WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES &IRCF AMPHIBIANS REPTILES • VOL &15, AMPHIBIANS NO 4 • DEC 2008 • 189 24(3):168–171 • DEC 2017
IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FEATURE ARTICLES Notes. Chasing Bullsnakeson (Pituophis the catenifer sayiOccurrence) in Wisconsin: of the Bamboo 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: Pitviper,A Hypothetical Excursion ...... Trimeresurus gramineusRobert W. Henderson 198 RESEARCH(Reptilia: ARTICLES Squamata: Viperidae), . 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 from ...... SouthwesternBrian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, West Kevin M. Enge, Ellen Bengal, M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky India 212
CONSERVATIONSubhadeep Chowdhury ALERT 1, Arpita Dutta2, Anirban Chaudhuri3, and Sudip Ghosh4 . World’s Mammals in Crisis ...... 220 . More Than Mammals1Krishnachak, ...... Dhurkhali, Howrah, West Bengal, India ([email protected])...... 223 . The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity21/211, ...... Jodhpur Park, Kolkata, West Bengal, India ...... 225 36/7, Nature Mates, Bijoygarh, Jadavpur, Kolkata, West Bengal, India HUSBANDRY 424/1 Jagannath Ghosh Road, Kolkata, West Bengal, India . Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ...... Shannon Plummer 226
PROFILE . Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ...... Michael L. Treglia 234 he Bamboo Pitviper, Trimeresurus gramineus (Shaw height of 3 to 5 m above the ground, but it also is known COMMENTARY 1802), is a nocturnally-active snake that usually is asso- to inhabit low bushes and is frequently found near streams T . The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ...... Eric Gangloff 238 ciated with hilly forests. Sawant et al. (2010) reported that (Whitaker and Captain 2004). Many pitvipers are report- it appeared to preferBOOK the thickREVIEW canopy of trees at an average edly hygrophilic in nature (Daltry et al. 1998), which could . Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young ...... Robert Powell 243
CONSERVATION RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports ...... 245 NATURAL HISTORY RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ...... 247 NEWBRIEFS ...... 248 EDITORIAL INFORMATION ...... 251 FOCUS ON CONSERVATION: A Project You Can Support ...... 252
Front Cover. Shannon Plummer. Back Cover. Michael Kern Totat et velleseque audant mo Totat et velleseque audant mo estibus inveliquo velique rerchil estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque fugiatis maionsequat eumque moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia- ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as accullabo.
Fig. 1. Map of India showing previously reported localities (black squares) for the Bamboo Pitviper (Trimeresurus gramineus) and a new locality for Trimeresurus cf. gramineus from Purulia, West Bengal (white triangle).
Copyright © 2017. Subhadeep Chowdhury. All rights reserved. 168 CHOWDHURY ET AL. IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 24(3):168–171 • DEC 2017 explain the presence of T. gramineus near streams and in 1) fall within the range of that for T. gramineus as defined in moist forest habitats. the available literature. Like some other green Asian pitvipers, the Bamboo Trimeresurus gramineus is endemic to India, where it is Pitviper might constitute a species complex. Because the sys- known from the peninsular regions of the Western Ghats, tematics of this species have not been investigated, we subse- including the states of Gujrat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, quently refer specimens from West Bengal to Trimeresurus cf. Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, and the state of Andhra Pradesh gramineus. Morphometric data for two live specimens (Table (including Shevaroy, Javadi, Seshachalam, Nallamala Hills,
Table 1. Two specimens of Trimeresurus cf. gramineus from West Bengal compared with descriptions in Smith (1943) and Whitaker and Captain (2004).
Character Specimen 1 Specimen 2 Smith Whitaker and Captain (sex unknown) (female) (1943) (2004)
Dorsal scale rows 21:21:15 21:21:15 21:21:15 21:21:15 Ventrals 168 172 145–175 (males) 145–175 (males) 164–177 (females) 164–177 (females) Subcaudals 61 59 55–71 (males) 55–71 (males) 57–62 (females) 57–62 (females) Cloacal single single single single SVL (mm) 650 721 630 (male) Adult total lengths 800 (female) 400–1135 Tail length (mm) 121 128 115 (male) — 135 (female) Supralabials 11/11 11/12 10–12 10–12 1st not in contact with 1st not in contact with 1st not in contact with 1st not in contact with nasal; 3rd largest nasal; 3rd largest nasal; 3rd largest nasal Scales between internasals 1 1 1 or 2 1 or 2 Scale rows between 2 2 2 2 supralabials and suboculars Scale rows between 10 11 8–11 8–11 supraoculars Supraocular narrow, entire narrow, entire narrow, entire narrow, entire Subocular elongate elongate elongate elongate Head scales small, subequal, small, subequal, small, subequal, small, more or less equal, subimbricate, smooth subimbricate, smooth subimbricate, smooth subimbricate, smooth Temporals small, smooth small, smooth small, smooth small, smooth Preoculars 2/2 3/2 — 3 Postoculars 2/2 2/2 — 2 Coloration dorsum yellow with dorsum olive-green with dorsum green with dorsum grass-green/ irregular blackish- irregular blackish- small dark brown spots, yellow/olive, faint brown markings, olive markings, supralabials whitish, irregular blackish- labials light yellow, labials yellowish-white, dark postocular streak brown markings, postocular black streak postocular black streak present or absent, labials and venter present, venter yellow present, venter whitish venter whitish yellow/white/pale green, dark postocular streak may be present
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Fig. 2. Trimeresurus cf. gramineus (sex unknown) at 0149 h on 13 November 2007 in a low-lying bush 2 m above the ground in Garpanchkot (Purulia District), West Bengal, India (23.383836 N, 86.454108 E; elevation 157 m asl). Photograph by Sudip Ghosh.
Fig. 3. Adult female Trimeresurus cf. gramineus at 1710 h on 01 February 2015 foraging on the ground in Garpanchkot (Purulia District), West Bengal, India (23.383836 N, 86.454108 E; elevation 157 m asl). Photograph by Arpita Dutta. 170 CHOWDHURY ET AL. IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 24(3):168–171 • DEC 2017 and Adilabad) in the Eastern Ghats (Srinivasulu 2003; Literature Cited Whitaker and Captain 2004; Nande and Deshmukh 2007; D’Abreu, E.A. 1928. Record of the Nagpur Museum, No. VI. A List of Reptiles of the Srinivasulu and Das 2008). Records of this species from the Central Provinces. Government Press, Nagpur, India. Daltry, J.C., T. Ross, R.S. Thorpe, and W. Wüster. 1998. Evidence that humid- state of Orissa (Dutta et al. 2009) are not based on voucher ity influences snake activity patterns: A field study of the Malayan Pit Viper specimens and detailed descriptions are not available. Calloselasma rhodostoma. Ecography 21: 25–34. D’Abreu (1928) also recorded this species in the Pachmarhi Dutta, S.K., P.P. Mohapatra, and A.K. Mohapatra. 2009. Amphibians and Reptiles of Similipal Biosphere Reserve. Regional Plant Resource Centre. Bhubaneswar, Region, Hosangabad District in the state Madhya Pradesh. Orissa, India. We recorded this species on two occasions in Garpanchkot Nande, R. and S. Deshmukh. 2007. Snakes of Amravati district including Melghat, (Purulia District), West Bengal, India (23.383836°N, Maharashtra, with important records of the Indian Egg-eater, Montane 86.454108°E; elevation 157 m asl; Fig. 1). We encountered Trinket Snake and Indian Smooth Snake. Zoos’ Print Journal 22: 2920–2924. Sawant, N.S., T .D. Jadhav, and S.K. Shyama. 2010. Distribution and abundance the first snake (Fig. 2) at 0149 h on 13 November 2007 of pit vipers (Reptilia: Viperidae) along the Western Ghats of Goa, India. in a low-lying bush 2 m above the ground and the second Journal of Threatened Taxa 2: 1199–1204. snake (Fig. 3) at 1710 h on 01 February 2015 foraging on Shaw, G. 1802. General Zoology, or Systematic Natural History. Volume. 3, Part I. Amphibia. G. Kearsley, London. the ground near the base of a tree. These new records of T. Smith, M.A. 1943. The Fauna of British India, Ceylon, and Burma, Including the gramineus extend the northeastern-most distribution approxi- Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Volume III, mately 230 km from the nearest previously recorded location Serpentes. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London, UK. in Orissa, India. More fieldwork will be necessary to deter- Srinivasulu, C. 2003. Reptiles of Kawal Wildlife Sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh. Newsletter of the Reptile Network of South Asia 5: 2. mine the actual range of the species. Srinivasulu, C. and I. Das. 2008. The herpetofauna of Nallamala Hills, Eastern Ghats, India: An annotated checklist, with remarks on nomenclature, tax- Acknowledgements onomy, habitat use, adaptive types and biogeography. Asiatic Herpetological Research 11: 110–131. We thank Gernot Vogel for his input in the manuscript. We Whitaker, R. and A.S. Captain. 2004. Snakes of India: The Field Guide. Draco thank Rajesh Kr Sah for providing the map. Books, Chennai, India.
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