salt Marsh Ecosystems

The American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) is an apex predator throughout most of the Coastal Southeastern United States. A study was recently performed to research the top-down trophic effects of estuarine alligators. Alligators that occur in salt marsh ecosystems commonly prey on Blue Crab (Calinectes salpidus), which in turn prey on herbivorous molluscs. The researchers were interested in seeing how alligator predation may effect every part of this food chain. To perform the experiment mesocosms were constructed and populated with spartina grass, periwinkle snails, ribbed mussels, and blue crabs at a density that reflects a salt marsh bank. Alligators were captured in salt marshes surrounding Sapelo Island, Georgia. Half of the treatments had an alligator placed in them and the other half were used as controls. Trials were conducted for three days and crab behavior was monitored at three hour intervals. At the end of the trial the alligators were found to consume 3.5 blue crab on average. Crabs that underwent predator treatment were also found to be much less active than in control treatments. In control trials probability of mortality was 47% higher in snails and 64%  higher in mussels than in the alligator treatments. This supports the hypothesis that alligators impose top-down control on salt marsh ecosystems where they are present. This work is valuable to understanding the intricacies of southeastern salt marsh ecosystems. It also shows what may happen to an ecosystems when alligators or other apex predators are removed by human activities.



source
"Impacts of a Large Bodied Apex Predator (Alligator mississippiensis) on salt marsh food webs."
James C. Nifong and Brian R. Silliman
Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
http://www.sciencedirect.com.nuncio.cofc.edu/science/article/pii/S0022098113000063?np=y

Gopherus Polyphemus

This spring i had the opportunity to surf Ponce Inlet, in Central Florida. The waves were good but i also saw something interesting while walking back to the car. The inlet is adjacent to Smyrna Dunes Park, which is a protected area of grassy sand dunes. About 200 yards from the ocean i spotted a Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) basking in the sun next to its burrow. This one was about a foot long, well into adulthood. It was so still i thought it was fake until i noticed its breathing. Gopher tortoises are found mainly in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama with smaller ranges in South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana. Gopher Tortoises prefer an environment with sandy, well drained soil. They dig burrows up to 20 feet long and 8 feet deep to avoid predation and for thermoregulatory purposes. They are herbivorous, feeding on many different types of leaves, moss, and berries. They are territorial and solitary maintaining a number of burrows in their individual range. Individuals reach maturity at about 15 years of age at a size of 9 inches long. Mating season lasts from April to November and females lay a clutch of eggs underground for incubation. Eggs hatch in about three months. They are considered a keystone species because their burrows provide habitat for many different species of animals. They are facing a serious threat of habitat loss in much of their range.