Grand Canyon Herps - The Grand Canyon Association

Grand Canyon Herps
Identification Hints and Natural History
Please feel free to ask
questions during
presentation, this can
be interactive
“CARP” =
gcarpent@gmail.com
Please send pictures of
herps w/ date and
location!
UNIMODAL
ACTIVITY
BIMODAL
ACTIVITY
24
TOO COOL
JUST RIGHT
TIME OF DAY
TOO HOT
0
JAN
MONTH
DEC
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Changing Taxonomies
Cnemidophorus tigris has been changed to
Aspidoscelis tigris (WESTERN WHIPTAIL)
Bufo woodhousei has become Anaxyrus
woodhousei (WOODHOUSE’S TOAD, ROCKY
MOUNTAIN TOAD)
Bufo punctatus has become Anaxyrus
punctatus (RED-SPOTTED TOAD)
Crotalus viridis abyssus has become Crotalus
oreganus abyssus (GRAND CANYON
RATTLESNAKE)
Grand Canyon region home to many herp species:
Large geographic area w/ variation in elevation,
aspect, influenced by several ecoregions, mild yet
dynamic climate = heterogeneity among habitat
types and many ecological niches
So…let’s just
TRY to use
common
names?
RED-SPOTTED TOAD
@ FORESTER
SEPTEMBER 2003
•
Amphibians and Reptiles of the
Grand Canyon Region
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AMPHIBIANS
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Frogs and Toads
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• Leopard Frog
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• Canyon Treefrog
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• Arizona Toad
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• Great Plains Toad
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• Woodhouse’s Toad
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• Red-spotted Toad
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• Spadefoot Toad (2 spp.)
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Salamander
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• Tiger Salamander
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POSSIBILITY?
Milk Snake
LIZARDS
Side-blotched Lizard
Tree Lizard
Desert Spiny Lizard
Plateau Lizard
Sagebrush Lizard
Collared Lizard (2 spp.)
Leopard Lizard
Zebra-tailed Lizard
Common Lesser Earless Lizard
Horned Lizard (2 spp.)
Chuckwalla
Whiptail Lizards (3 spp.)
Western Banded Gecko
Skinks (3 spp.)
Gila Monster
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SNAKES
Glossy Snake
Ring-necked Snake
Night Snake
Striped Whipsnake
Coachwhip
California Kingsnake
Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake
Long-nosed Snake
Gopher Snake
Patch-nosed Snake
Ground Snake
Black-headed Snake
Terrestrial Gartersnake
Lyre Snake
Western Rattlesnake
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Grand Canyon Rattlesnake
Great Basin Rattlesnake
Speckled Rattlesnake
Black-tailed Rattlesnake
Western Diamond-backed
Rattlesnake
Mojave Rattlesnake
• Names (current
common and
Latin) according
to Brennan and
Holycross (2006)
Leopard Frog
•
To the best of our knowledge, based on extensive surveys throughout the
Grand Canyon region, northern leopard frogs no longer occur anywhere
below Glen Canyon Dam in the Colorado River and its tributaries.
•
The only leopard frogs that we know of in the Grand Canyon region are those in Surprise
Canyon, which are most closely related to lowland leopard frogs (Rana yavapaiensis). There
is a healthy population of these frogs higher up in the perennial parts of Surprise, but
they are extremely isolated and strongly differentiated genetically. (Charles Drost,
USGS)
WOODHOUSE’S TOAD
(Bufo woodhousei)
Kidney-shaped paratoid gland
Mid-dorsal stripe
RED-SPOTTED TOAD
(Bufo punctatus)
104R, April 2003
round paratoid gland
Photo by Don Sias
Great Plains Toad
Symmetrical blotches
Arizona Toad
weak or absent cranial crests
CANYON
TREEFROG
(Hyla arenicolor)
140L, April 2003
toe pads
Photos by Don Sias
TIGER SALAMANDER
SPADEFOOT TOADS
Great Basis Spadefoot,
glandular boss
Mexican Spadefoot, no boss
Plains Spadefoot, bony boss
SIDE-BLOTCHED LIZARD
(Uta stansburiana)
Cardenas Camp, April, 2003
MALE
Adult male
side-blotched lizard (“Uta”)
Forester (122.8 L), APRIL 2003
TREE LIZARD (Urosaurus ornatus)
HEAD BOBS AND PUSH-UPS
What is that lizard doing?
• DISPLAY ACTION PATTERN (DAP)…a
type of FIXED/MODAL ACTION PATTERN
species typical
instinctive
performed “perfectly” first time
usually performed to completion once
started
COMMON SIDE-BLOTCHED LIZARD
(Uta stansburiana )
TREE LIZARD (Urosaurus ornatus)
Plateau Lizard
Sagebrush Lizard
Desert Spiny
– Misidentified as collared lizard
– Misidentified as horned lizard
DESERT
SPINY LIZARD
ZEBRA-TAILED LIZARD
COMMON LESSER EARLESS LIZARD
DESERT HORNED LIZARD
GREATER SHORT-HORNED LIZARD
• Great Basin
Collared Lizard
• Eastern
Collared Lizard
LEOPARD LIZARD
COMMOM CHUCKWALLA
CHUCKWALLA (Sauromalus obesus)
@ 27 R lunchstop, April 2003
•Herbivorous
•Likes it HOT
•“spooky”
juvenile
Adult MALE
Below Bedrock
August 2003
Tiger Whiptail
Plateau Striped
Whiptail
Pai Striped Whiptail
Gilbert’s Skink
Many-lined Skink
Western Skink
GILA MONSTER
Gila monster photographed by (superstud NPS Ranger) Brenton White (while running
backward and fouling himself)
“he wanted to bite
a toe-burger out of
my Chaco”
Diamond Creek Road, 11 April, 2005
WESTERN BANDED GECKO
Glossy Snake
Striped Whipsnake
Coachwhip
COACHWHIP (RED RACER)
(Masticophis flagellum)
Lava Chuar scout
July 2002
STRIPED WHIPSNAKE
(Masticophis taeniatus)
Above Fishtail
April 2003
Photo by Don Sias
Ring-necked Snake
Thread Snake
• Ring-necked Snake
Ground Snake
Long-nosed Snake
Night Snake
Patch-nosed Snake
Terrestrial Gartersnake
Lyre Snake
California kingsnake (Lampropeltus getula )
Above Saddle Canyon (46.7 R)
June 29, 2003
Milksnake
Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake
Photo by Larry Kamees
Cannibalism in California kingsnakes
Crystal Rapid scout, June 30 2002
Photo by Joe Vaughn
Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer)
Forester (122.8L)
July 2003
Western
Rattlesnake
Collecting blood from subcaudal vein
Photo by Mike Kearsley
The Grand Canyon Pink Grand Canyon
Rattlesnake is a subspecies of the
western/prairie rattlesnake (Crotalus
oreganus viridis …~7 6 subspecies)
--endemic to Grand Canyon corridor
(thru ~Tuckup National), and Little C.
(…abyssus)
GRAND CANYON PINK RATTLESNAKE
IN TUBE AT LAVA CHUAR SITE 65.3 L
Photo by Joe Vaughn
SPECKLED RATTLESNAKE
(juvenile, 186.5L, 14 April 2003)
No face stripe
Bands rather than blotches
(180 mi. & below)
Photo by Don Sias
GC PINK VS SPECKLED
Geographic ranges are “dynamic”….what is
happening nowadays that may accelerate
shifting of geographic ranges?
Known Black-tailed Rattlesnake
Locations
–Lava Scout (find photo)
–Redslide
–Hualapai Acres
–Parashant (science camp
above)
“CARP” = gcarpent@gmail.com
Please send pictures of herps w/
–Indian Canyon date and location!
The angle of this snakes eyestripe, its uniformly-colored
blotches, and its relatively thin
tail rings distinguish it from the
similar looking Western Diamondbacked Rattlesnake.
Mojave vs. Western Diamondbacked Rattlesnake
Tailbanding
COLLABORATORS
Thomas Brennan, Geoff Carpenter, Charles Drost, Andy
Holycross, Jeff Lovich, Trevor Persons, Robert Reed and
Larry Stevens (not pictured).
MONITORING BIOTA IN THREE
HYDROLOGIC ZONES
INDICATOR SPECIES?
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“Usual Suspects”
Side-blotched Lizard
Tiger Whiptail Lizard
Desert Spiny Lizard
Tree Lizard
Chuckwalla
Collared Lizard
Western Banded Gecko
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Desert Horned Lizard (Lee’s….222 and below)
Zebra-tailed Lizard, Leopard Lizard (Peach Springs Wash)
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Patch-nosed Snake
• Grand Canyon Rattlesnake
• Gophersnake
• Kingsnake
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Striped Whipsnake
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Coachwhip
Black-tailed Rattlesnake
• Speckled Rattlesnake
Black-tailed Rattlesnake =
“Mojave Green”
• Babes Hole Spring Canyon was an easy and not terribly
exciting technical descent, but the canyon was rather
pleasant and the day wonderful as I was joined by my old
friend and canyon partner John, and a first timer canyoneer
and new friend, Steve. With a recent snow fall, the ground
was saturated adding to the springs, resulting in a modest
but steady flow through the entire canyon and crystal clear
pools. A lethargic Bull Snake laid sprawled out on a rock in
the narrows below a beautiful fluted rappel. It did not seem
terribly interested or bothered as we moved all around trying
to find the right angle to pull our rope that got temporarily
stuck. Unlike our Bull Snake friend, a Mojave Green
Rattlesnake was extremely irritated as we rock hopped
past it. Hundreds of butterflies resembled multi-colored
snow flurries and silver colored canyon frogs hopped abound
Gopher Snake…..Black-tailed
Rattlesnake
“CARP” =
gcarpent@gmail.com
Please send pictures of herps
w/ date and location!
Pet Peeve = bogus sightings =
misidentification
Gecko?
Why is correct identification
important?
– Natural Resources Management--Cannot
effectively preserve biodiversity until we
identify ecosystem components, how hey
function and how they interact
– ….why is important to id rapid/canyon
correctly?
Species identification can be difficult
Dunes Sagebrush Lizard
(Sceloporus arenicolus)
Prairie Lizard
(Sceloporus consobrinus)
Misidentification affects
credibility