WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSIRCF REPTILES • VOL15, &NO AMPHIBIANS 4 • DEC 2008 189 • 27(1):54–55 • APR 2020
IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FEATURE ARTICLES Notes. Chasing on Bullsnakes Courtship (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: and Breeding Behavior On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...... Joshua M. Kapfer 190 . The Sharedof History theof Treeboas ( CorallusAndaman grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: Day Gecko, A Hypothetical Excursion ...... Robert W. Henderson 198 PhelsumaRESEARCH ARTICLES andamanensis Blyth 1861 . 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: ...... Gekkonidae),Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, in Kevin theM. Enge, Ellen AndamanM. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212Islands
CONSERVATION ALERT S.R. Chandramouli . World’s Mammals in Crisis ...... 220 Department of Ecology. andMore Environmental Than Mammals ...... Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry–605014,...... India ([email protected]) 223 . The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ...... 225 Photographs by the author. HUSBANDRY . Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ...... Shannon Plummer 226
ay geckos in PROFILEthe genus Phelsuma Gray 1825 are rep- Island. Das (2002) indicated that P. andamanensis breeds . Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ...... Michael L. Treglia 234 Dresented by 52 species distributed mostly in the Afro- throughout the year and Whitaker and Whitaker (1979) sug- Malagasy region (UetzCOMMENTARY et al. 2019). The Andaman Day gested that the monsoon (May) could be the main hatching Gecko (P. andamanensis. The Blyth Turtles Have 1861) Been Watchingis the soleMe ...... representative Eric Gangloff 238 from the oriental BOOKAndaman REVIEW Archipelago (Blyth 1861; Das 1999). Ratnam (1992). Threatened conducted Amphibians the ofonly the World targeted edited by study S.N. Stuart, on M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, P. andamanensis, addressingR. Berridge, its P.distribution Ramani, and B.E. Youngand ...... behavior in Robert Powell 243 the Andaman Archipelago, CONSERVATION including RESEARCH descriptions REPORTS: of Summariesbreed- of Published Conservation Research Reports ...... 245 ing behavior that included NATURAL displays HISTORY such RESEARCH as “genital REPORTS nudge”: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ...... 247 NEWBRIEFS ...... 248 and “hind-leg raising EDITORIAL walk” in INFORMATION males and ...... females, respec- ...... 251 tively. Herein, I report FOCUS an observationON CONSERVATION of courtship: A Project behaviorYou Can Support ...... 252 in P. andamanensis on 31 January 2016 on Havelock Island (11.98°N, 92.99°E; elevation 108 m asl) in the Ritchie’s Archipelago of the Andamans. An adult female Andaman DayFront Gecko, Cover. sexShannon identified Plummer. on Back Cover. Michael Kern Totat et velleseque audant mo Totat et velleseque audant mo the basis of coloration (uniform greenestibus andinveliquo patternless) velique rerchil and estibus inveliquo velique rerchil the absence of a hemipenal bulge, waserspienimus, perched quos accullabo.on a banana Ilibus erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum plant (Musa paradisiaca) about 1 m fugiatisabove maionsequat the ground eumque at 1054 fugiatis maionsequat eumque h. An adult male, sex identified basedmoditia onerere colorationnonsedis ma sectiatur (red - moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia- dish orange spots and streaks on a mabright derrovitae green voluptam, dorsum as quos and tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as accullabo. a bluish-green head and tail) and the presence of an evident hemipenal bulge), was perched slightly below the female on the same plant. The male approached the female slowly from behind and touched her tail before nudging her cloacal region with his snout (Fig. 1). When the female apparently indicated that she was receptive to the male’s approach, he mounted her. Copulation lasted for a few minutes until the female released herself from the male’s grip. On 26 February 2016, I observed a juvenile Phelsuma andamanensis (19 mm SVL, 35 mm total length; Fig. 2) in the Interview Island Wildlife Sanctuary. In March 2016, I Fig. 1. Courtship and copulation in Andaman Day Geckos (Phelsuma andamanensis) on a banana plant on Havelock Island in the Andaman found another juvenile that had been captured by a juvenile Archipelago. The male approaches the female, touches her tail (A), nudges Andaman Bronzeback (Dendrelaphis andamanensis) on Long her cloacal region (B), and mounts her (C), before the female withdraws (D).
Copyright © 2020. S.R. Chandramouli. All rights reserved. 54 IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians ISSN 1098-6324 CHANDRAMOULI IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 27(1):54–55 • APR 2020
Literature Cited Blyth, E. 1861. Proceedings of the Society. Report of the Curator. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 29: 87–115. Das, I. 1999. Biogeography of the amphibians and reptiles of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India, pp. 43–77. In: H. Ota (ed.), Tropical Island Herpetofauna: Origin, Current Diversity, and Conservation: Proceedings of the International Symposium, “Diversity of Reptiles, Amphibians, and Other Terrestrial Animals on Tropical Islands – Origin, Current Status, and Conservation,” held at the University of Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan, from 6 to 7 June 1998. Elsevier Science BV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Fig. 2. A juvenile Andaman Day Gecko (Phelsuma andamanensis) in the Das, I. 2002. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of India. New Interview Island Wildlife Sanctuary of the Andaman Archipelago. Holland Publishers, London, UK. Ratnam, J. 1992. Distribution and behavioural ecology of the Andaman Day Gecko (Phelsuma andamanensis). Unpublished M.S. Dissertation, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India. Uetz, P., P. Freed, and J. Hošek (eds.). 2019. The Reptile Database.
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