Superoceras: herpetology

Greetings!

Welcome to Superoceras, a blog about science and natural history, slightly biased towards paleontology and zoology, but inclusive of all sciences. Started in October of 2009, my goal is to communicate scientific knowledge (and the occasional piece of nonsense) in an informative and entertaining manner. Feel free to contact me with questions, comments, concerns, or criticism at superoceras(at)gmail(dot)com, and follow me on Twitter @Superoceras for all that and more in 140 characters or less!

Showing posts with label herpetology. Show all posts

Sunday, May 06, 2012

Things I Learned This Semester #6

One of the things I did get done when I moved into my new home was dig an outdoor turtle pond for my Northern diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin terrapin). She has been very happy since she moved out of her indoor tank and into her new digs. I adopted "Jersey" about 5 years ago, and a little under a year ago, she did some adopting of her own. I noticed last spring that a female Northern green frog (Rana clamitans melanota) had moved into the pond. I was, of course pleasantly surprised; the pond isn't huge by any stretch of the imagination, but it still managed to attract some local wildlife. And this frog in particular went on to have a very good spring and summer. There was no competition for space, she was protected from predation (the pond is enclosed in a wood and wire frame to keep other critters at bay), and she had all the food she could eat.

This semester, I learned Frog and Turtle are friends. Maybe I'll write a children's book about it.

Happy 25th Anniversary, Super Mario Bros.

I know this is supposed to be a science related blog, but I can't let this occasion slip me by. And I think I can tie it in with the general Superoceras theme as well. So please join me in celebrating the 25th Anniversary of one of the greatest games of all time, Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Released on 13 September, 1985, I remember jumping through hidden warp pipes and saving the Princess (despite the fact that she always seemed to be in another castle) when I was a very young lad. And it was always a blast. It's hard to believe that 25 years later, the game is still just as fun to play as it was the day I first blew out the cartridge and slid it into the NES console.

"Guess the Squamate" Roundup

A month and some change back I posted some of my photos from the "Lizards & Snakes: ALIVE!" exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History and asked you all to to do a little homework. Well, fellow blogger Susan stepped up to the challenge and successfully named each one of the squamates I photographed. As promised, now it's time to briefly talk a little about each of them and their relationships with one another. I'll also be including a ton of Wikipedia links so that those who want to find out more about the species or clade I'm talking about can easily do so (I normally take Wikipedia with a grain of salt, but to be fair, they are starting to cite a lot of references so check those out too).

The first squamate pictured was the serpent Corallus caninus, commonly known as the emerald tree boa. This boid is a arboreal native of the rain forests of South America, and as you can see, is a pretty good looking animal. This specimen in particular is seen in a typical Corallus pose, coiled around the branch of a tree, head in center. It will remain like this for most of the daylight hours, as it is a nocturnal hunter. Staying coiled up as it hunts, it extends the head and neck out, waiting patiently for a small mammal, bird, or frog to pass by before it strikes with atypically large teeth for a non-venomous snake. It then pulls it's prey in, and like other boas, constricts it until it suffocates. And for those who already think snakes are creepy enough, here's a fun fact for you: Corallus is ovoviviparous, meaning that the mother never lays eggs, but rather, retains them inside of her body as the young develop and hatch, until she finally gives birth to live young (Mehrtens 1987). Awesome.

New at the Zoo: Japanese Giant Salamanders

Andrias japonicus, edited by SMcCandlish, original by Opencage, from Wikimedia Commons.

Giant news today from the Smithsonian National Zoological Park: five Japanese giant salamanders (Andrias japonicus) have made their way across the globe and are taking up residence at the Zoo. A. japonicus is the second largest amphibian alive today (there were some giants in the past), and is a close relative of the North American hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) both being in the cryptobranchid family. They are nocturnal hunters and are completely aquatic, living in clear, fast flowing, cold water streams. In the wild, they will travel upstream to mate and spawn, and the male provides a substantial amount of parental care (Adler & Halliday, 1986).

Squamates in art.

No, not paintings of polychrotids nor sculptures of scincids, but plenty of photos of pythonids! Artist Guido Mocafico has two beautiful sets of photos of serpents of all shapes and sizes posted on his website (among other fantastic images). I highly recommend checking out the rest of the photos. If you're not a snake fan now, you will be after you see the grace and elegance of the limbless tetrapods highlighted in these photos. Well maybe not, but enjoy nontheless!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Since I'm really busy, identify these squamates.

A few weeks back, I did a teaser post on my trip to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and promised some meatier posts and pictures. I should apologize. My life has gotten really busy with work, school, and personal matters to attend to. But I also can't stand to let Superoceras sit for over a week with no activity. So here is another quick post, featuring some of my photos from the "Lizards & Snakes: ALIVE!" exhibition.

Squamates and hominids and dinosaurs, oh my!

Me and "the family" in the Spitzer Hall of Human Origins.

I am a lucky, lucky boy. For my birthday, I was gifted (thanks Christina!) an admission ticket to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. This is only the third time I've been able to walk the halls of the AMNH, but it was the first time I was granted an entire day to do so at my leisure. My usual trips up are with groups, and we've have to move quickly to get through things and be back on a bus by a given time. Even with an entire day, the museum is much too vast to cover. I probably managed to get through about one fourth of it, and I was rushing a little to cover as much ground as possible. Regardless, it was a great day, and I came back with lots of photos and information that I look forward to sharing with my readers.