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Cfreptiles & Amphibians WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS IRCF REPTILES • VOL15, & NAMPHIBIANSO 4 • DEC 2008 •189 22(3):102–105 • SEP 2015 IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY TABLE OF CONTENTS FEATURE ARTICLES Range. ChasingExtension Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi ) inand Wisconsin: Geographic Distribution 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: RecordA Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................ for the Burmese Python,Robert W. Henderson 198 RESEARCHPython ARTICLES bivittatus Kuhl 1820 . 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 (Reptilia: ............................................. Pythonidae)Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, in Kevin M.Northwestern Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212 India CONSERVATION ALERT Ritesh Joshi1 and Abhishek Singh2 . World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220 1Conservation. More & Survey Than Mammals Division, ...................................................................................................................................................................... Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, New Delhi, India ([email protected]) 223 2Endangered. The “DowFlora Jones and Index”Fauna of on Biodiversity Earth Conservation ........................................................................................................................................... Team, VasantVihar, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India ([email protected]) 225 HUSBANDRY . Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226 nakes in the familyPROFILE Pythonidae include some of the Sworld’s largest and. Kraigmost Adler: spectacular A Lifetime Promoting reptiles Herpetology that ................................................................................................comprise Michael L. Treglia 234 an enormous diversity of morphology, behavior, and ecology COMMENTARY (Reynolds et al. 2014). The Indian Subcontinent is home to . The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238 three species of pythons, the Indian Python (Python molu- rus Linnaeus 1758),BOOK the Burmese REVIEW Python (P. bivittatus Kuhl . Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, 1820), and the ReticulatedR. Berridge, Python P. Ramani, (Malayopython and B.E. Young .............................................................................................................. reticulatus Robert Powell 243 Schneider 1801). Until recently, the Burmese Python was considered a subspecies CONSERVATION of the Indian RESEARCH Python REPORTS: (e.g., Summaries Smith of Published Conservation Research Reports ................................. 245 NATURAL HISTORY RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ................................. 247 1943; Daniel 1983; NEWBRIEFS O’Shea 1998; ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Whitaker and Captain 248 2004) but the two taxaEDITORIAL now areINFORMATION considered ..................................................................................................................................................... distinct species 251 (Jacobs et al. 2009; ReynoldsFOCUS ON etCONSERVATION al. 2014; Barker: A Project et al. You 2015). Can Support ............................................................................................... 252 The Reticulated Python previously was assigned to the genus Fig. 2. Burmese Python (Python bivittatus) in the Mitthawali River flowing Python but was reassigned to Malayopython by Auliya et al. in the Chilla Forest of Rajaji National Park. Photograph by Ritesh Joshi. (2002) and Reynolds et al. (2014). Front Cover. Shannon Plummer. Back Cover. Michael Kern Bhupathy (1995) provided an Totatoverview et velleseque of audantthe distribu mo - Totat et velleseque audant mo tion of the latter two species in India,estibus inveliquowhich velique revealed rerchil that theestibus Burmese inveliquo veliquePython, rerchil which is a Malayan faunal element, has erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum aaut wide dolor apictodistribution invere pe dolum in northeastern India. That study also fugiatis maionsequat eumque revealedfugiatis maionsequat that the eumquespecies is distributed along the Himalayan moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia- ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos foothills,tur ma derrovitae which voluptam, include as part of the Rajaji National Park accullabo. (RNP), the terai (a belt of marshy grasslands, savannas, and forests located south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Shivalik Hills, an area north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain of the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, and their tributaries), and the mangroves of the eastern coast at least as far as the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary in India (the Mahanadi- Brahmani-Baitarani Delta). The Indian Python is widely distributed in peninsular India from Sind in the northwest to Bengal in the northeast, whereas the Burmese Python occurs in the Indo-Chinese Subregion, southern China, Hong Kong, and Hainan (Smith 1943). Precise information on the distribution of the Burmese Python in India is not available except for the Indo-Chinese Fig. 1. Burmese Python (Python bivittatus) in a rock crevice in the Khara Forest of the Chilla Forest Range of the Rajaji National Park. Photograph Subregion (i.e., parts of northeastern India; Daniel 1983; by Ritesh Joshi. Bhupathy 1995). These species differ morphologically in that Copyright © 2015. Ritesh Joshi. All rights reserved. 102 JOSHI1 AND SINGH IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 22(3):102–105 • SEP 2015 (DFD) are located in northwestern India at 29°15’–30°31’N, 77º52’–78°22’E and 30°2’–31º26’N, 77°52’–78°19’E, and fall in the Gangetic Plains Biogeographic Zone and the Upper Gangetic Plains Province. The largest portion of RNP is in Shivalik’s Biogeographic Subdivision, which constitutes an important repository of reptilian fauna. Distinguishing Indian and Burmese Pythons in the field can be difficult, since diagnostic characters cannot always be seen when animals are moving, high in a tree, or in refugia. Consequently, we randomly collected photographic evi- dence in 2006–2010 to document the presence of both spe- cies in the Chilla Forest of the RNP and adjoining protected areas. Both species were identified based on descriptions in Smith (1943), Daniel (1983), O’Shea (1998), Whitaker and Captain (2004), and Jacobs et al. (2009). We also consulted forest officials, local people, and the Gujjar nomadic commu- Fig. 3. The largest Burmese Python (Python bivittatus; ~3.5 m) recorded nity residing both in and outside the park area. from the Chilla Forest of Rajaji National Park. Photograph by Raju Pushola. On 31 March 2007, a Burmese Python of unknown sex was recorded resting in a rock crevice in the Khara Forest of the Chilla Forest Range of the RNP (29°53’50.5ʺN, in Indian Pythons, the sixth or seventh labial contacts the eye, 78°16’47.8ʺE; Figs. 1–2). On 9 August 2007, an individual a lance-shaped mark on top of the head is indistinct in adults, was observed in the Chilla Forest near the Haridwar-Chilla- and the tongue is pink; whereas in Burmese Pythons the labi- Rishikesh Road; this snake was rescued and relocated inside als are separated from the eye by suboculars, the lance-shaped the forest (29°58’15.6ʺN, 78°12’41.8ʺE; Fig. 3). Another mark on the head is distinct, and the tongue is blue-black individual was sighted shortly thereafter near the Haridwar (Smith 1943; Daniel 2002; O’Shea 1998; Whitaker and Forest Range of the RNP (29°56’23ʺN, 78°7’23ʺE; Fig. 4). Captain 2004; Jacobs et al. 2009). Three additional observations of Burmese Pythons were Inventories conducted by the Zoological Survey of India made in the DFD. On 15 September 2010, an individual (ZSI) during 1995 and 2008 in RNP and the Corbett Tiger Burmese Python was observed near the Canal Road along Reserve (CTR) corroborated the presence of the Indian the Rispna River near Jakhan (30°21’57.7ʺN, 78°04’38.7ʺE). Python in these protected habitats (Husain and Tilak 1995; Subsequently, on 14 October 2011 and 8 November 2011, Bahuguna 2008). Subsequently, Bahuguna (2010) stated adults were observed in the Timli Forest Range of the Kalsi that the Indian Python occurs in RNP and parts of CTR Forest Division (30°20’–30°25’N, 77°40’–77°45’E; Figs. (Bahuguna 2010). After the first report of Burmese Pythons 5–6) and in the Lacchiwala Forest Range (30°15’19.1ʺN, in RNP by Bhupathy (1995), Whitaker and Captain (2004), 78°01’55.8ʺE; Fig. 7). Most
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