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Swchr Bulletin SWCHR Volume 2, Issue 3 BULLETINFall 2012 ISSN 2330-6025 Conservation - Preservation - Education - Public Information Research - Field Studies - Captive Propagation The SWCHR BULLETIN is published quarterly by the SOUTHWESTERN CENTER FOR HERPETOLOGICAL RESEARCH PO Box 624, Seguin TX 78156 www.southwesternherp.com email: [email protected] ISSN 2330-6025 OFFICERS 2010-2012 COMMITTEE CHAIRS PRESIDENT COMMITTEE ON COMMON AND SCIENTIFIC Tom Lott NAMES Tom Lott VICE PRESIDENT Todd Hughes RANGE MAP COMMITTEE Tom Lott INTERIM SECRETARY Sara Lott AWARDS AND GRANTS COMMITTEE (vacant) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Gerald Keown COMMUNICATIONS COMMITEE Gerald Keown BOARD MEMBERS Toby Brock, Riley Campbell, Hans Koenig ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS COMMITTEE (vacant) BULLETIN EDITOR Chris McMartin NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE Gerald Keown ABOUT SWCHR EDUCATION COMMITTEE Sara Lott Originally founded by Gerald Keown in 2007, SWCHR is a 501(c) (3) non-profit association, governed by a board of directors and MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE dedicated to promoting education of the Association’s members Toby Brock and the general public relating to the natural history, biology, tax- onomy, conservation and preservation needs, field studies, and captive propagation of the herpetofauna indigenous to the Ameri- CONSERVATION COMMITTEE can Southwest. (vacant) THE SWCHR LOGO JOINING SWCHR There are several versions of the SWCHR logo, all featuring the For information on becoming a member please visit the member- Gray-Banded Kingsnake (Lampropeltis alterna), a widely-recognized ship page of the SWCHR web site at reptile native to the Trans-Pecos region of Texas as well as adjacent http://www.southwesternherp.com/join.html. Mexico and New Mexico. ON THE COVER: Speckled Kingsnake, Lampropeltis getula holbrooki, Brazoria County, TX (Matt Hollanders). This photograph was voted the winner of the 2011 ©2012 Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research. The SWCHR Bul- SWCHR Award for Excellence in Herpetological Photography. letin may not be reproduced in whole or in part on any web site or in any other publication without the prior explicit written consent of the Southwestern Center BACKGROUND IMAGE: Elephant Tusk, Big Bend National Park, TX (Chris for Herpetological Research and of the respective author(s) and photographer(s). McMartin) SWCHR Bulletin 1 Fall 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS A Message from the President, Tom Lott 2 A Pattern Mutation in Thornscrub Ratsnakes, Pantherophis guttatus (syn. emoryi) meahllmorum 3 (Serpentes: Colubridae), Toby Brock South Texas Breeding Trials for Arizona Mountain Kingsnakes, Lampropeltis pyromelana pyromelana 4 (Serpentes: Colubridae), John Lassiter Book Review: Texas Amphibians: A Field Guide, Tom Lott 6 Geographic Distribution Note: Terrapene ornata ornata (Testudines: Emydidae), Tom Lott 8 A CALL FOR PAPERS Are you a field herpetologist or a herpetoculturist working with species native to the American Southwest? Do you have a paper or an article you have written for which you would like to find a permanent repository? Want to be assured you will always be able to share it with the world? Submit it to the SWCHR Bulletin for possible publication. Submitted manuscripts from SWCHR members, as well as non-members, will be considered. To be accepted for publication, submissions must deal with herpetological species native to the American Southwest. Such topics as field notes, county checklists, range extensions, taxonomy, reproduction and breeding, diseases, snake bite and venom research, captive breeding and maintenance, conservation issues, legal issues, etc. are all acceptable. For assistance with formatting manuscripts, search ‘scientific journal article format’ on the internet and tailor the resultant guidance to suit. Previously published articles or papers are acceptable, provided you still hold the copyright to the work and have the right to re-publish it. If we accept your paper or article for publication, you will still continue to be the copyright holder. If your submission has been previously published, please provide the name of the publication in which it appeared along with the date of publication. All submissions should be manually proofed in addition to being spell checked and should be submitted by email as either Microsoft Word or text documents. Send submissions to [email protected]. SWCHR Bulletin 2 Fall 2012 A Message from the President Virtually everyone who is involved in herping at any level has at some time likely been constrained by legal regulations emanating from all levels of governance, from the federal government all the way down to local homeowners’ associations. All too frequently many of these regulations seem to be ill-informed, unnecessary, prejudiced, and occasionally even downright quixotic. Conspiracy theories aside, there are actually a number of radical “animal rights” groups (especially PETA and HSUS) that actively lobby local governments even to the extent of providing them with templates for ordinances that seek to restrict existing privileges enjoyed by pet owners, including herpers. At last June’s Sanderson Snake Days event there was a palpable sense that prospects for improving the strained relations between herpers and law enforcement, particularly at the state level, might be at hand. In a continuation of that theme, and in conjunction with the long- standing East Texas Herpetological Society (ETHS) annual Fall Conference and Expo, there will be an inaugural Reptile and Amphibian Law Symposium and Workshop, sponsored by a partnership among the National Reptile and Amphibian Advisory Council (NRAAC), the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC), the Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV), and the ETHS. This event will be held concurrently with and at the same venue as the ETHS Conference (Crowne Plaza Houston Northwest - 12801 Northwest Freeway, Houston, Texas 77040). Events associated with the Law Symposium will consist mainly of panel discussions of various topics (listed here: http://nraac.org/index. html) taking place from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM each day (Friday, 28 September and Saturday, 29 September). SWCHR’s Executive Director, Gerald Keown, will be a panelist on the State Laws—Native Species discussion, along with Dr. Andy Gluesenkamp and several others, on Saturday morning at 8:00 AM. The ETHS Conference will also have a series of speaker presentations occurring simultaneously on Saturday (list here: http://eths.org/), so attendees of both events will have to pick and choose on that day. Of course the usually excellent ETHS Expo will take place on Sunday, beginning at 11:00 AM. Participation in the ETHS event does require a registration and fees (listed on their website above), but for the Herp Law Symposium registration is free and easily accomplished online (http://nraac.org/register/index.php). When registering, you may also avail yourself of the opportunity to request more information, volunteer to work at the event, and/or volunteer to serve as a panelist. Hoping to see you there! Happy herping, SWCHR Bulletin 3 Fall 2012 A Pattern Mutation in Thornscrub Ratsnakes, more reverse-striped, two were quite aberrantly patterned, but not reverse-striped, and five were more normally patterned. Sexual Pantherophis guttatus (syn. emoryi) meahllmorum ratios for this clutch are: 2.3 normally patterned, 0.2 aberrantly (Serpentes: Colubridae) patterned, and 3.1 reverse-striped. by Toby Brock I plan to raise at least one pair of the reverse-striped offspring and A particular pattern mutation which is sometimes seen in the the aberrant offspring to breed back to each other in the future. We Thornscrub Rat Snake (Pantherophis guttatus meahllmorum)1 is known know very little of this pattern mutation, but we feel we may learn as reverse-striping, which is characterized by a mid-dorsal stripe more in the future, once reverse-striped offspring are bred back to of the animal’s ground color cutting through the normal blotched each other. One theory, held by John Lassiter (pers. comm.), is that dorsal pattern. This mutation has been found in wild specimens this mutation may be polymorphic in nature and this could be the at least twice, to my knowledge, in different locales. K. J. Lodrigue reason it expresses to variable degrees. had reverse-striped meahllmorum which originated from Duval 1 County, Texas, and Todd Hughes found and collected a large Also known as the Southwestern Rat Snake (Elaphe emoryi meahllmorum) Dixon and Werler, 2005; and Elaphe guttata meahllmorum, Werler and Dixon, 2000. adult male reverse-striped specimen in Robstown, Nueces County, Texas. Lodrigue states on his website, KJUN Snakehaven, that this References mutation is heritable, but in what way is unknown; and it is not a simple recessive gene which produces it. The mutation expresses Dixon, James R. and John E. Werler. 2005. Texas Snakes: A Field extremely variably, and all specimens we have seen have had at Guide. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, pp. 142-143. least a blotch or two crossing the mid-dorsal stripe; other pattern aberrancies are often present as well. The ventrum on reverse- Lodrigue, K.J. and Kasi E. Russell-Lodrigue, DVM, PhD. Reverse striped specimens is often devoid, or nearly so, of the normal Striped Emory Ratsnake (Elaphe emoryi var. meahllmorum)–South pattern of small, dark blotches. Texas Line. OTHER CORNSNAKES & RATSNAKES. KJUN Snakehaven [http://www.kjun.us/index1.htm]. Accessed 14 In spring 2009 Todd Hughes, Terry Cox, and I decided to try to September 2012. reproduce this mutation in captivity, using Hughes’s wild collected male; a captive produced reverse-striped female owned by Cox, Werler, John E. and James R. Dixon. 2000. Texas Snakes: Identification, which was produced by K. J. Lodrigue; and a normally patterned Distribution, and Natural History. Austin, Texas: University of Texas wild collected female, from the Bluntzer area of Nueces County, Press, pp. 113-116. which was in my collection. All three snakes were housed in a tub rack, and I paired the male with both females several times each. Both females became heavily gravid, although the reverse-striped female was not able to pass her clutch, becoming egg-bound and requiring veterinary treatment to remove the eggs.
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