Map the Herps You Spot

Spotted Salamander by Brian Magnier

In the spring of my penultimate year at Cornell, I took a Herpetology class that introduced me to the world of reptiles and amphibians, or “herps,” as they’re affectionately known. Thanks to that exposure, I was able to enjoy the spring migration of certain salamander species and learn the basics of the main families of frogs, lizards, snakes, and other herps like alligators, crocodiles, and all the other slimy or scaly animals in the classes Amphibia and Reptilia. If I had known of the existence of the citizen science project HerpMapper at the time (it wasn’t released until September of the same year as that salamander migration) I’d have certainly submitted some observations and photos to the organization! From their About page:

HerpMapper is a cooperative project, designed to gather and share information about reptile and amphibian observations across the planet. Using HerpMapper, you can create records of your herp observations and keep them all in one place. In turn, your data is made available to HerpMapper Partners – groups who use your recorded observations for research, conservation, and preservation purposes. Your observations can make valuable contributions on the behalf of amphibians and reptiles.

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A Night Walk in the Osa Peninsula

I recently went on a night walk in the rainforest of Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula, looking for frogs, snakes, and other nocturnal animals with a great wildlife guide who knew the area well. Although we didn’t see any mammals or the famous deadly Bothrops asper viper known as the “terciopelo” in Spanish (velvet) and “fer-de-lance” in French (spearhead). We did, however, see numerous frog species and at least two snake species, although we could only identify the six or seven Cat-eyed Snakes we saw.

There were also some basilisk lizards getting bit by mosquitoes, a large spider similar to a tarantula, a dragonfly larva in the water, and plenty of frog eggs. At one point we turned off all our flashlights to try to find a glass frog (pictured below) and noticed some bioluminescent mushrooms, which were impossible to photograph in the dark and look pretty dull in the light. Although I’ve forgotten the names of the various frog species featured in the slideshow of the photos I was able to take below, I hope you enjoy Continue reading

Too many birds, not enough Herps!!!

We can’t let the birders have all the fun, so I’m going to start posting my favorite reptiles & amphibians!  (I’m clearly in good company on the subject, however!) These amazing creatures are often unjustly vilified, but if you take a closer look you will realize just how beautiful and unique they are.

So I will start for now with Crotalus cerastes, the desert sidewinder (SW US/NW Mexico) — This small pit viper is specially adapted to live in the desert, most notably in its locomotive behavior of “sidewinding” which leaves a trademark imprint in sand.  Enjoy!

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Wild Periyar – Indian Python (Python molurus)

The tropical climate with evergreen, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forest in Periyar creates a perfect environment for snakes. The Indian Python is seen in dense as well as in open forest. Pythons are slow moving snakes, appearing timid and rarely rousing seriously to escape even when attacked. Pythons also have a peculiar method of movement, the body moving in a straight line like a millipede.

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