Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
We now have 1.4 sets of photos besides this one, but that is not going to last long. However, yesterday Greg Mayer sent in two of his own animals, a ball python and a common snapping turtle (cleverly named “Snappy”), both decked out for the holidays.
by Greg Mayer
Having been treated to a a feline parade for the inauguration of Coynezaa, here, for day three, are some Holiday Herps, Vivian and Snappy.
Vivian the Ball Python (Python regius) in her Christmas scarf.
Snappy the Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) in a Winter Wonderland.
These photos were entered in a “Whisker Wonderland” photo contest for holiday pet pictures. WEIT readers will be glad to know that cat photos won all the actual prizes (People’s Choice and Jury)–as the award announcement said, “…it was a cat sweep!” However, among the reptiles entered, Vivian got the most People’s Choice votes. Plus, a couple of non-domestic species gives at least a hint of wildlife for today.
It’s Sunday, and that means a group of photos from biologist John Avise. Today we have snakes. John’s IDs and captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
Oh, and send in your photos if you want this series of posts to continue.
Other Snakes in SoCal.
Last Sunday I showed my pictures of rattlesnakes, but certainly not all snakes encountered in Southern California are to be feared. Indeed, most of the snakes you might see are non-venomous and not at all dangerous. This week’s post shows several non-aggressive snake species that I’ve seen on my nature hikes in the region.
It’s World Frog Day! Give some love to our slimy green friends! World Frog Day celebrates all anurans, so toads are included. Here’s a nice big American Toad (Bufo americanus) from Will County, Illinois.
American Toad (Bufo americanus), front, Will County, IL, July 13, 2023.
American Toad (Bufo americanus), back, Will County, IL, July 13, 2023.
American Toad (Bufo americanus), habitat, Will County, IL, July 13, 2023.
Today we have a new contributor: Gerfried Ambrosch, who sends us lovely pictures of herps. Gerfried’s notes and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
I took all of these photos on my iPhone. Most of the amphibians depicted are nocturnal. Only the picture of the Alpine newt was taken during the day. Interestingly, some of the most important European green toad populations are found in urban areas, which is why they’re sometimes considered a synanthropic species. However, one main reason this endangered, steppe-dwelling species of toad now mainly populates these secondary habitats is that its primary habitats have mostly been destroyed. Once common, the European tree frog – Central Europe’s only tree-climbing frog – is now also a threatened species. Fortunately, there are many wildlife-protection and biodiversity projects (some of which I’m involved with) in Austria and Germany that work hard to mitigate these problems.
I’ve only just learned that today, Monday, May 23, is World Turtle Day. Jerry noted the holiday in today’s Hili Dialogue, but I missed it, so my apologies for posting so late in the day.
The day is sponsored by American Tortoise Rescue, so I thought it appropriate to share a video of Zelby, a tortoise who is an acquaintance of mine.
Zelby is a member of the genus Testudo, and is one of the species from the Mediterranean area which also extend eastward into Asia. The species might be T. horsfieldi, the Russian Tortoise. There are several forms of this group popular in the pet trade; the alpha systematics is still in flux, and I don’t know the group well.
Zelby is dining on mixed greens and cucumber slices.
A bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) on the shore of Greenquist Pond, Somers, WI, 5 May 2021.
And speaking of late, it’s been a very late season for amphibians here in southeastern Wisconsin. The picture above is from May, 2021, because it’s been a very cold spring, and there’s been hardly any amphibian activity. Normally, chorus frogs (Pseudacris triseriata) begin calling in mid-March; this year I first heard them on April 7, and, since then, calling has been only sporadic. A year ago, American toads (Bufo americanus) began trilling the first week of May; I haven’t heard any yet. I have seen one adult bullfrog, in the last week of April. It was actually quite large– I spotted it with my naked eye across the Pond while scanning for turtles. (Turtles are out, but not in large numbers or consistently.)
Among the participating organizations is the Department of Defense PARC, which is charged with protecting and managing amphibians and reptiles on military lands, and they have been sending interesting items all week. One of the most fun ones for me was an amphibian identification quiz. It was done as a Powerpoint file, but I can’t figure how to set it up here in WordPress, so you’ll have to take my word for it 🙁 . They sent a nice guide to modern amphibian origins:
And this set of links:
When folks think of migration, usually, people think of birds and whales carrying out this process. However, did you know that some of our amphibians migrate, too? When the night is right, thousands of spotted salamanders will make their way to temporary wetlands known as vernal pools to breed in the spring. Checkout this great video by the Tennessee Aquarium: https://youtu.be/8xGZ8SLqVa8
Looking for some educational inspiration to teach about salamander migration and vernal pools? If so, check out this resource list put together by Of Pools and People: https://www.vernalpools.me/ecology-2/
Check out how the Boreal Toad was brought back to Colorado by biologists working to reintroduce the species and how they’ve been affected by a decimating fungus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9RQVA_d1DU
Gifford Pinchot National Forest biologists created breeding habitat for the threatened Oregon Spotted Frog through an innovative interagency conservation project in this video: https://vimeo.com/278211745
I’ve received another batch of amphibian goodies for Amphibian Week. Department of Defense Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation suggests having a look at this video about the Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis), a giant permanently aquatic salamander, and the largest (heaviest) amphibian in the Western Hemisphere. When I took herpetology as a summer course at Cornell University in upstate New York, there was a thrill when visiting a drainage in which hellbenders could occur; the mere possibility was enticing. Alas, we didn’t find any.
The Eastern Newt (Notopthalmus viridescens) and the Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) are common through much of the eastern US (the latter is also widely introduced in the west), and DoD PARC has produced fact sheets on both of them. This website explains, for kids, some of the differences between frogs and toads, but the problem with trying to distinguish frogs from toads is that there are many more kinds of members of the amphibian order Anura than just frogs and toads. “True toads” (Bufonidae) and “true frogs” (Ranidae) are only two of the dozens of families of anurans. We have two words in English, which correspond to the two genera (Bufo, toads, and Rana, frogs) which occur in England, but these aren’t enough; we tend to shoehorn that diversity them into either ‘frog’ or ‘toad’
We’ll finish off today with a species common in SE Wisconsin, the Green Frog (Rana clamitans). The relatively small eardrum would suggest this is a female, but it’s fairly small, and might just not have developed sexually dimorphic features yet.
Green Frog, Rana clamitans, UW-Parkside, Kenosha, WI, 20.ix.2015.
And here’s a bunch more. These were all rescued from a deep (ca. 20 foot) window well, and then released into nearby Greenquist Pond.
Green Frogs, Rana clamitans, UW-Parkside, Kenosha, WI, 20.ix.2015.
Gopher Snake, another view:
