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A population estimate of whipsnakes, Masticophis t. taeniatus, utilizing communal hibernacula at Lone Rock, Tooele County, Utah, was made by taking samples in autumn 1973 and in spring 1974. The number of whipsnakes using this site was estimated by various methods to be 425-543. Confidence limits for the Lincoln Index were 276-618. Estimates of postdispersal density ranged from 0.15-0.22 whipsnake/ha and 17.7-26 g/ha. Whipsnakes used at least three separate dens at this location, differing from other sites where only one den per den complex is used. Age structure appeared equally balanced among various age groups older than 1 year old, and the latter was underrepresented. Sex ratios were significantly biased toward...
The hominga bilityo f deserti guanas,D ipsosauruds orsalisw, as studiedi n Anza Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego County, and in Thousand Palms, Riverside County, California. Eighty-three lizards were displaced distances ranging from 50-400 m. Twenty-two lizards successfully homed at least once. Two lizards homed from distances of 250 m, and one lizard from 274 m. These homing distances exceed the previously reported maximum homing distance for lizards. Similarities between the results of this study and previous studies are discussed. Published in Herpetologica, volume 33, issue 1, on pages 123 - 127, in 1977.
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Herpetologica
Aggregation of Coleonyx variegatus in diurnal shelter sites is shown to be a statistically valid phenomenon, confirming earlier reports based on subjective impressions. Preliminary data on causative factors suggest that limited burrow availability promotes aggregation. Experiments in which two individuals were placed in cages having an excess of burrows revealed no indication of interindividual attraction. However, these results do not exclude the operation of social factors in aggregation. On the contrary, pilot data provide hints that the sexes may differ in aggregative behavior. We hypothesize that lizard density, sex, and physical variables such as temperature and moisture may be associated with joint burrow...
Home range size of adult desert iguana lizards, Dipsosaurus dorsalis, was studied during June and July of 1975, in Thousand Palms, Riverside County, California, USA. The mean home range size of S 8 (1,462 m') and 9 9 (1,558 m') for combined pre-storm and post-storm sightings was not significantly different. Home range size was correlated positively with body size and the number of sightings. A 5-day sandstorm occurred 16-21 June which greatly reduced the leaves and flowers of native plants in the study area. Home range size and overlap prior to and after the storm were compared. Home range size of 12 lizards, with four or more observations each for the two periods, was significantly larger after the storm. Home...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Herpetologica
ABSTRACT: The diet of the desert tortoise, Gopherusa gassiziiw, as determined from three areas at the base of the Grand Wash Cliffs above Lake Mead, Arizona, from an area in the New Water Mountains, Arizona, and from the central Beaver Dam Wash, Utah. Thirty-two kinds of plants, bird feathers,mammal hairs, snake and lizard scales, and arthropod parts were classified from the microhistological analysis of fecal droppings from desert tortoises. Foxtail brome, globemallows, limtridens and threeawn made up > 80% of the tortoise diets from the Grand Canyon areas. Threeawns, limtridens, bushmuhly and slender janusia made up > 90%o f the diets from the New Water Mountains. Foxtail brome and redstem filaree made up > 80%...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Herpetologica
Desert tortoises, Gopherus agassizii, generally were active in the spring and fall. They often became active during and after infrequent showers and thunderstorms, and drank from temporary pools of standing water even when air temperatures were suboptimal (9-15 C). In several instances tortoises constructed shallow catchment basins which held water for as long as six h. Thus tortoises can obtain drinking water by modifying their environment. Following small amounts of rainfall (5.6 mm) in July 1976, six tortoises increased an average of 9.2% in body weight; this increase was due to ingestion of water. Drinking may be an important source of water for this species. Published in Herpetologica, volume 36, issue 4, on...
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During 1962 and parts of 1961, 1963, and 1964, records were kept of the food of 226 Colorado Desert sidewinders, Crotalus cerastes laterore'pens Klauber, from Yuma County, Arizona. Most of the snakes were collected in the Castle Dome Plain northeast of Yuma and the Yuma Desert southeast of Yuma; some were taken in the general vicinity of Wellton, the Lechuguilla Desert south of Wellton, the Yuma Mesa, and the Yuma Valley. I collected many of these snakes, as did Mr. Robert W. Hancock, whose generosity and assistance are much appreciated. A few were provided by other citizens of Yuma County. Published in Herpetologica, volume 21, issue 1, on pages 15 - 17, in 1965.
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Herpetologica
The mechanisms that govern orientation in Bufo boreas were studied in the spring and summer of 1967. Toads were collected adjacent to the shores of several lakes in the vicinity of Moscow, Idaho. The compass direction of a line drawn perpendicular to the shoreline was recorded at the site of each collection. The toads were transported to the laboratory in closed containers and released in the center of a circular test pool. Their direction of movement was compared with the compass reading taken at the site of collection. The data from these tests indicate that B. boreas has a mechanism of orientation based on a sun-compass. There was no indication that either stellar or lunar cues are used by this species. The ability...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Herpetologica
Callisaurus draconoides was studied from March through November 1973 on the lower Colorado River. Callisaurus employs the sit-and-wait foraging strategy and feeds on a variety of insects associated with aerial portions of overhanging vegetation, in addition to some terrestrial insects. Seasonal differences were apparent in the diet, apparently a function of seasonal fluctuations in insect abundance. April, May and June represent the peak breeding season and there is an inverse relationship between testes and fat body size in 8 S. Mean clutch size was 4.6 (1-8) and hatchlings were observed in July and again in early September. No distinct fat body cycle was discemable in 9 9, presumably due to differences in reproductive...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Herpetologica
Nine Heloderma suspectum were observed between 1 April and 13 July 1979. In April and May, movements of Heloderma were associated with areas where eggs of ground nesting birds were most abundant. During June and July, Heloderma responded to decreasing egg availability by shifting their diets to small mammals and moving onto areas where these prey were most abundant. These shifts are adaptive as Heloderma continually exploit the most abundant prey. Lizards demonstrated a foraging strategy of rarely backtracking and consuming only an average of 46% of the eggs available at each nest. The number of eggs eaten per day by each lizard was positively correlated with lizard weight. Combinations of lizard satiation, reproduction,...
Egg production by desert tortoises was estimated at two sites in San Bernardino, California: Ivanpah Valley in 1980 and 1981 and Goffs in 1983, 1984 and 1985. Mean clutch frequencies were estimated for 1980 (1.60) and 1981 (1.10) from mass changes observed among sexually mature females weighed every 1-2 wk. Mean clutch frequencies in 1983 (1.89), 1984 (1.57) and 1985 (1.75) were estimated from periodic X-rays of females. Clutch sizes were also determined from radiographs. Tortoises at Goffs typically laid 1-2 clutches during May and June, but one female failed to lay eggs in 1984 and single tortoises laid three clutches in 1983 and 1985. If tortoises laid two clutches, the second was faintly visible in X-rays within...
Previous field studies of squamate reptiles have shown that many life history traits show a significant amount of phenotypic plasticity, especially in response to prey availability. These results were recently supported by laboratory studies on a viviparous garter snake, which showed that clutch size and clutch mass were plastic in response to changes in energy intake, but that relative clutch mass and offspring size were relatively canalized. To determine if these results extend to oviparous reptiles, we conducted an experimental study of phenotypic plasticity in the corn snake, Elapheguttata. Female corn snakes on a high energy diet produced larger clutch sizes, larger clutch masses, and larger relative clutch...
Hybridization between the southwestern toad (Bufo microscaphus) and Woodhouse's toad (B. woodhousii) along the Agua Fria and Hassayampa rivers in central Arizona was investigated over a 3-yr period. Variation in allozymes and the pulse rate of male release calls was compared with morphological variation in these taxa and their hybrids. At two sites on the Agua Fria drainage, data on release calls, but not morphology, were concordant with allozyme evidence of hybridization. At a third site on the Agua Fria, morphological data, but not release calls, corroborated electrophoretic evidence of hybridization. Along the Hassayampa River, all lines of evidence indicated that there has not yet been any hybridization in an...
We used radio-telemetry to study the movements and habitat use of Western toads (Bufo boreas) in the Targhee National Forest in southeastern Idaho. Eighteen toads (10 male and 8 female) that bred in a seasonally flooded pond, were fitted with radio-transmitters, tracked, and their movements mapped and analyzed with global positioning and geographic information systems. We also analyzed their patterns of habitat selection at micro- and macro-scales by comparing sites used by toads with randomly selected sites. After breeding, two male and six female toads left the breeding pond and used terrestrial habitats extensively. Male and female toads showed different patterns of movement and habitat use, although all toads...
We studied variation in advertisement calls, release calls, and calling behavior in three populations of Bufo alvarius in central Arizona over a 3-yr period. Of advertisement call variables, pulse rate was the only variable significantly (positively) related to temperature, and no variables were correlated with male snout-vent length. For release calls, only pulse rate was significantly (negatively) related to temperature, and no variables were related to male size. Mean advertisement call pulse rate was approximately 30% of average release call pulse rate; such dramatic differences in temporal structure of advertisement and release calls are previously unreported in the genus Bufo. These results support the hypothesis...
The geographic pattern of variation in Cnemidophorus tigris septentrionalis Burger was determined from 17 samples (664 specimens) drawn from populations distributed throughout its range. Principal components analysis and canonical variates analysis identified three groups of populations whose morphological differences coincide with three geographic areas: (A) north of the Colorado and Dolores rivers in northwestern Arizona, east-central Utah, and western Colorado; (B) south of the Colorado and San Juan rivers and east of the Little Colorado River in southeastern Utah, northwestern New Mexico, and northeastern Arizona; and (C) west of the Little Colorado River in northeastern Arizona. The latter population is of...
In their thorough monograph of the genus Heloderma Wiegmann, Bogert and Martin del Campo (1956) noted the paucity of records for the Gila monster, Heloderma suspectum Cope, along the western extremity of its geographic range. The present paper reports the collection of two specimens and various encounters with six others in Yuma County, Arizona, together with brief notes on life history and habitat, an altitudinal low collection record for the subspecies I. s. cinctum Bogert and Martin del Campo, a far western record from Sonora of the subspecies H. s. suspectum Cope, an intergrade specimen from western Maricopa County, Arizona, and a possible record for California. For permission to examine and report the Gila...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Herpetologica
Habitat modeling offers an approach to understanding some management problems of desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) and to focusing new research efforts. Modeling can provide (1) a method to organize existing information, (2) a means to identify whether physical habitat or some factor outside the scope of the habitat model is limiting populations, (3) a method to integrate habitat into resource development planning, and (4) a mechanism for focusing research on missing species-habitat information. Published in Herpetologica, volume 42, issue 1, on pages 134 - 138, in 1986.
    map background search result map search result map Food of Crotalus cerastes laterorepens in Yuma County, Arizona Food of Crotalus cerastes laterorepens in Yuma County, Arizona