TABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • … · Poisonous Snakes of the World. A Manual for...
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IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 22(1):34–36 • MAR 2015 Two Atypically Colored Bamboo Vipers ( Trimeresurus stejnegeri stejnegeri Schmidt, 1925) Found in Suburban Areas of Taiwan Gerrut Norval 1 , Chin-Hsiu Lin 2 , and Jean-Jay Mao 2 1 Applied Behavioural Ecology & Ecosystem Research Unit, Department of Environmental Sciences, UNISA, Republic of South Africa ([email protected]) 2 Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, National Ilan University, Ilan, 260 Taiwan, R.O.C. (corresponding author: [email protected]) 34 IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY Copyright © 2015. Gerrut Norval. All rights reserved. WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNAL T he Bamboo Viper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri stejnegeri Schmidt, 1925) has a natural distribution that extends through parts of northern India and Nepal, east through parts of Indochina to southern China and Taiwan (Pope 1935; Kuntz 1963; Anonymous 1968; Mao 1993). Throughout its range, T. s. stejnegeri tends to inhabit forested and partially forested habitats, usually near sources of water, in foothill and mountainous areas (Kuntz 1963; Anonymous 1968). The typical dorsal coloration of T. s. stejnegeri ranges from bright green (Fig. 1) to chartreuse (Kuntz 1963; Anonymous 1968; Mao, 1993), and some individuals exhibit faint darker green banding (Fig. 2) (Mao and Norval, pers. obs.). In some rare individuals, a few dorsal scales are white, which creates a sparse speckled appearance (Mao and Norval, pers. obs.). Ventral scales are yellowish to lime green and the tail is brick- red; the iris is red to orange (Kuntz 1963; Anonymous 1968; Mao 1993). The sexes can be distinguished by the lateral scales bordering the ventral scales; these are are light yellow to white in both sexes, but those of males have red edges (Anonymous 1968; Mao 1993). On 25 October 2012, the local fire brigade collected a gravid female T. s. stejnegeri (Fig. 3) in Kaohsiung City, Gushan District. The snake had a snout-vent length (SVL), tail length (TL), and body mass of 440 mm, 95 mm, and 38 g, respectively. Its dorsal coloration was a dull blue-gray with faint darker gray banding, the belly was light blue, and the tail was a rusty red. The iris was rusty orange. Apart from the atypical coloration, the snake appeared to be normal and in Fig. 1. A male Bamboo Viper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri stejnegeri) in an ambush position. Photograph by Gerrut Norval.
Transcript of TABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • … · Poisonous Snakes of the World. A Manual for...
IRCFREPTILES&HIBIANS•22(1):34–36•MAR2015
Two Atypically Colored Bamboo Vipers (Trimeresurus stejnegeri stejnegeri Schmidt, 1925) Found in Suburban Areas of Taiwan
Gerrut Norval1, Chin-Hsiu Lin2, and Jean-Jay Mao2
1AppliedBehaviouralEcology&EcosystemResearchUnit,DepartmentofEnvironmentalSciences,UNISA,RepublicofSouthAfrica([email protected])2DepartmentofForestryandNaturalResources,NationalIlanUniversity,Ilan,260Taiwan,R.O.C.(correspondingauthor:[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
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The Bamboo Viper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri stejnegeri Schmidt,1925)hasanaturaldistributionthatextends
through parts of northern India and Nepal, east through parts ofIndochinatosouthernChinaandTaiwan(Pope1935;Kuntz1963;Anonymous1968;Mao1993).Throughoutitsrange, T. s. stejnegeri tends to inhabit forested and partially forestedhabitats,usuallynearsourcesofwater,infoothillandmountainousareas(Kuntz1963;Anonymous1968).The typical dorsal coloration of T. s. stejnegeri ranges from brightgreen(Fig.1)tochartreuse(Kuntz1963;Anonymous1968;Mao,1993),andsomeindividualsexhibitfaintdarkergreenbanding(Fig.2)(MaoandNorval,pers.obs.).Insomerareindividuals,afewdorsalscalesarewhite,whichcreatesasparsespeckledappearance(MaoandNorval,pers.obs.).
Ventralscalesareyellowishtolimegreenandthetailisbrick-red;theirisisredtoorange(Kuntz1963;Anonymous1968;Mao1993).Thesexescanbedistinguishedbythelateralscalesborderingtheventralscales;thesearearelightyellowtowhiteinbothsexes,butthoseofmaleshaverededges(Anonymous1968;Mao1993). On25October2012, the local fire brigade collected a gravid female T. s. stejnegeri(Fig.3)inKaohsiung City, Gushan District.Thesnakehadasnout-ventlength(SVL),taillength(TL),andbodymassof440mm, 95 mm, and 38 g,respectively.Itsdorsalcolorationwasadullblue-graywithfaintdarkergraybanding,thebellywaslightblue,andthetailwasarusty red.Theiriswasrustyorange.Apartfromtheatypicalcoloration,thesnakeappearedtobenormalandin
Fig. 1. A male Bamboo Viper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri stejnegeri)inan ambushposition.PhotographbyGerrutNorval.
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Fig. 2. A female Bamboo Viper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri stejnegeri)inan ambush posture.PhotographbyJean-JayMao.
Fig. 3. An atypical blue female Bamboo Viper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri stejnegeri)fromKaohsiung City, Gushan District,Taiwan.PhotographbyJean-JayMao.
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healthycondition. Thesnakegavebirthtothree neonates on 19May2013;allhadtheusualT. s. stejnegeri green coloration. On25October2013, a former staff member of the Animal and Plant Disease Control Center of Yilan County collected a male albino T. s. stejnegeri (Fig.4)attheJinlioujayMilitaryBase in Yilan City.Itwasinitiallymisidentifiedasanescapedexoticpet.ThesnakehadaSVL,TL,andbodymassof384 mm, 91 mm, and 23.2 g,respectively.Itsdorsalcolorationwasbrightyellow,thebellywasalighteryellow,andthetailwasorange.Theiriswasdarkpink.Apartfromtheatypicalcoloration,thesnakeappearedtobenormalandinhealthycondition. In herpetoculture for the pet trade, the cross-breeding of closelyrelatedindividuals(inbreeding)isoftenusedtocreatenewcolormorphs(Schmidt1995).Forthatreason,reportingthediscoveryofreptileswithatypicalcolorationinthewildiswarranted.Althoughsuchcolorationmightbecausedbygenetic mutations, it also could be an indication of inbreed-inginasmallpopulation.Asforthesnakesdescribedherein,nofurtherexaminationswereconducted,sothecauseofthedeviationsincolorisnotknown.However,ifmoresuchatyp-icallycoloredindividualsarerecordedinthewild,ageneticanalysisofthepopulationiswarranted.Toourknowledgethis is the first reported description of T. s. stejnegeriwithatypicalcolorationfromthewildinTaiwan.
AcknowledgementsTheauthorsthankthestaffoftheGushanDistrictfirebri-Gushan District fire bri- fire bri-gade and the anonymous former staff member of the Animal and Plant Disease Control Center of Yilan County for collect- for collect-ingtheanimalsdescribedherein,andTzu-MingKuo(YilanCountyGovernment) fordonating them tous to study.ThisstudywasfundedbytheprojectsDOH101-DC-1016(2012:DevelopingantiveninforvenomousTaiwanesesnakes- Evaluation of the stability and quality of venom from non-captivesnakes)andDOH102-DC-1105(2013:Thesnakevenom supply procedure for antivenin and its application in Taiwan)oftheCenterofDiseaseControlofTaiwan.
Literature CitedAnonymous. 1968.Poisonous Snakes of the World. A Manual for Use by U.S.
Amphibious Forces.NAVMEDP-5099.DepartmentoftheNavyBureauofMedicineandSurgery,Washington,D.C.
Kuntz,R.E.1963.SnakesofTaiwan.Quarterly Journal of the Taiwan Museum 16:11–12.
Mao, S.-H. 1993.Common Terrestrial Venomous Snakes of Taiwan. SpecialPublicationNo.5.NationalMuseumofNaturalScience,Taichung,Taiwan.
Pope,C.H.1935.The Reptiles of China: Turtles, Crocodilians, Snakes, Lizards.NaturalHistoryofCentralAsia,VolumeX.AmericanMuseumofNaturalHistory,NewYork.
Schmidt,D.1995.Breeding and Keeping Snakes.T.F.H.Publications,Neptune,NewJersey.
Fig. 4. An albino male Bamboo Viper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri stejnegeri)fromtheJinlioujayMilitaryBase in Yilan City,Taiwan.PhotographbyJean-JayMao.
