Some Forays into Herpetology

Carl R. Brune

Ohio University

Physics and Astronomy End-of-Year Talk25 April 2014

What is Herpetology?

I Herpetology:- The study of Amphibians and Reptiles.

I Amphibians:- Frogs and Toads, Salamanders,. . .

I Reptiles:- Snakes, Lizards, Turtles, Crocodilians,. . .

A Little xkcd Humor...

http://xkcd.com/867

Alt text: Birds are Aves, which is part of the clade Theropoda, which isin Saurischia, which is in Dinosauria. Those birds outside our windowsare dinosaurs. We can clear out the rest of our brains because we nowhave the best fact.

And some more from the Abtruse Goose

http://abstrusegoose.com/156

Alt text: Did I say worst? I meant to say awesomest.

I was born and raised in Ridgecrest, CA – in the Mojave Desert!

My brothers and I, circa 1976...

My brother Chrisshowing off a fine pairof Desert Iguanas!

I was very fortunate toreceive this forChristmas in 1973!

My lovely wife Rox-anne, spring of 1994.

So Why am I Interested in Herpetology?

I CuriosityI Distributions and BiogeographyI Hiking and ExerciseI PhotographyI Hunter-Gatherer Instinct?I Friends and Family

It should be noted that the Biology Department at OhioUniversity has several real herpetologists (Shawn Kuchta, ScottMoody, Willem Roosenburg, and others). I have no illusions oftaking over their jobs!

Database and Distributions

I I photograph and GPS nearly every herp I see.I Photos and other information are stored in a database.I As of today (25 April 2014), I have 2946 records in Ohio.

Some places I have been in southern Ohio.Many pairs of hiking boots have given their all.

I was presented this recently

Things I Lay Awake Wondering About. . .

one example:

Blanchard’s Cricket Frog (Acris blanchardi) distribution

Why don’t they occur in the rest of southern Ohio?

Things Were Different ∼2 Million Years Ago

http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/student/salley3/index.htm

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Amphibians of Ohio

I have also recently contributed to a book:

I contributed three species chapters: the Midland Mud Salamander(co-authored with Ralph Pfingsten), the American Toad, and theFowler’s Toad. And many photographs.

The 899-page book cover the 39 species and subspecies of amphibiansknown to occur in Ohio, and is available from the Ohio Biological Survey.

I have worked with some excellent OU students

Jason FoltOU Biological Sciences BS (2004)

Emergency Medicine MDHenry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI

Brian FoltOU Biological Sciences BS (2011)Ph.D. candidate in herpetologyAuburn University, Auburn, AL

Laurence M. Klauber (1883-1968)

I AB in Electrical Engineering (Stanford, 1908).I Was a career employee of San Diego Gas & Electric.I Held 7 patents of electrical inventions.I Retired in 1953 as Chairman of the Board and CEO.I Civically active: was president at various times of four

scientific societies, two trade organizations, the San DiegoRotary Club, and the San Diego Public Library Commission.

I The first Curator for Reptiles at the San Diego Zoo (unpaid).I Described 53 new species or subspecies of reptiles and

amphibians.I Published over 100 papers on herpetology.I Wrote the 1553-page two-volume tome Rattlesnakes: Their

Habits, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind, publishedin 1956.

Laurence Klauber, continued...

Mathematically Inclined:

I Discovered a clever method ofvisualizing prime numberdistributions (“KlauberTriangle”), ∼ 30 years prior to asimilar finding by StanislowUlam (“Ulam Spiral”) in 1963.

I Was a pioneer in the use ofquantitative statistical methodsin taxonomy.

Klauber had a collection of more than 35,000preserved reptiles in his basement, which wasdonated to the San Diego Natural HistoryMuseum prior to his death. Image credit:www.sdnhm.org.

The Klauber TriangleThe triangle provides a graphic method of visualizing the fact that certain quadraticpolynomials, such as x2 − x+ 41, produce a remarkable density of prime numberswhen x is an integer.

An example from Klauber’s notes. Courtesy of William Orrick (Indiana University)and the San Diego Natural History Museum (SDNHM). The SDNHM has scannedmany, if not all, of Klauber’s notebooks.

My Son Ryan at the San Diego Zoo in 2012

Charles Shaw was mentored by Klauber as a teenager and went on to be the Curatorfor Reptiles and Assistant Director of the San Diego Zoo for several decades.

Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum)

I Rare to uncommon in Ohio (considered Species of Concern by ODNR)

I Adults live in woods away from water

I Specialized nesting habitat required

I Larval periods is about 2 months

I I’ve had some luck finding them (3 new counties)

Pfingsten and Matson (2003)old – I need to update from the new book!

Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum)

Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum)

Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum)

Four-toed Salamander nesting habitat

Four-toed Salamander nesting habitat

Four-toed Salamander nesting habitat

Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum) 1 April 2006

Four-toed Salamander eggs, 22 April 2007

Four-toed Salamander eggs (12 and 15 May 2007)

Four-toed Salamander larvae, 5 July 2009

Four-toed Salamander larvae, 5 July 2009

Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus)

◮ Ohio’s most beautiful amphibian (OK, arguable...)◮ Limited to southern OH, considered a Threatened Species by

ODNR◮ Live near springs and seepages◮ Larval period is 1.5 years◮ Larvae are difficult to differentiate from Red Salamanders

(Pseudotriton ruber)◮ Difficult to find

Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus) adult (5-3/4” TL)

Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus) adult (5-3/8” TL)

Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus) (4-1/2” TL)

Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus) recent metamorph (3-1/8” TL)

Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus) larvae, 24 April 2007 (≈ 1” TL)

Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus) larvae, one of previous

Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus ) larvae (3-1/2” TL)

Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus ) larvae (3-1/2” TL)

The Red Salamander (P. ruber) is closely related to the Mud Salamander...

Mud (montanus) 3-1/4” TL Red (ruber) 3-1/2” TLVery hard to be sure! DNA (tail clip) methods are a key technique now.

Mud Salamander habitat

Mud Salamander habitat

Coast Mountain Kingsnake (Lampropeltis zonata multifasciata)

Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus), rare in Ohio

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox)

Rough Green Snake(Opheodrys aestivus)

Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix)

Great Basin Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer deserticola)

My son Ryan in 2004with a Chuckwalla(Sauromalus ater)

The End!Thanks for your attention.

Now on to snacks and refreshments...