TABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 26(2):121 ...€¦ · 122 COLE ET AL. IRCF...
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IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 26(2):121–122 • AUG 2019 Mating of Argentine Black-and-white Tegus ( Salvator merianae) in Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA Jenna M. Cole, Cassidy Klovanish, and Frank J. Mazzotti Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33314 ([email protected]) 121 IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY Copyright © 2019. Jenna M. Cole. All rights reserved. WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNAL F lorida, especially the southern part of the state, has become a hotspot for established nonnative herpetofaunal species. Of 63 established exotic reptilian and amphibian spe- cies, 48 are lizards (Krysko et al. 2016). The Argentine Black- and-white Tegu, Salvator merianae (Fig. 1) is an omnivorous lizard with a broad diet (e.g., Mercolli and Yanosky 1994; Kiefer and Sazima 2002) that is established and breeding in southern Florida (Enge 2006; Pernas et al. 2012; Krysko et al. 2016). On 29 March 2019, JC and CK observed a mating pair of tegus confined in a Tomahawk model S50 live trap used for tegu removal in southern Florida (Fig. 2). This trap, made of 16-gauge wire with a ½ x 1” mesh size, is equipped with a flush-mounted repeating trap door and has dimensions of 24 x 5 x 5”. It was baited with a chicken egg. The repeating door allows for the capture of multiple animals. We could not determine whether the male or female entered the trap first but speculate that the female entered the trap for the bait and was followed by the male, which entered the trap to copulate with the female. Behaviors observed included the male biting the hindleg, neck, and tail of the female and positioning himself over her with hemipenes exposed. These corresponded to tegu court- ship behavior described by Sazima (2015) and Lopes and Abe (1999). This event also fell within the time frame for mating by captive tegus held in outdoor cages in Florida (Enge 2006). This is the first observation of mating by wild tegus in Florida. Literature Cited Enge, K.M. 2006. FWC Bioprofile for the Argentine Black and White Tegu (Tupinambis merianae). Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, Florida. Kiefer, M.C. and I. Sazima. 2002. Diet of juvenile tegu lizard Tupinambis merianae (Teiidae) in southeastern Brazil. Amphibia-Reptilia 23: 105–108. Krysko, K.L., L.A. Somma, D.C. Smith, C.R. Gillette, D. Cueva, J.A. Wasilewski, K.M. Enge, S.A. Johnson, T.S. Campbell, J.R. Edwards, M.R. Rochford, R. Tompkins, J.F. Fobb, S. Mullin, C.J. Lechowicz, D. Hazelton, and A. Warren. 2016. New verified nonindigenous amphibians and reptiles in Florida through 2015, with a summary of over 152 years of introductions. Reptiles & Amphibians 23: 110–143. Lopes, H.R. and A.S. Abe. 1999. Biologia reprodutivo e comportamento do teiú, Tupinambis merianae, em cativeiro (Reptilia, Teiidae), pp. 259–272. In: T.G. Fang, O.L. Montenegro, and R.E. Bodmer (eds.), Manejo y Conservación de Fauna Silvestre en América Latina. Instituto de Ecología, La Paz, Bolivia. Mercolli, C. and A. Yanosky. 1994. The diet of adult Tupinambis teguixin (Sauria, Teiidae) in the eastern Chaco of Argentina. The Herpetological Journal 4: 15–19. Pernas, T., D.J. Giardina, A. McKinley, A. Parns, and F.J. Mazzotti. 2012. First observations of nesting by the Argentine Black and White Tegu, Tupinambis merianae, in south Florida. Southeastern Naturalist 11: 765–771. Sazima, I. 2015. Corpse bride irresistible: A dead female tegu lizard (Salvator meri- anae) courted by males for two days at an urban park in south-eastern Brazil. Herpetology Notes 8: 15–18. IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians ISSN 1098-6324 Fig. 1. An adult Argentine Black-and-white Tegu (Salvator merianae) in the Southern Glades Wildlife and Environmental Area, Miami-Dade County, Florida. Photograph by Nicholas Scobel.
Transcript of TABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 26(2):121 ...€¦ · 122 COLE ET AL. IRCF...
IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 26(2):121–122 • AUG 2019
Mating of Argentine Black-and-white Tegus (Salvator merianae)
in Miami-Dade County, Florida, USAJenna M. Cole, Cassidy Klovanish, and Frank J. Mazzotti
Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33314 ([email protected])
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IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • VOL15, NO 4 • DEC 2008 189TABLE OF CONTENTS
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
F E A T U R E A R T I C L E S
Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: 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: A Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................Robert W. Henderson 198
R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E S
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
.............................................Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212
C O N S E R V A T I O N A L E R T
World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220 More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223 The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................... 225
H U S B A N D R Y
Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226
P R O F I L E
Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234
C O M M E N T A R Y
The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238
B O O K R E V I E W
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.Totat et velleseque audant mo estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos accullabo.
Back Cover. Michael KernTotat et velleseque audant mo
estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus
aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque
moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia-tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as
IRC
F
REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSC O N S E R V AT I O N A N D N AT U R A L H I S T O R Y
Copyright © 2019. Jenna M. Cole. All rights reserved.
WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNAL
Florida, especially the southern part of the state, has become a hotspot for established nonnative herpetofaunal
species. Of 63 established exotic reptilian and amphibian spe-cies, 48 are lizards (Krysko et al. 2016). The Argentine Black-and-white Tegu, Salvator merianae (Fig. 1) is an omnivorous lizard with a broad diet (e.g., Mercolli and Yanosky 1994; Kiefer and Sazima 2002) that is established and breeding in southern Florida (Enge 2006; Pernas et al. 2012; Krysko et al. 2016). On 29 March 2019, JC and CK observed a mating pair of tegus confined in a Tomahawk model S50 live trap used for tegu removal in southern Florida (Fig. 2). This trap, made of 16-gauge wire with a ½ x 1” mesh size, is equipped with a flush-mounted repeating trap door and has dimensions of 24 x 5 x 5”. It was baited with a chicken egg. The repeating
door allows for the capture of multiple animals. We could not determine whether the male or female entered the trap first but speculate that the female entered the trap for the bait and was followed by the male, which entered the trap to copulate with the female. Behaviors observed included the male biting the hindleg, neck, and tail of the female and positioning himself over her with hemipenes exposed. These corresponded to tegu court-ship behavior described by Sazima (2015) and Lopes and Abe (1999). This event also fell within the time frame for mating by captive tegus held in outdoor cages in Florida (Enge 2006). This is the first observation of mating by wild tegus in Florida.
Literature CitedEnge, K.M. 2006. FWC Bioprofile for the Argentine Black and White Tegu
(Tupinambis merianae). Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, Florida.
Kiefer, M.C. and I. Sazima. 2002. Diet of juvenile tegu lizard Tupinambis merianae (Teiidae) in southeastern Brazil. Amphibia-Reptilia 23: 105–108.
Krysko, K.L., L.A. Somma, D.C. Smith, C.R. Gillette, D. Cueva, J.A. Wasilewski, K.M. Enge, S.A. Johnson, T.S. Campbell, J.R. Edwards, M.R. Rochford, R. Tompkins, J.F. Fobb, S. Mullin, C.J. Lechowicz, D. Hazelton, and A. Warren. 2016. New verified nonindigenous amphibians and reptiles in Florida through 2015, with a summary of over 152 years of introductions. Reptiles & Amphibians 23: 110–143.
Lopes, H.R. and A.S. Abe. 1999. Biologia reprodutivo e comportamento do teiú, Tupinambis merianae, em cativeiro (Reptilia, Teiidae), pp. 259–272. In: T.G. Fang, O.L. Montenegro, and R.E. Bodmer (eds.), Manejo y Conservación de Fauna Silvestre en América Latina. Instituto de Ecología, La Paz, Bolivia.
Mercolli, C. and A. Yanosky. 1994. The diet of adult Tupinambis teguixin (Sauria, Teiidae) in the eastern Chaco of Argentina. The Herpetological Journal 4: 15–19.
Pernas, T., D.J. Giardina, A. McKinley, A. Parns, and F.J. Mazzotti. 2012. First observations of nesting by the Argentine Black and White Tegu, Tupinambis merianae, in south Florida. Southeastern Naturalist 11: 765–771.
Sazima, I. 2015. Corpse bride irresistible: A dead female tegu lizard (Salvator meri-anae) courted by males for two days at an urban park in south-eastern Brazil. Herpetology Notes 8: 15–18.
IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians ISSN 1098-6324
Fig. 1. An adult Argentine Black-and-white Tegu (Salvator merianae) in the Southern Glades Wildlife and Environmental Area, Miami-Dade County, Florida. Photograph by Nicholas Scobel.
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Fig. 2. Male and female Argentine Black-and-white Tegus (S. merianae) engaging in courtship behavior: (A) male (top) mounting the female (bottom); (B) male biting the hindleg of the female; (C) male biting the tail of the female; (D) male biting the hindleg of the female (arrow indicates exposed hemipenes); (E) male alongside the female (arrow indicates exposed hemipenes). Photographs by Jenna Cole.
