NARBC Spring 2014!

Confession time: The reason I've not been updating as much is simply because I've been using my other Gmail account more. Having both switchable at the ready is nice. Never fear; more entries are coming, and they'll be juicier and meatier than ever before!

This entry focuses on North American Reptile Breeders' Convention (NARBC) Spring 2014 (Mar 15-6). I love these - there's so much cool stuff to take photos of! These went on my Twitter (@kurokarasu), so some people got a live feed of this entry as it was being made. ;) Most things are way out of my price range, but there are also some really great bargains that remind one how expensive pet stores can be. You'll also see a lot of species that one would not ordinarily see, like...

...yes, that's a hognose (H. nasicus). They're really cool, little rear-fanged snakes that are only mildly venomous. Nobody has ever died from a hognose bite; the worst that's happened is an allergic reaction. I've complained about how hard they are to get in IL before, but all one really needs is a permit.

So, how can these people even touch poison dart frogs? Captive-bred poison dart frogs aren't poisonous. The poison needs a few things before it can activate: bacteria on the frog, UV light, and a certain species of insect. We can take that last one away, at least, meaning that these frogs are OK to handle. Still, wash your hands after handling. These are mostly display frogs, anyways.

Someone on my Twitter commented that these ball pythons (P. regius) were on the pricey side. Um...no, not for ball python morphs, they are not. Here are a few non-slashed (or very slightly discounted) ball python morphs for your gawking pleasure:

Yes, I deliberately took photos of acid trips for you. Bear in mind that your regular ball pythons (usually "loser males") can be purchased for 30-50 bucks from a reptile specialty store.

A leucistic rainbow boa! A shame it looks almost like every other white snake on the market. If there was any of the species' namesake iridescence in these guys, the light was not showing it well.

This is a legless lizard. It was hard to get a good look at its eyes, but several other features made me believe it anyways. I'd like to think someone at a reptile convention would correct the owner if he was BS'ing us.

Hypo Burms! One of them was sold as I was walking around. People acted like they were having trouble getting rid of them. Given the abundance of laws surrounding giant snakes, I understand why.

I absolutely love dwarf reticulated pythons! This picture also happens to be for science; I'm working on a paper concerning what makes for a good domesticated animal, and dwarf retics are actually a really good candidate for a domesticated snake. I asked if they retained their legendary intelligence (by snake standards) even when dwarfs; the seller said yes. Regardless, it was amazing to hold one of these beauties.

Finally, my own acquisition: A GFP axolotl! This little guy (or girl, we don't know) glows green under black light, just like a GloFish. His/her working name is "Fran," short for both "Frankenstein" and "Francesca/Francisco"- we aren't sure, yet. Once the little salamander grows a bit, the males get bulges near the base of the tail. We shall see! 

Creature Feature: Lake Titicaca Frog.

Some things in life are just funny.  For example, Lake Titicaca? That just sounds dirty. We know it's a Quecha word, but it sounds sexy, dirty, or both depending on what other languages you happen to speak. It doesn't help that some pretty darn weird creatures live there, too.

Source: Weirdimals.

This is a Lake Titicaca water frog (Telmatobeus culeus). It is entirely aquatic, spending all of its life in a relatively isolated lake. It lives only in Lake Titicaca and looks just as silly as one would expect of something living in such a hilariously-named lake. Its scientific name translates to "aquatic scrotum." Apt, scientists.

The Titicaca frog has a reason for looking like a nutsack. Lake Titicaca is 4,000 feet above the ground, making oxygen a bit hard to come by. The folded skin is effectively one giant gill for the frog. That doesn't mean we land-dwellers cannot make fun of it. At least it has a cute face. Seriously, take away the folded skin and this frog doesn't look half bad. 

Why are you laughing at me? You can't even stay underwater for an hour!

The Lake Titicaca water frog is also a pretty big frog. The famous diver Jacques Cousteau once went diving in Lake Titicaca, finding thousands of fairly large, wrinkly frogs. They used to get up to 50cm long - that's roughly 20 inches, or "almost as long as two footlong sandwiches." It's not even the largest aquatic frog, but that's still impressive. 

Also, we eat this guy. Surprise, surprise, people eat frogs, but this particular frog is sometimes juiced into a Peruvian aphrodisiac. The frog is skinned alive, then put in a blender with some honey and roots. I realize it looks like a scrotum, but...fine, that's more logical rationale than some aphrodisiacs. You win this round, Peru, but it's still not cool to hunt frogs just to put junk in your trunk.

Aphrodisiacs aside, the Lake Titicaca frog faces a number of other environmental threats. Trout were introduced to Lake Titicaca's ecosystem, upsetting the who ecosystem therein, but specifically eating this frog's tadpoles. Tribal people occasionally catch the frogs and put them in jars in hopes that the heavens with take pity on the scrotum frog and allow it to return to the water by making the jar overflow. If the gods somehow bring this frog back from being critically endangered, thank the Denver Zoo and whatever otherworldly entities made the Nazca lines.

Newsflash: TWO New Species Found In Vietnam.

One of the biggest reasons to save the rainforest involves finding new species. National Geographic does not slack in that regard, showing us a few new species that have only been documented in January of 2013. Here are two new herps recently identified in Vietnam:

Source.

This colorful fellow is called Calotes bachae. It is an agamid lizard, meaning that it is related to agamas and Uromastyx lizards. Since there are indeed several hundred agamids in Asia, this one is in good company. There are even other light blue ones to keep the male of this new species company.


As per the National Geographic article here, "During mating season, the colors of the male lizards—which can measure up to 11 inches (28 centimeters)—become especially vivid, ranging from cobalt blue to bright turquoise. This serves to attract females and to intimidate other males, said Hartmann.
While by day the lizard's blue and green coloration is striking, at night it appears dark brown, "showing no bright coloration at all," said Hartmann, a Ph.D. candidate at the Herpetology Department at the Museum Koenig in Bonn, Germany." Surprisingly enough, this striking lizard can be found in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, as well as some reserves. 

Source.

The other big discovery is Helen's flying frog, named after the researcher Jodi Rowley's mother. Ironically, it was found on a log instead of in the trees.

Flying frogs are pretty cool on their own, but this one has extra adaptations for parachuting from tree to tree. The hands are huge, even by flying frog standards; the hind legs are webbed on almost the entire limb. If this gliding style has kept it from being discovered, it's gotta be pretty effective!

Unfortunately, both of these unusual creatures are threatened by habitat loss and too much contact with humans. Both of them were also found fairly close to civilization. Go outside sometime; you might be surprised what can be found close to your house.

Creature Feature: Purple Burrowing Frog.

With the exception of designer reptiles, it's really hard to color-coordinate things with animals. Purple is particularly rare in nature, despite it allowing creatures to blend in with flora. In some cases, however, it just makes us humans wonder what nature was on.

Why this purple burrowing frog (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis) is, well, purple, is a complete mystery. It is native to southern India and feeds exclusively on underground insects. Although numbers in the wild are still unknown, we are currently working under the assumption that the frog is endangered.

For the record, nobody seems to know exactly why this frog is purple. It does not seem to be camouflage; this frog spends 90% of its time underground. The color is actually the least interesting thing about the purple burrowing frog, in any case.

Since its (re)discovery in 2003, the frog was treated as being in its own family. Looking at skeletal evidence tells otherwise. Looking at fossil evidence, the purple burrowing frog looks very similar to the extinct Seychelles frogs, which were last seen 120 million years ago on Gondawanaland. The purple frog would have evolved independently from there; in other words, the purple frog is a living fossil. Always cool to have more of those. 

So, how did this frog evade scientists for so long? Short answer: It didn't. Almost a century before the adults were discovered in 2003, the tadpoles had been described in 1918. These are weird little buggers with suckers to help them deal with turbulent river currents. The adult frog was not visible at that time, so the chubby purple freak did not go on record until recently. 

The reason for the delay is that the adult frogs spend their whole adult lives underground. They surface only to mate in monsoon season. Otherwise, they're feeding on underground insects (particularly termites). Locals and lesser herpetologists had already known of the frog for decades; scientific literature had a hard time catching up. I guess "pig-faced purple frog" just sounded too crazy for them.

Found on Wikipedia. License unclear.

By the way, if you happen to see two purple frogs getting it on? The male is on top of the female, and he is tiny.

Unfortunately, this bizarre frog is also highly endangered. Less than 200 have been found by science. The main actual risk lies in deforestation. There is a very low chance that these frogs will be bred in captivity, although no doubt scientists are trying. If they get popular enough, they might even get their own color shade.

Creature Feature: Sapo.

I am hard-pressed to find something terrifying that fits here and not in the theme week, "Proof That There Is No God." Yes, next week covers things so terrifying that we cannot believe that a merciful god exists anymore.

So here's a frog that gets you plastered. Enjoy!

The giant leaf frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor), or just Sapo, is a toad native to the Amazon rainforest. It is nocturnal, meaning that frog hunts must be done at night or in the early morning. The frog sings only after it rains. Presumably, it eats some of the many insects that fly rampant throughout the Amazon.

The five-dollar question: How giant is giant?  I'll put it this way instead of giving you numbers: It does not fit comfortably in a human hand. It was called a "beautiful, giant thing" by Vice Magazine.  Some people have also felt psychoactive effects just by touching it, so not only is it huge, it gets you high as a kite.

We have to presume you are not buzzed while holding this.

Before you ask: No, these are not toads you lick. The Sapo is a toad that the Mayoruna and Matses natives tie up with grass, then torment until the venom forms a gelantinous teal coating on the toad's skin. The venom is then put on sticks that are burned into a shaman's skin.

And then they get high on the frog venom. The frog affects everybody differently. It can lead to sedation, stimulation, hallucinations, anorexia, and apparently spiritual experiences. It reacts to the same receptors opium does, but the burn probably deters people from using it as often as opium. It almost makes you wonder "who tried this first and how long did he live?" Seriously, who thought this was a good idea?

As one might have guessed, the Sapo is the target of considerable research. Aside from being a great drug, the waxy venom might be able to cure cancer and AIDS. There have been a few attempts to patent Sapo venom compounds, but no headway has been made in the research department. Hmm...I wonder why? Could they have achieved spiritual enlightenment and gone "Screw patents?"

Creature Feature: Alpine Salamander.

Life has away of situating itself where we least expect it. There are bacteria in literally every environment.  Tiger mosquitoes came to us in tire shipments. Crested geckos went extinct for a few years, then suddenly reappeared. Frogs are surprisingly abundant in the Himalayas. The list goes on.

So why should we be surprised that there is a unique sort of salamander in the Alps? The alpine salamander (Salamandra atra) also happens to be completely black.  It is found at altitudes above 700 meters - pretty darn high up - in the Central, Eastern, and Dinaric Alps. For those of you bad with geography, that's Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, and more obscure places like Bosnia and Croatia.

Let's put this in perspective. Salamanders, and amphibians in general, are usually associated with hotter climates. The Alps? The Alps are where the Sound of Music took place. There is a lot of snow in mountains in general. Personal experience has also taught me that altitude alone makes things cold. Discovering a neat salamander in such a place is, well, something to write about.

These salamanders are among the few wholly terrestrial amphibians. As if in rebellion against the name "amphibian," alpine salamanders spend their whole lives on land. Most salamanders mate, lay eggs, and spend part of their lives in the water. These do not, leading to a phrase you will never see anywhere else: pregnant salamander. Yep, these guys have live babies.

Belongs to Wikipedia. Still a cute salamander.

Baby alpine salamanders are born much like baby sharks or boas: they have an egg at one point, but it hatches inside the mother. The eggs eventually melt into a nutrient (vitelline) mass that all the embryos share. Like all babies, the salamanders also have gills in the 'womb' as they develop; in the case of these salamanders, however, the gills link them to the mother's blood supply. They've evolved a womb without really evolving a womb. Neat.

The freaky part: Alpine salamanders have a long gestation period, even by mammalian standards. It takes them 2-3 years to give birth, depending on subspecies. That makes the longest gestation period of any known animal. This is probably the reason that some subspecies of alpine salamander are critically endangered - that, and being amphibians. Not-endangered varieties aside, these salamanders are decently abundant and simply very good at not being seen.

Reptilefest '12!

Whew! Lots of neat things at Reptilefest this year! In particular, people were focusing on species of reptiles that could easily be caught in one's backyard. There were so many Illinois herps this year! Unfortunately, there were far fewer Burmese pythons and retics; the Lacey Act must have scared some people.

So, without further ado...PICS!

The snake-necked turtle that inspired yesterday's entry! I may have selected the wrong kind. There are some snake-necked turtles native to Argentina, too. Seeing as Australia has strict wildlife laws, this was probably the non-Australian type. Can any turtle freaks help me out here?

Here's a snapping turtle, just to make you pay attention. 

I wanna say this is an alligator, but the angle makes it a little hard to tell. Yes, we had gators and crocs, here.

 

And now for snake pics! These are black-headed pythons. Neat-looking, aren't they? 

Cottonmouth, one of the few venomous snakes found in the U.S. Easily the prettiest. *Gets mobbed by rattlesnake and coral snake fans.*

One of exactly three Burms I saw at Reptilefest this year. This one's a granite. It was so cute to see its owner petting it like a dog or cat (or cow). There was also someone with a shirt saying "savetheburms.org." I may have to check that out...

Although there were plenty of ball pythons around this year, this girl, who was named Persephone, was the only outstanding one. She's a bumblebee (spider x pastel) with a really photogenic personality. Beautiful snake!

Didn't see many Burms this year (and NO anacondas) but you know what I saw a lot more of? Carpet pythons and rosies! I'll be GIDDY if rosies catch on; Eclair, I love you. That doesn't mean you have to be my only rosy.

Bunch of average-looking rosies...but rosies!

 

Cleaner "normal" plus a cute albino.

 

House snake. Pretty sure it's albino. :) Good snakes for people who aren't into mega-killer-pythons...but so are rosies! 

Several normal JCP's and a jaguar morph carpet python.

Okay, last two, then I need to sleep:

Someone brought a siren. I'm starting to love them! :D

That's a cicada - the framer didn't know what species, though. Apparently Thailand has a lot of very interesting cicadas, for whatever reason. Just another reason to save pennies. 

Creature Feature: Golden Toad.

Picture a toad for a minute. Chances are you just pictured a brown, lumpy little amphibian with warty skin. We are generally socialized that toads are the ugly ones used in witches' brews and that frogs are happy little fellows who sing in swamps.

But that doesn't mean they can't be friends!

 

Actually, there is no difference at all between a frog and a toad. The differences between the anurans we call frogs and toads are purely cosmetic. Only members of the genus Bufo are treated as "true toads." That's why we have toads that are pretty like the fire-bellied sort found in pet shops, as well as awesomely-colored specimens like this.



Yes, that is a toad. Or, rather, it was. This toad is no more. It has ceased to be. It used to live only in Monte Verde, Costa Rica, and went by the names Golden Toad (Bufo perigienes), Monte Verde toad, and a few other, more obscure names. It lived in exactly one part of one forest preserve.  It presumably ate insects like most other amphibians.

The most outstanding thing about the golden toad was, of course, its coloration. It has been described as being "Day-Glo" golden orange - certainly a treat for any researcher lucky enough to see one. The males had the bright gold, but the females had red and black coloration. Hey, for herpers, it's a relief when things are easy to sex.

Ultimate bachelor party.

Unfortunately, very little is known about this frog, toad, whatever. We have seen them mating and very little else. We think they spent most of their time underground, but have no confirmation. The population was short-lived, first being seen in 1966 and declining sharply over the next twenty or so years.The last of these amphibians was seen in 1989. Deforestation, climate change, and chytrid fungal infection are all cited as causes for the frog's extinction.

We've said it again and again:amphibians are important when it comes to environmental monitoring. Water purity in particular affects them big time. This representative just so happened to be a looker. It's a shame that more of us will not be able to encounter this awesomely-colored amphibian.

At least, that's what we think.

Frog Week: Gastric-brooding Frog.

Alas, the time has come to end Frog Week. It's been a fun ride; frogs are usually taken for granted, but they really are cool creatures that deserve a lot more love than they receive. Hopefully, you all have been stunned by how strange and wonderful one of the most common types of animal can be.

But we still have one more. Remember how I said that today's would be a little more subtle? Take a looksie at this one and tell me if you notice anything weird about it:



Looks like a fairly normal frog, doesn't it? Look again.


From www.global-greenhouse-warming.com.

Yes, that is a very tiny, immature frog in its mother's mouth. The frog in that picture is one of two types of Gastric-brooding frog (Rheobatrachus). Gastric-brooding frogs are - or were- native to Australia. They have been seen eating insects on land and in the water. They were discovered in 1984 and were among the few aquatic Aussie frogs (read: everything is backwards and on crack in Oz). They were called "platypus frogs" down under simply because they were aquatic.

As the non-Australian name might imply, Gastric-brooding frogs were the only frogs in existence that hatched their young in the mother's stomach. Some of the eggs were eaten; by the time all was said and done, the mother had approximately 21 young in her belly. The non-digested eggs were coated with a substance called prostaglandin E2, which turned off the mother frog's stomach acid. The babies emerged not as tadpoles, but as juvenile frogs. Reminder: The last frog we saw with highly-developed young was the pipa toad, whose babies emerged from her back in a fashion akin to Gremlins without any fluffy fur. Yeah, reptilian parthenogenesis doesn't hold a candle to the sheer weirdness amphibians can do to reproduce.

If you have been paying attention to the grammar of my paragraphs, 1. you're probably a linguist and 2. you will notice that many of the verbs concerning these frogs were in the past tense. These frogs are either extinct or very, very endangered, depending on whose list you check. They were officially discovered in 1984; the Southern variety may have gone out of existence before then, and the last Northern individual was seen sometime in the '80's. We thought the pearly tree frog was elusive; at least we are fairly sure that it still exists. The reasons for these frogs going extinct are multifold, but fungal infection and habitat loss are the most commonly cited causes.



This frog and the pearly tree frog both show how fragile amphibians can be. That's a shame, seeing as they're crucial to many ecosystems and often beautiful to look at.  With countless amphibian species vanishing right under our noses, this year, make a resolution to give them their due.

Frog Week: Hairy Frog.

So many amphibians, so little time. As frog week winds down and the new year comes to a close, I find myself wondering what to end the year on. Something subtly freaky would not cut it, no sir! Saving a more subtle frog for tomorrow meant that I HAD to do this one...




The hairy frog (Trichobatrachus robustus) is native to Central Africa. It eats any small, squirmy thing that will fit in its mouth. It is mostly a terrestrial frog, but lays its eggs in the water. If you see a "monster frog" or "horror frog" list, there is absolutely no doubt you will see this frog on there. Cameroon seems to have horror frogs besides this guy, too. Be afraid.

The species is, obviously, named for the 'hair' on the body and thighs of the male specimens. Yes, only the males have the species's namesake 'hair,' and even then, only in breeding season. The females are much smaller and lack the growths entirely. It's sorta like in humans where the ladies are nude, but the men can have hair anywhere.

The 'hair' on this frog is, as one probably guessed, not really hair. They are technically called "dermal papillae." In mammals, these would be a part of regular hair growth. In frogs, they're extended into what scientists think are 'gills' of sorts. They have arteries running through them and a lot of surface area, just like the gills of larval salamanders. Since the male spends quite a lot of time guarding the water-bound eggs before they hatch, it makes sense for him to have this bizarre beard.

Source: Blackburn, NewScientist.

As if hair wasn't weird enough, this frog is one of the rare frogs sporting retractable claws. These weapons come with a sinister kick: much like Wolverine's signature blades, the hairy frog's claws can only be unleashed if they poke through the frog's skin. They are not true claws, being all bone, but they still hurt predators quite a bit. This is officially a frog who thinks he is a cat. Or Wolverine, take your pick.

Oh, and people in Cameroon roast and eat this froggie. It's not endangered except by habitat loss, either. Hoppy New Year! *Shot for horrible pun.*

Frog Week: Pearly Tree Frog.

You know how every frog entry I make keeps bringing up the point about how frogs, of all animals, are the most prone to being endangered? This has to be among the most endangered frog species in existence...so much so that one of the few pieces of evidence that it exists is a children's trading card:

(I actually have this card, but the uploader was being screwy.)

Yes, that's a thing. It's called a Pearly Tree Frog, but most sources, even Wikipedia and reptile-keepers, use its scientific name Nyctixalus margaritifer (disclaimer: this frog will not bring you drinks). It is native only to the island of Java in Indonesia. Although there are more photos of this guy than I originally thought (searching "pearly tree frog" will get you almost nowhere), it is still a very rare, very beautiful frog.



Although only listed on the IUCN website as "Vulnerable," just going by the description on that site, this frog should be at least endangered. They cite their reasoning as "Listed as Vulnerable because its Extent of Occurrence is less than 20,000 km2, its distribution is severely fragmented, and there is continuing decline in the extent and quality of its forest habitat in Java." The only reason it isn't outright endangered is because so very little is known about it. Fewer than ten specimens are known. Why is that not enough to put something on the Endangered list?

Furthermore, for a LONG time, this frog was thought extinct. Records of its existence miraculously resurfaced in 1997. The reasons behind this re-emergence are even more obscure than the storm that brought crested geckos back into existence. (Note to nature- thanks for that one.) If it can vanish and reappear once, it can do so again. Reminder: This is a bling-bling frog we're talking about, not a camouflaged gecko.

And THIS is how you propose to a herpetologist. No exceptions.

Apparently, some people DO have Pearly Tree Frogs in captivity. Many of them are probably smuggled in under the name Nyctixalus pictus - a frog close enough to mistake for this rare beauty.  Judging from the responses to the posts, the frogs were wild caught, and the care tips given for them looked basic to N. pictus. With any luck, N. margaritifer will at least get a strong captive base like the Scimitar-Horned Oryx. Otherwise, we may have another vanishing act with no encore.

Bio-Art: Malamp.

So, I said I was going to do the flying silkworms this week. However, seeing as this week's theme will be frogs, change of plans. Frogs are one of science's most common organisms; of course somebody has done scientific art with them. Creepy, cool scientific art.

Malamp features specially-stained frog skeletons...gone horribly, horribly wrong. Some are missing legs. Others have far too many legs. The culprits are usually parasites like Ribeiroia or dragonfly nymphs, which, much like French and Vietnamese, find frog legs delicious. The result is either frogs with limbs missing or frogs with too many legs. Way too many legs.

The third leg is nothing...

Ecological artist Brandon Ballengée specializes in amphibian deformities. Freaky frogs are on every continent with frogs; Ballengée has been tracking them extensively in Europe and the U.S., where they are particularly abundant. Amphibians with crazy limbs can be found almost everywhere in the U.S.  and are only getting more plentiful. We get frogs with multiple limbs while frogs lose limbs in the rest of the world.



Ballengée, in cooperation with Arts Catalyst, was commissioned to turn his passion for deformed amphibians into art in 1996. The stain he uses on the skeletons for the project coats cartilage in blue and bone in red. The images are then printed and put on display for all to see. The actual skeletons are backlit below them.  Few things are crazier than a frog with twenty legs and a cool paintjob.

The video lied: I only count 6 legs! Art (c) Ballengee, but it's very cool.

This is, however, only half the project. The other part is actually going out with people and collecting the little froggies. This gives the general public a look at tadpoles as they've never seen them before: as freaky, swimming indicators of environmental health. You will be hearing a lot about how fragile amphibians can be this week, so I will only mention it once here. The art speaks for itself.

Malamp was installed in Turin, Italy in 2010, but has also been in Cincinnati. There will probably be an announcement if the multi-limbed, glowing frogs ever make their way to you. You'd think something like that would wind up on the news.