WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS IRCF REPTILES • VOL15, & NAMPHIBIANSO 4 • DEC 2008 •189 23(2):99–101 • AUG 2016

IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FEATURE ARTICLES . ChasingA BullsnakesLeucistic (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin:Indian Rock Python, On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...... Joshua M. Kapfer 190 . The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: PythonA Hypothetical Excursion ...... molurus (Linnaeus 1758),Robert W. Henderson 198 RESEARCHfrom ARTICLES Andhra Pradesh, India . The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ...... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 . The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida 1 1 2 ...... B. LaxmiBrian J. Narayana Camposano, Kenneth, V. L.Vasudeva Krysko, Kevin Rao M. Enge,, and Ellen V.M. Donlan,Nagulu and Michael Granatosky 212 1All India Network Project on Vertebrate Pest Management, PJTS Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad-500030, Telangana, India CONSERVATION ALERT ([email protected]) . World’s Mammals2Department in Crisis ...... of Zoology (Rtd. Prof.), Osmania University, Hyderabad, 500007, India 220 . More Than Mammals ...... 223 . The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ...... 225

HUSBANDRY he Indian Rock Python,. Captive Care Python of the Central molurus Netted Dragon(Linnaeus ...... 1758), animals are abundant Shannon(e.g., Plummera Google 226 © search for “albino Tis a large non-venomousPROFILE snake found in much of tropical pythons” generated over 400,000 results). and subtropical southern. Kraig and Adler: southeastern A Lifetime Promoting Asia. Herpetology The ...... species is The destruction of Michaelsuch L.an Treglia unusual 234 snake was regretta- widely distributed on the Indian Subcontinent (Smith 1943; ble, but sadly reflects the attitudes of many Indians. Guptha COMMENTARY Das 2002; Whitaker .andThe Turtles Captain Have Been 2004, Watching 2008) Me ...... and has been (2013) advocated the conservation Eric Gangloff of238 Indian Rock Pythons, categorized as Schedule-I in the Indian Wildlife Protection noting an urgent need to conserve the species and create an Act of 1972, is listedBOOK in CITES REVIEW Appendix I (CITES 2016), awareness among local people about pythons and other wild- . Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, but has not been assessedR. Berridge, for the P. Ramani, IUCN and B.E. Red Young List ...... since the life in and around the Seshachalam Robert Powell Forest243 of Andhra Pradesh. recent elevation of P. bivittatus (Jacobs et al. 2009), which had been considered CONSERVATIONa subspecies of RESEARCH P. molurus REPORTS:. Summaries of Published Conservation Research ReportsAcknowledgements ...... 245  NATURAL HISTORY RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of PublishedWe thank Reports onthe Natural Indian History ...... Council of 247 Agricultural Research During faunal studiesNEWBRIEFS from ...... June 2014 to December 2015 248 in the Srikakulam District,EDITORIAL Andhra INFORMATION Pradesh, ...... we encountered for providing necessary facilities. The 251 All India Network several dead individuals FOCUS killed ON CONSERVATION by local villagers.: A Project One You ofCan the Support ...... Project on Vertebrate Pest Management; 252 Prof. Jayashankar, snakes (Fig. 1) found on 9 September 2015 near Laxmipuram Telangana State Agricultural University, Telangana; East village (18°32.112'N, 84°11.481'E), Kotabommali Mandal, Coast Energy Private Ltd., Hyderabad; and the Andhra Tekkali Range, Srikakulam District, Andhra Pradesh, along Pradesh Forest Department provided support in the field. Front Cover. Shannon Plummer. Back Cover. Michael Kern the eastern Indian coast (Fig. 2) wasTotat unusually et velleseque colored. audant mo This Totat et velleseque audant mo evidently leucistic snake was aboutestibus 1.5 inveliquo m in velique total rerchil length estibus inveliquo velique rerchilLiterature Cited erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus erspienimus,CITES (Convention quos accullabo. on International Ilibus Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and milky-white except for gold andaut dolor gray apicto diamond-shaped invere pe dolum aut dolorand apicto Flora). invere 2016. pe Appendices.dolum . markings on the dorsum. This was fugiatisin sharp maionsequat contrast eumque with the Das,fugiatis I. 2002. maionsequat A Photographic eumque Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of India. New moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur moditiaHolland erere nonsedis Publishers, ma sectia London,- UK. prevalent color pattern of the species,ma derrovitaewhich isvoluptam, whitish as quos or yel- tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as lowish with blotches ranging from accullabo.tan to dark brown, often Dobosz, B.S., K. Kohlmann, K. Goryczko, and H. Kuzminski. 2008. Growth and vitality in yellow forms of rainbow trout. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 16: varying with terrain and habitat. Whitaker (1987) indicated 117–20. that snakes from the upland forests of the Western Ghats and Guptha, M.B. 2013. Need for conservation of Indian Rock Python (Python molu- Assam are darker, whereas those from the Deccan Plateau and rus) (Linnaeus 1758). World Journal of Zoology 8: 126–126. the eastern coast are usually lighter. Jacobs, H.J., Auliya, M. and Böhme, W. 2009. On the taxonomy of the Burmese Python, Python molurus bivittatus Kuhl, 1820, specifically on the Sulawesi Leucism, a reduction in multiple types of pigments, is population. Sauria 31(3): 5–11. a condition expressed as a partial loss of pigmentation in an Lillywhite, H.B. 2008. Dictionary of Herpetology. Krieger Publishing Co., Malabar, animal resulting in white, pale, or patchy coloration of the Florida. skin, hair, feathers, scales, or cuticle, but not the eyes (e.g., Smith, M.A. 1943. The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.— Lillywhite 2008). Leucism often is confused or equated with Serpentes. Taylor and Francis, London, UK. albinism (total lack of all pigments) or amelanism (lack of Whitaker, R. 1987. Common Indian Snakes. A Field Guide. Macmillan Company of melanin but presence of other pigments). Leucistic, amela- India Ltd., Chennai, India. Whitaker, R. and A. Captain. 2004. Snakes of India. The Field Guide. Draco Books, nistic, and albino individuals are rare in nature (e.g., Dobosz Chennai, India. et al. 2008), presumably due to reductions in fitness largely Whitaker, R. and A. Captain. 2008. Snakes of India. The Field Guide. Draco Books, attributable to deficient crypsis, although captive-bred Chennai, India. Copyright © 2016. B. Laxmi Narayana. All rights reserved. 99 NARAYANA ET AL. IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 23(2):99–101 • AUG 2016

Fig. 1. Leucistic Indian Rock Python (Python molurus) killed by local villagers at Laxmipuram, Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, India. Photographs by the senior author.

100 NARAYANA ET AL. IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 23(2):99–101 • AUG 2016

Fig. 2. Google Earth© maps showing the location where the leucistic Indian Rock Python (Python molurus) was found in Laxmipuram, Srikakulam, India.

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