WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSIRCF REPTILES • VOL15, N&O AMPHIBIANS4 • DEC 2008 189 • 22(2):50–55 • JUN 2015 IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY TABLE OF CONTENTS FEATURE ARTICLES Rediscovery. Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer of sayi) in theWisconsin: Eastern Crested Toad 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: (PeltophryneA Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................ fracta), with CommentsRobert W. Henderson 198 RESEARCHon ARTICLES Conservation, Vocalization, . 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 .............................................andBrian J. Camposano,Mating Kenneth L. Krysko, KevinBehavior M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212 CONSERVATION ALERTMiguel A. Landestoy T. and Robert Ortíz . World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220 . MoreSociedad Than Mammals Ornitológica ...................................................................................................................................................................... de la Hispaniola, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana ([email protected]) 223 . The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................... 225 Photographs by the senior author. HUSBANDRY . Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226 PROFILE eltophryne is a monophyletic. Kraig Adler: A Lifetime genus Promoting of Herpetology toads ................................................................................................endemic uted throughout much Michaelof the L. Tregliawestern 234 half of the island; the to the West Indies (Pramuk 2006; Alonso et al. 2012). Hispaniolan Crestless Toad (P. fluviatica Schwartz), known P COMMENTARY Three species are endemic to Hispaniola: The Southern . The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................from only two localities inEric theGangloff northwestern 238 Dominican Crested Toad (P. guentheri Cochran), which is widely distrib- Republic; and the Eastern Crested Toad (P. fracta Schwartz; BOOK REVIEW . 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. Male Eastern Crested Toad (Peltophryne fracta) from Santana, 3 km W of Higüey, La Altagracia Province (MNHNSD 23.919). Copyright © 2015. Miguel A. Landestoy T. All rights reserved. 50 LANDESTOY T. AND ORTÍZ IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 22(2):50–55 • JUN 2015 Figs. 1–2), which occurs in the extreme eastern Dominican ImageJ Software [NIH, Bethesda, Maryland]; 225033 was Republic. The relationships of these species remain unclear. preserved as a skeleton; USNM tape 49). A male deposited in Although geographically isolated, Peltophryne fracta the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural in Santo Domingo was originally considered a subspecies of P. guentheri due (MNHNSD 23.1) had a SVL of 67 mm. Labeled only with to similarities in external morphology (Schwartz 1972). the year of collection “2000,” it was collected in Las Limas, Subsequently, Pregill (1981) justified the recognition of P. Matachalupe, W of Higüey, La Altagracia Province, by J. fracta as a distinct species on the basis of osteological evi- Idalgo. Extensive surveys in the region in 2003 failed to find dence. Powell (1993), based in part on previous informa- any individuals (Hedges et al. 2004). Because the species tion in Schwartz (1972) and Pregill (1981), allopatry, and an had not been found since the 1970s and occurs in degraded audiospectrogram illustrated in Powell (1992), included P. habitat, it was listed as endangered in the IUCN Red List of fracta among Hispaniolan subspecies that probably warranted Threatened Species (Hedges et al. 2004). recognition as distinct species. The species also was included On the night of 1 July 2011, during apparently favorable in checklists in Powell (1996) and Powell et al. (1999). The weather conditions, we began our search for the species at main diagnostic characters that distinguish it from P. guen- about 2000 h approximately 15 km west of the type locality theri are smaller size, darker dorsal coloration, and a greater (1.1 km W of Higüey, La Altagracia Province). Driving along interorbital distance. Peltophryne fracta has not been included HW DR-4 at 2320 h, we located a small chorus of Peltophryne in any molecular analysis. fracta in a rainwater-filled roadside ditch near a construction Peltophryne fracta has been considered “lost” since the project in a developing (urban) area in the town of Santana, type series was collected (Hedges and Díaz 2010), although 3 km W of Higüey, La Altagracia Province (elevation 128 the most recent evidence of its existence was specimens m). Of the three males encountered, two were deposited in and a recording (Powell 1992; Alonso 2011) taken on 5 the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural of Santo Domingo August 1978 ESE of the type locality and catalogued in the catalog numbers MNHNSD 23.919–20. Snout-vent lengths Smithsonian Institution (USNM 259556–64, 8 males and were 72.5 and 71.5 mm, respectively, exceeding the upper one female, snout-vent length [SVL] 59.7–69.6 mm, mean size limit previously recorded for males of the species (males 65.6 mm, measured from high-resolution images using to 67 mm SVL; Schwartz 1972). Fig. 2. Female Eastern Crested Toad (Peltophryne fracta; MALT 84) from Rancho de Mana, La Altagracia Province. 51 LANDESTOY T. AND ORTÍZ IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 22(2):50–55 • JUN 2015 Fig. 3. Spectrogram of a sequence of calls in a chorus showing spectral partitioning in the dominant frequencies of three anurans: A. Rhinella marina (0.56 kHz); B. Peltophryne fracta (1.12–1.31 kHz); C. Osteopilus dominicensis (2.62 kHz). A trace of the call of a distant individual P. fracta is evident before the stronger signal of a nearby male. Recorded and analyzed in WAV format (Marantz PMD661 field recorder and Sennheiser ME 67 shotgun microphone) on 1 July 2011 (2320 h) at the same locality as the individual in Fig. 1. No temperature data were taken, but air temperature was 25.4 °C at 2000 h in September 2014. The chorus, besides P. fracta and introduced Cane Toads pattern of reproductive activity, which also corresponds to (R. marina), also included a widely distributed endemic hylid, the Atlantic hurricane season that runs from the beginning of the Hispaniolan Laughing Treefrog (Osteopilus dominicensis). June through the end of November. Peltophryne fracta is diffi- An analysis of a sequence of the audiospectrogram involving cult to find outside the breeding season (Hedges et al. 2004), all three species shows spectral partitioning in the dominant so extended monitoring in the vicinity of the type locality frequencies of calls from each species (Fig. 3). is needed to understand activity patterns and non-breeding Several aquatic habitats occur in the vicinity of the type movements (i.e., migration, foraging, dispersal). locality; these include ditches, cattle ponds, and streams and Introduced Cane Toads are potential competitors rivers. During three additional visits to the area on August, and predators of Eastern Crested Toads, as are introduced September, and October 2014, while inspecting habitats near American Bullfrogs (L. catesbeianus), which are commonly the type