Herpetological Review
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Herpetological Review Volume 40, Number 4 — December 20092008 SSAR Offi cers (2009) HERPETOLOGICAL REVIEW President The Quarterly News-Journal of the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles BRIAN CROTHER Department of Biological Sciences Editor Southeastern Louisiana University ROBERT W. HANSEN Hammond, Louisiana 70402, USA 16333 Deer Path Lane Clovis, California 93619-9735, USA President-elect [email protected] JOSEPH MENDLELSON, III Zoo Atlanta 800 Cherokee Avenue, SE Associate Editors Atlanta, Georgia 30315, USA ROBERT E. ESPINOZA CHRISTOPHER A. PHILLIPS DEANNA H. OLSON California State University, Northridge Illinois Natural History Survey USDA Forestry Science Lab Secretary MARION R. PREEST ROBERT N. REED MICHAEL S. GRACE MARGARET S. GUNZBURGER USGS Fort Collins Science Center Florida Institute of Technology Nokuse Plantation Joint Science Department The Claremont Colleges EMILY N. TAYLOR GUNTHER KÖHLER MEREDITH J. MAHONEY Claremont, California 91711, USA California Polytechnic State University Forschungsinstitut und Illinois State Museum Naturmuseum Senckenberg Treasurer JESSE L. BRUNNER KERRY GRIFFIS-KYLE KIRSTEN E. NICHOLSON State University of New York at Syracuse Texas Tech University Department of Biology, Brooks 217 Central Michigan University Section Editors Mt. Pleasant, Michigan 48859, USA e-mail: [email protected] Book Reviews Current Research Current Research AARON M. BAUER JOSHUA M. HALE BEN LOWE Publications Secretary Department of Biology Department of Sciences Department of EEB BRECK BARTHOLOMEW Villanova University MuseumVictoria, GPO Box 666 University of Minnesota Villanova, Pennsylvania 19085, USA Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia St Paul, Minnesota 55108, USA P.O. Box 58517 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Salt Lake City, Utah 84158, USA e-mail: [email protected] Geographic Distribution Geographic Distribution Geographic Distribution ALAN M. RICHMOND INDRANEIL DAS JERRY D. JOHNSON Immediate Past President Biology Department, Morrill IV South Institute of Biodiversity & Department of Biological Sciences ROY MCDIARMID University of Massachusetts Environmental Conservation The University of Texas at El Paso USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center 611 North Pleasant Street Universiti Malaysia Sarawak El Paso, Texas 79968, USA Smithsonian Institution Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-9297, USA 94300, Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia [email protected] P.O. Box 37012 [email protected] [email protected] Washington, DC 20113-7012, USA Geographic Distribution Zoo View Herpetological Husbandry Directors GUSTAVO J. SCROCCHI JAMES B. MURPHY BRAD LOCK PAUL CHIPPINDALE (2010) Instituto de Herpetología Department of Herpetology Department of Herpetology TIFFANY DOAN (2010) Fundación Miguel Lillo, Miguel Lillo 251 National Zoological Park Zoo Atlanta TRAVIS LADUC (2010) 4000 Tucumán, Argentina 3001 Connecticut Ave., NW 800 Cherokee Ave., S.E. STEPHEN RICHTER (2010) [email protected] Washington, D.C. 20008, USA Atlanta, Georgia 30315, USA DAVID CUNDALL (2012) [email protected] [email protected] KEVIN DE QUEIROZ (2012) PATRICK GREGORY (2012) Natural History Notes Natural History Notes Natural History Notes ANN PATERSON (2012) CHARLES W. PAINTER JAMES H. HARDING JOHN D. WILLSON New Mexico Dept. of Game & Fish MSU Museum University of Georgia Trustee P.O. Box 25112 Michigan State University Savannah River Ecology Lab GEORGE R. PISANI Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504, USA East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA Drawer E University of Kansas, USA [email protected] [email protected] Aiken, South Carolina 29802, USA [email protected] SSAR Editors Copy Editors Natural History Notes Journal of Herpetology BARBARA BANBURY JACKSON D. SHEDD MATTHEW PARRIS, Editor RAUL DIAZ 699 Eaton Street #34 Department of Biology DANIEL PORTIK Oceanside, California 92054, USA University of Memphis KYLE MILLER HESED [email protected] Memphis, Tennessee 38152, USA Contributions to Herpetology KRAIG ADLER, Editor Department of Neurobiology & Behavior SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES Cornell University www.ssarherps.org Ithaca, New York 14853, USA The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, the largest international herpetological society, Facsimile Reprints in Herpetology is a not-for-profi t organization established to advance research, conservation, and education concern- AARON M. BAUER, Editor ing amphibians and reptiles. Founded in 1958, SSAR is widely recognized today as having the most Department of Biology diverse society-sponsored program of services and publications for herpetologists. Membership is open Villanova University to anyone with an interest in herpetology—professionals and serious amateurs alike—who wish to join Villanova, Pennsylvania 19085, USA with us to advance the goals of the Society. Herpetological Circulars All members of the SSAR are entitled to vote by mail ballot for Society offi cers, which allows overseas JOHN J. MORIARTY, Editor members to participate in determining the Society's activities; also, many international members attend 3261 Victoria Street the annual meetings and serve on editorial boards and committees. Shoreview, Minnesota 55126, USA All members and institutions receive the Society’s primary technical publication, the Journal of Herpetology, and its news- journal, Herpetological Review; both are published four times per year. Members also receive pre-publication discounts on Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles other Society publications, which are advertised in Herpetological Review. ANDREW H. PRICE, Editor To join SSAR or to renew your membership, please visit the secure online Allen Press website via this link: Texas Natural History Collections The University of Texas at Austin http://www.ssarherps.org/pages/membership.php Austin, Texas 78758-4445, USA Future Annual Meetings Herpetological Conservation JOSEPH C. MITCHELL, Editor 2010 — Providence, Rhode Island, 7–12 July (with ASIH, HL) Mitchell Ecological Research Services 2011 — Minneapolis, Minnesota, dates TBA (with ASIH, HL) P.O. Box 5638 2012 — Vancouver, British Columbia, dates TBA (with ASIH, HL, WCH) Gainesville, Florida 32627-5638, USA About Our Cover: Pseustes sulphureus SSAR BUSINESS Puffing Snakes or Bird- snakes, genus Pseustes (Wa- gler, 1824), comprise 2, 3, or 5 species depending upon the au- Seibert Award Winners for 2009 Announced thority, and range collectively from Mexico through tropical The 18th annual Seibert Awards were presented at the 52nd An- America. The Giant Birdsnake, Pseustes sulphureus, with two nual Meeting of the SSAR in Portland, Oregon, 22–27 July 2009. subspecies, occurs on Trinidad, These awards are named in honor of Henri C. Seibert, an early and throughout the Amazon Basin, tireless supporter of SSAR (having served as an offi cer for over 20 and in the Atlantic Coastal years). In recognition of outstanding student presentations at the Plain of Brazil from the state of Ceará south to São Paulo. Re- annual meeting, a single award was given in each of the follow- ports of this species on Tobago ing categories: Evolution/Systematics (9 presentations), Ecology are erroneous (Boos 2001. (12 presentations), Physiology/Morphology (6 presentations) and The Snakes of Trinidad and Conservation (8 presentations). All awardees will receive a check Tobago, Texas A & M Press). It is one of the largest New for US $200 and a book from Chuck Crumly at University of World colubrids (reaching at California Press. least 3,015 mm TL; Jorge da The Winners.—Systematics/Evolution: Jamie Oaks, University Silva 1993. Herpetological Natural History 1[1]:37–86). of Kansas, “Objective partition choice and the phylogenetic sys- Although it lives in the understory and canopy of primary and transitional rain- tematics and biogeography of the true crocodiles.” Ecology: John forests, the Giant Birdsnake also forages on the ground, where its prey includes Willson, Brian Todd, and Christopher Winne, University of Geor- nesting and hatchling tinamous, caprimulgids, nunbirds, eggs, and occasionally gia, Savannah River Ecology Lab, Virginia Polytechnic Institute small mammals. When on the ground this snake and its congener P. poecilonotus often assume an odd position rigidly locked in an undulating pose. and State University, “Trap-happiness, temporary emigration and A dramatic fi lm on the internet features this species (misidentifi ed as Chiro- other factors affecting detectability and population estimation in nius fuscus) raiding the nest of a Crimson-crested Woodpecker (Campephilus aquatic snakes.” Physiology/Morphology: Victoria Arch, T. Ulmar melanoleucos) while being attacked by the adults. Giant Birdsnakes, like many Grafe, Marcos Gridi-Papp, and Peter Narins, University of Califor- arboreal species, have a defensive display that is most effective when viewed laterally (Sajdak 2010 [in press], Hunters in the Trees: A Natural History of nia Los Angeles, University Brunei Darussalam, “An Old World Arboreal Snakes. Kreiger Publ. Co.). The body is infl ated from the eyes to about frog communicates in pure ultrasound.” Conservation: Kristine the level of the heart (Rossman and Williams 1966. Proc. Louisiana Acad. Sci. Kaiser, Menemsha Alloush, Robin M. Jones, Susanne Marczak, 29:150–156). In the upper Amazon Basin, P. sulphureus is often observed in várzea, season- Katherine S. Marineau, Mark V. Oliva, and Peter M. Narins, Uni- ally fl ooded forest. The margins (restinga) consist of alluvial soils supporting versity of California Los Angeles, “When