Lampropeltis triangulum is stunningly beautiful but varies in its aggressiveness.  We’ve seen several large individuals, two of which are pictured here.  The patterns are unique to each individual.

We’ve seen a few of these snakes and had mistakenly mis-identified them as a cat-eye snake (Leptodeira) at first.  The head pigmentation pattern is markedly different, which prompted us to consult Savage, but the pupil of the eyes are still cat-like, suggesting that they are nocturnal.  They are beautiful snakes and appear to be a bit less prone to musking when being handled… although it does bite.

There have been two of these toads found so far, both adult females with some kind of deformity on the upper mandible.  It appears that both were a result of development, rather than some trauma, because the eye positions are slightly different.  It’s interesting that they had lived despite the deformities.

I didn’t think to grab the bird book when Andre caught it.  It’s quite small relative to other pauraque we’ve caught, so I think it’s a juvenile, making the distinguishing characteristics from other Nightjars difficult to pinpoint.

This post may be in next year’s OTS calendar!

The Mexican Burrowing Toad Rhinophrynus dorsalis is a bizarre, almost jelly-like anuran that specializes on ants and termites.  The Spanish common name (Sapo Borracho) is derived from the males’ odd, whiny call used to attract mates soon after the first rains.  They are explosive breeders, traveling to water in mass migrations to breed, while spending the majority of the year underground.  The pictured individual was captured during an amphibian survey being conducted at the OTS field station at Palo Verde National Park.

On the left, this toad has had it’s toe clipped for the mark-recapture study.

The other anole species that we’ve found in Palo Verde is Norops sericeus.  It’s much less common than the other anole (Norops cupreus); we’ve only encountered three in my time here.  The snot of N. sericeus is extended and more pointed, but it’s dewlap is certainly the easiest way to tell the two species apart.

Gonatodes spp. display marked sexual dimorphism.  The female (left) of Gonatodes albogularis is relatively drab compared to the male (right).   She’s still quite beautiful.

  A blind, fossorial snake, we found this Leptotyphlops on the sidewalk, curiously enough.  It’s a tiny, energetic snake and was very difficult to photograph.  The tail has a bit of yellow and an odd spin (Wikipedia won’t tell me what it is for…).