WWW.IRCF.ORG TABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES &IRCF AMPHIBIANS REPTILES • VOL &15, AMPHIBIANS NO 4 • DEC 2008 • 189 27(2):154–160 • AUG 2020 IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY TABLE OF CONTENTS FEATURE ARTICLES A Herpetofaunal. Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: Survey of Northwestern On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer 190 Mongolia. The Shared History ofwith Treeboas (Corallus the grenadensis) andFirst Humans on Grenada: Country Record of A Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................Robert W. Henderson 198 theRESEARCH Moorfrog, ARTICLES Rana arvalis Nilsson 1842 . The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ....................... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 Munkhbaatar .MunkhbayarThe Knight Anole1 (,Anolis Terbish equestris Khayankhyarvaa) in Florida 2, Onolragchaa Ganbold1, Zoljargal Purevdorj3, Burnee Mundur4, .............................................GurragchaaBrian J. Camposano, Jargalsaikhan Kenneth L. Krysko,1, and Kevin Munkhbayar M. Enge, Ellen M. Khorloo Donlan, and1 Michael Granatosky 212 1 DepartmentCONSERVATION of Biology, Mongolian ALERT National University of Education, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia ([email protected]) . World’s2 DepartmentMammals in Crisis of Biology, ............................................................................................................................... School of Science, Mongolian National University, Ulaanbaatar,.............................. Mongolia 220 3. DepartmentMore Than Mammals of Forest ............................................................................................................................... and Environmental Resources, Chungnam National University, Daejeon,....................................... Republic of Korea223 . The “Dow4 Department Jones Index” of of Biology, Biodiversity Mongolian ............................................................................................................................... National University of Medical Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia............ 225 HUSBANDRY All photographs by the senior author. Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226 PROFILE . Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234 mphibians andCOMMENTARY reptiles in Mongolia receive a relatively recorded for the country are limited to northern Mongolia, Alow conservation. Thepriority Turtles Have compared Been Watching to Me mammalian ........................................................................................................................ and a region with relatively higher Eric Gangloff precipitation 238 than the rest of avian species. This might be a reflection of the relatively the country. In contrast, despite the country’s harsh climate, BOOK REVIEW few recorded species .and/orThreatened a Amphibians lack of ofinterested the World edited researchers. by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann,Mongolia J.S. Chanson,hosts a N.A. relatively Cox, diverse suite of reptiles, especially Historically, the renownedR. Berridge, traveler P. Ramani, and and naturalist B.E. Young ..............................................................................................................P.S. Pallas, in the southern parts of the Robert country. Powell 243 whose expeditions took place in northern Mongolia in the Some researchers (e.g., Borkin and Kuzmin 1988; 18th Century, collected CONSERVATION data on the RESEARCH life history REPORTS: of amphib Summaries- of PublishedMunkhbayar Conservation Research et al. Reports 2001) ................................. included the 245 Moorfrog (Rana arva- NATURAL HISTORY RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ................................. 247 ians and reptiles in MongoliaNEWBRIEFS (Kuzmin ............................................................................................................................... et al. 2017). Primarily lis) in the Mongolian....................................................... herpetofauna without248 any evidence of Russian (former Soviet EDITORIAL Union) INFORMATION scientists ............................................................................................................................... gathered addi- its presence in the country....................... Based primarily 251 on information FOCUS ON CONSERVATION: A Project You Can Support ............................................................................................... 252 tional scientific information on these animals in Mongolia from local people, these researchers hypothesized the exis- in the 19th and 20th Centuries, including the expeditions tence of R. arvalis in western and northern Mongolia, a region of Potanin in 1883 (Potanin 1889), Kozlov in 1923–1926 not covered by previous herpetological expeditions. This spe- (Kozlov 1949), and R.C. Andrews, whoseFront Cover. expedition Shannon Plummer. reached cies isBack widely Cover. Michaeldistributed Kern in the moorlands of Eurasia, but is central Mongolia (Pope 1931). BasedTotat et on velleseque data audant from mo these mostTotat commonly et velleseque audant found mo in European countries, with just a few expeditions, Bannikov (1958) publishedestibus inveliquo the firstvelique overviewrerchil recordsestibus inveliquo in Asian velique Russia rerchil (the region that borders Mongolia), erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus of the Mongolian herpetofauna. Sinceaut dolor the apicto second invere halfpe dolum of the Kazakhstan,aut dolor apicto invere and pe Central dolum China (Kuzmin 1999; Kuzmin et al. 20th Century, Mongolian scientists’fugiatis role maionsequat rapidly eumque increased; 2009).fugiatis maionsequat eumque moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia- they conducted several local expeditionsma derrovitae focusing voluptam, on as the quos her - tur Ourma derrovitae main voluptam, objectives as for this study were to assess the petofauna, often in collaboration withaccullabo. Russian scientists (e.g., species diversity of amphibians and reptiles in northwestern Shagdarsuren 1958; Munkhbayar 1971, 2009; Danzan 1963; Mongolia and confirm the presence of Rana arvalis in the Munkhbaatar 2003). The majority of these previous studies country. were limited to the eastern, central, and southern parts of Mongolia. These expeditions yielded records for a total of six Materials and Methods species of amphibians and 22 species of reptiles. Study sites.—We conducted our field surveys from June to A harsh continental climate dominates Mongolia, espe- July 2019 in northwestern Mongolia. Our study sites included cially in the southern regions, which are dominated by deserts Burenkhaan, Khyrgas Lake, Naranbulag, Tavan Burgas, Shar and semi-deserts (Kuzmin et al. 2017). Absolute temperatures Uzuur, and Ulaan Taiga (Table 1; Fig. 1). Of these, Tavan fall to as low as -50 °C during winter and reach as high as 58 Burgas, Shar Uzuur, and Ulaan Taiga had been suggested as °C in summer and relatively low precipitation characterizes candidate regions for the possible existence of Rana arvalis many areas (Jambaajamts 1989; Kuzmin et al. 2017). These (Borkin and Kuzmin 1988; Munkhbayar et al. 2001; Terbish conditions are responsible for the very low species richness of et al. 2006). Our western study sites (northwestern Mongolia) amphibians in the country. Most amphibians that have been in Uvs Province are in the Great Lakes Basin (GLB; a partial Copyright © 2020. Munkhbaatar Munkhbayar. All rights reserved. 154 IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians ISSN 1098-6324 MUNKHBAYAR ET AL. IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 27(2):154–160 • AUG 2020 Table 1. Description of study sites in northwestern Mongolia. Dominant plant species of study sites were identified using Olziikhutag (1989). Study Sites Description of site Burenkhaan (49°56'43.3"N, 99°22'13.7"E) The Delgermurun River Basin is in the mountain forest region. Khyrgas Lake (49°40'13.3"N, 92°76'47.8"E) Near sandy lake shore. Dominant plants include Salsola passerine, Astragalus ammodytes, and artemisia tomentella. Naranbulag (49°28'42.8"N, 92°56'73.5"E) Semi-desert region near Khyrgas Lake. Dominant plants include Salsola passerine, Astragalus ammodytes, and artemisia tomentella. Tavan Burgas (50°52'79.5"N, 94°00'81.3"E) Uvs River Basin. Dominant plants include Salix ledebouriana, Populus pilosa, Betula rezniczenkoana, and Carex spp. Shar Uzuur (50°35'66.1"N, 94°31'76.1"E) Open semi-desert region in the Great Lakes Basin. Dominant plants include Salsola paulsenii, Cargana leucophloea, Eragrostis cilianensis, and Allium stellerianum. Ulaan Taiga (50°86'79.2"N, 98°03'20.1"E) Mountain taiga with numerous small ponds. Dominant plants include Carex schmidtii, Lemno minor, and Hippuris vulgaris. Fig.1. Map of northwestern Mongolia indicating locations of study sites. semi-desert region), our northern study sites are in Khuvsgul recognized as relatively biodiverse regions, with hundreds of Province, which belongs to the Region of Khuvsgul Taiga species of migratory and non-migratory birds, including the (RKT),