Herpetological Review Volume 40, Number 1 — March 20092008 SSAR Offi cers (2009) HERPETOLOGICAL REVIEW President The Quarterly News-Journal of the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles BRIAN CROTHER Department of Biological Sciences Editor Southeastern Louisiana University ROBERT W. HANSEN Hammond, Louisiana 70402, USA 16333 Deer Path Lane Clovis, California 93619-9735, USA President-elect [email protected] JOSEPH MENDLELSON, III Zoo Atlanta 800 Cherokee Avenue, SE Associate Editors Atlanta, Georgia 30315, USA ROBERT E. ESPINOZA CHRISTOPHER A. PHILLIPS DEANNA H. OLSON California State University, Northridge Illinois Natural History Survey USDA Forestry Science Lab Secretary MARION R. PREEST ROBERT N. REED MICHAEL S. GRACE MARGARET S. GUNZBURGER USGS Fort Collins Science Center Florida Institute of Technology Nokuse Plantation Joint Science Department The Claremont Colleges EMILY N. TAYLOR GUNTHER KÖHLER MEREDITH J. MAHONEY Claremont, California 91711, USA California Polytechnic State University Forschungsinstitut und Illinois State Museum Naturmuseum Senckenberg Treasurer KIRSTEN E. NICHOLSON Section Editors Department of Biology, Brooks 217 Central Michigan University Book Reviews Current Research Current Research Mt. Pleasant, Michigan 48859, USA AARON M. BAUER JOSHUA M. HALE BEN LOWE e-mail: [email protected] Department of Biology Department of Sciences Department of EEB Villanova University MuseumVictoria, GPO Box 666 University of Minnesota Publications Secretary Villanova, Pennsylvania 19085, USA Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia St Paul, Minnesota 55108, USA [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] BRECK BARTHOLOMEW P.O. Box 58517 Geographic Distribution Geographic Distribution Geographic Distribution Salt Lake City, Utah 84158, USA ALAN M. RICHMOND INDRANEIL DAS JERRY D. JOHNSON e-mail: [email protected] Biology Department, Morrill IV South Institute of Biodiversity & Department of Biological Sciences University of Massachusetts Environmental Conservation The University of Texas at El Paso Immediate Past President 611 North Pleasant Street Universiti Malaysia Sarawak El Paso, Texas 79968, USA ROY MCDIARMID Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-9297, USA 94300, Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia [email protected] USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center [email protected] [email protected] Smithsonian Institution Geographic Distribution Zoo View Herpetological Husbandry P.O. Box 37012 GUSTAVO J. SCROCCHI JAMES B. MURPHY BRAD LOCK Washington, DC 20113-7012, USA Instituto de Herpetología Department of Herpetology Department of Herpetology Fundación Miguel Lillo, Miguel Lillo 251 National Zoological Park Zoo Atlanta Directors 4000 Tucumán, Argentina 3001 Connecticut Ave., NW 800 Cherokee Ave., S.E. PAUL CHIPPINDALE (2010) [email protected] Washington, D.C. 20008, USA Atlanta, Georgia 30315, USA TIFFANY DOAN (2010) [email protected] [email protected] TRAVIS LADUC (2010) STEPHEN RICHTER (2010) Natural History Notes Natural History Notes Natural History Notes DAVID CUNDALL (2012) CHARLES W. PAINTER JAMES H. HARDING ANDREW T. HOLYCROSS KEVIN DE QUEIROZ (2012) New Mexico Dept. of Game & Fish MSU Museum School of Life Sciences PATRICK GREGORY (2012) P.O. Box 25112 Michigan State University Arizona State University ANN PATERSON (2012) Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504, USA East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA Tempe, Arizona 85287-4701, USA [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Trustree Copy Editors Natural History Notes GEORGE R. PISANI BARBARA BANBURY MARC P. HAYES University of Kansas, USA RAUL DIAZ 2636 59th Avenue NW DANIEL PORTIK Olympia, Washington 98502-3449, USA SSAR Editors KYLE MILLER HESED [email protected] Journal of Herpetology MATTHEW PARRIS, Editor Department of Biology University of Memphis OCIETY FOR THE TUDY OF MPHIBIANS AND EPTILES Memphis, Tennessee 38152, USA S S A R www.ssarherps.org Contributions to Herpetology The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, the largest international herpetological society, KRAIG ADLER, Editor is a not-for-profi t organization established to advance research, conservation, and education concern- Department of Neurobiology & Behavior Cornell University ing amphibians and reptiles. Founded in 1958, SSAR is widely recognized today as having the most Ithaca, New York 14853, USA diverse society-sponsored program of services and publications for herpetologists. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in herpetology—professionals and serious amateurs alike—who wish to join with us to advance the goals of the Society. Facsimile Reprints in Herpetology All members of the SSAR are entitled to vote by mail ballot for Society offi cers, which allows overseas AARON M. BAUER, Editor Department of Biology members to participate in determining the Society's activities; also, many international members attend Villanova University the annual meetings and serve on editorial boards and committees. Villanova, Pennsylvania 19085, USA ANNUAL DUES AND SUBSCRIPTIONS: Annual membership dues for the year 2009 in the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles are as follows: REGULAR membership US$70 (Student $35)—includes Journal of Herpetology and Herpetologi- Herpetological Circulars cal Review; PLENARY membership US$95 (Student $50)—includes JH, HR, and annual subscription to the Catalogue of JOHN J. MORIARTY, Editor American Amphibians and Reptiles; INSTITUTIONAL SUBSCRIPTION (BASIC) $140—includes JH and HR. INSTI- 3261 Victoria Street TUTIONAL SUBSCRIPTION (COMPREHENSIVE) $170—includes JH, HR, and Catalogue. Additional fee for airmail Shoreview, Minnesota 55126, USA postage outside USA $35 for one year. Additional membership categories available on the SSAR webpage: http://www. ssarherps.org/pages/membership.html. Catalogue of American Amphibians All members and institutions receive the Society’s primary technical publication, the Journal of Herpetology, and its news- and Reptiles journal, Herpetological Review; both are published four times per year. Members also receive pre-publication discounts on ANDREW H. PRICE, Editor other Society publications, which are advertised in Herpetological Review. Texas Natural History Collections The University of Texas at Austin To join SSAR or to renew your membership, please visit the secure online Allen Press website: Austin, Texas 78758-4445, USA http://timssnet.allenpress.com/ECOMSSAR/timssnet/common/tnt_frontpage.cfm Herpetological Conservation Future Annual Meetings JOSEPH C. MITCHELL, Editor Mitchell Ecological Research Services 2009 — Portland, Oregon, 22–27 July (with ASIH, HL) P.O. Box 5638 2010 — Providence, Rhode Island, 7–12 July (with ASIH, HL) Gainesville, Florida 32627-5638, USA About Our Cover: Ranitomeya fantastica NEWSNOTES With brilliant colors and accompanying toxic- ity, fascinating parental Kansas Herpetological Society Annual Meeting behaviors, and convenient diurnal activity, dart-poison The Kansas Herpetological Society held its 35th Annual Meeting frogs in the family Dendro- at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas, on November 8–9, 2008. batidae (sensu lato) have Over 100 participants attended scientifi c paper sessions presented long attracted the attention by scientists and students from across the nation. Featured speaker of researchers. Arguably was Ronald Bonett (University of Tulsa). the most infl uential body of work resulted from the Ashley Inslee, student at Fort Hayes State University, received productive partnership of the 2008 Howard K. Gloyd/Edward H. Taylor Scholarship, honor- Charles Myers and John ing the memory of two great biologists with strong ties to Kansas. Daly (see p. 53 of this issue The 2008 Alan H. Kamb Grant for Research on Kansas Snakes was for a herpetological biog- made to Page Klug, Kansas State University, Manhattan. Dustin raphy of Daly). For almost J. Wilgers, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, was chosen as the forty years, their collabora- eleventh recipient of “The Suzanne L. & Joseph T. Collins Award tion yielded numerous new species, addressed taxo- for Excellence in Kansas Herpetology.” Steve D. Grant, West Texas nomic issues, and advanced A&M University, was presented with the George Toland Award for the new fi eld of anuran biochemical research. The work of Daly and his the best student paper given at the meeting. In 2009, the Society colleagues resulted in the discovery of over 800 chemical compounds will meet at Overland Park, Kansas. isolated from dendrobatids, many novel and important in understanding broader physiological mechanisms beyond the herpetological realm. More recent research has seen advances in our understanding of pattern polymorphisms, parental care, biogeography, and evolutionary theory. In 2006, Taran Grant and colleagues published a major systematic treatise MEETINGS (Grant et al. 2006. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 299:1–262). New species continue to be described each year, with the total in late 2008 standing at over 260 (for the families Aromobatidae and Meetings Calendar Dendrobatidae combined; Frost 2008. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 5.2 [15 July 2008]. Electronic database Meeting announcement information should be sent directly to the Editor accessible at http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.php. ([email protected]) well in advance of the event. American Museum of Natural History, New York). An excellent source for additional information can be found at: www.dendrobates.org. 17–19 April 2009—Texas Herpetological