Happy Thanksgiving!

In a matter of a few hours, I expect that I will look a lot like this Galapagos Land Iguana (Conolophus subcristatus) looks in this photograph, taken on our recent trip.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Peek-a-boo

In early May, Justin Thomas and I went on our annual spring botanical trip. This year's trip was to South Carolina. I will be posting more photos here and at Get Your Botany On! soon, but in the meantime, here is a photo of an Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) of which I am quite fond.

Spring Valley

The part of Nevada in which I was working recently consists of a series of mountain ranges and valleys oriented north to south. The small town in which we stayed, Ely, is located in Steptoe Valley. To the west of Steptoe Valley is the Egan Range, and to its east is the Schell Creek Range. The highest point on both of these ranges is approximately 11,000 ft. Spring Valley, where we spent most of our days, is to the east of the Schell Range; the Snake Range borders Spring Valley to the east. The highest point in the Snake Range is Wheeler Peak, at over 13,000 ft. This is the highest point in Great Basin National Park, and the highest peak in Nevada. The highest point in Nevada is Boundary Peak on the Nevada-California border; this point is technically not a peak because the peak of the White Mountains (to which Boundary Peak belongs) is actually on the California side of the border.


Welcome to Spring Valley! Some of the more common plants throughout the valley include Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), Bud Sage (Artemisia spinescens), Greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus), Yellow Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus), Winterfat (Krascheninnikovia lanata), and Fourwing Saltbush (Atriplex canescens). Unfortunately, very little was in flower when I was there.


During my stay, I took numerous photographs of this sagebrush desert valley with mountainous backdrop.


By the end of my trip, you couldn't take more than a few steps without seeing one of these reptiles darting into a burrow. This is a Sagebrush Lizard (Sceloporus graciosus), also known as a bluebelly because of the blue coloration on their undersides.


With all of the thorny, shrubby vegetation in the sagebrush desert, Loggerhead Shrikes (Lanius ludovicianus) are right at home, and by the end of my trip were one of our daily observations. These predators hunt insects, lizards, small rodents, and other birds, and then impale them on thorns as they tear them apart for a tasty meal.


Spring Valley is a windy place. We were battered by relentless winds nearly every day. As a result of these winds, dust devils like the one above are a common site.


Wheeler Peak was almost always in clouds or haze. Above and below are a few photos of Wheeler Peak when it was most visible.



In my last post, I mentioned that we watched the Burrowing Owl from 6:30 am to 7:00 pm. This gave us the opportunity to watch the sun go down on Spring Valley, and provided me with some interesting photo opportunities.

Huzzah Highlights

While in Missouri last week visiting Justin, Dana, and Eli Thomas, we took advantage of a beautiful early spring day and visited the Huzzah River at Fish Trap Preserve of the Ozark Regional Land Trust. In addition to simply wanting to get some fresh air, we also had the goal of searching for a newly described species of leatherwood, Ozark Leatherwood (Dirca decipiens), an early flowering shrub currently known only from Kansas, Arkansas, and Missouri. Justin knew that there was leatherwood in the floodplain of the Huzzah River at this location, but he hadn't seen the population since the new species had been described. We easily located a large population of leatherwood (the largest population Justin or I had ever seen), but unfortunately it all turned out to be Eastern Leatherwood (Dirca palustris).


According to a paper by Aaron Floden, Mark Mayfield, and Carolyn Ferguson, there are several differences between the more common Eastern Leatherwood and the newly described (and as yet, rare) Ozark Leatherwood. The inflorescences of Eastern Leatherwood are on elongating peduncles, whereas those of Ozark Leatherwood are essentially sessile. The upper surfaces of the bracts of Eastern Leatherwood usually are covered by dark brown pubescence; those of Ozark Leatherwood are covered by white to light tan pubescence. The calyx in Eastern Leatherwood is unlobed (with erose, crenulate, or undulate margins), whereas the calyx in Ozark Leatherwood is four lobed (with entire to crenate margins). The leaves of Eastern Leatherwood are usually glabrous, whereas the leaves and twigs of Ozark Leatherwood are always pubescent. Finally, the fruit of Eastern Leatherwood are hairless at the tip, whereas those of Ozark Leatherwood have trichomes present at the tip. It has also been noted that Ozark Leatherwood is most often found on north-facing bluffs and slopes, often with oaks and junipers; Eastern Leatherwood is a species of low woods and floodplains.

Although we struck out on the new leatherwood, the day was still quite productive. We had little trouble finding another of our targets, Powder Gun Moss (Diphyscium foliosum). Also, several ephemerals, including Cut-leaved Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata), Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica), Harbinger of Spring (Erigenia bulbosa), and False Rue Anemone (Enemion biternatum) were in bloom. We also had a decent day in terms of herps (at least for a bunch of botanists).


The photos directly above and below show a Little Brown Skink (Scincella lateralis). I first noticed this skink when I saw a tail slithering through the vegetation and thought I had seen a snake. This common species, which is one of the smallest reptiles in North America, spends most of its time in the leaf litter. It is interesting to note that Little Brown Skinks can apparently see with their eyes closed, as they have transparent disks in their lower eyelids.


Little Brown Skinks are known from much of the eastern United States (New Jersey to Kansas, south to Florida and Texas), as well as from northern Mexico.


We also turned over numerous logs and rocks and found several of the salamander species shown directly above and below, which I believe is a Southern Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon serratus). Like many other salamanders, this species spends much of its time under debris in moist woods. It is primarily nocturnal.


According to the Animal Diversity Web (http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Plethodon_serratus.html), Southern Red-backed Salamanders are found in four disjunct populations: the Salem plateau of southeast Missouri, the Ouachita Mountains in southeast Oklahoma and west central Arkansas, the Piedmont Plateau and Blue Ridge Mountains of northwest Georgia, Alabama, Tennesee, and North Carolina, and in isolated locations in central Louisiana.

Thanks to Justin and Dana for introducing us to this preserve. You can't go wrong with a hike on a spring day, as there is always so much to see.

A Sunday Walk in the Park

Our friends Mike and Ben came to visit this weekend, and we spent Sunday morning at Potato Creek State Park.


Along the trails, Lindsay found a small white and black-striped caterpillar with long, white hairs. The caterpillar was crawling on Canadian Clearweed (Pilea pumila). As you can see, Ben was excited to see this little creature.


I believe that this is a Hickory Tussock Moth caterpillar (Lophocampa caryae), but I don't see the long tufts of black hairs that are commonly found on this species. Hickory Tussock Moths feed on a variety of tree species, including hickory and pecan (Carya spp.), walnut (Juglans spp.), American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), ash (Fraxinus spp.), elm (Ulmus spp.), oak (Quercus spp.), and willow (Salix spp.). A rash can sometimes form on people who touch this caterpillar, and it has also been said to inflict a sting.

A bit later, Lindsay saw an Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) with a beautifully patterned shell scurrying across the trail. The Eastern Box Turtle is one of only two turtle species in Indiana that spends most of its life outside of the water; the other is the Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata). Amazingly, there are records indicating that Eastern Box Turtles can live up to 120 years old! While this species is not uncommon, studies show that their numbers are decreasing as a result of habitat destruction and collecting.

Near the end of our walk, I spotted a large orange and black butterfly, and was able to get a few photos before it flew off. I think this is a Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele), a common species of woodlands and meadows. Great Spangled Fritillary caterpillars overwinter, feed on violets (Viola spp.), and develop into an adult butterfly the following summer. They have been found alive until late September, making them a long-lived butterfly species.

Tourists Save the Lives of 37

This extended cold weather has me thinking about warmer places.

In November 2007, Lindsay and I took a two week vacation to Costa Rica. Although birds and plants were our primary targets, a group of 3 inch long shelled reptiles in Tortuguero ("the region of turtles") stole the show.

We woke around 4 AM the morning of November 3 for a chance to see Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) hatchlings emerging from eggs and making their way to the Caribbean Sea. You're probably thinking, "Why would these lunatics wake up so early on vacation to see some silly turtles?" These aren't your ordinary turtles. Green Sea Turtles have a long history... in fact, there is evidence that they were around at the same time as the dinosaurs... and they have an even more interesting life history. More on that in a bit.

Green Sea Turtles can move fast - 35 mph, in fact, when swimming. That's not too bad for a reptile that can weigh up to 500 pounds when full grown. Another impressive fact is that they can go up to 2 hours without breathing when sleeping! Although juvenile Green Sea Turtles are carnivorous, adults feed only on plants. They spend most of their long lives (they have been known to live up to 80 years) in the water, covering nearly one thousand miles to get to feeding territories, but females have to be on land to lay eggs. Here's the amazing part... a Green Sea Turtle will go back to the same beach on which she was born at least 25 years previously to lay eggs! After building the nest and laying eggs, the adult female moves back to sea, leaving the eggs and hatchlings to fend for themselves. This is not at all an easy task for the young ones, considering the numerous predators (wild dogs, birds, crabs, etc.) that stalk the beaches looking for lunch. The eggs incubate for 2 months before the hatchlings emerge. When they emerge, they immediately head towards the sea, a trip that seems like a marathon and an obstacle course all in one.

That unforgettable November morning, we walked along the beach donning headlamps and wielding cameras with the sun still breaching the horizon. Our guide Rebecca examined numerous empty nests. Portions of egg shells were scattered in several places where either a wild dog had dug up eggs or turtles had already emerged.

Finally, Rebecca found a nest where she was able to feel turtle heads. She wiped the sand off of the top few turtles and they began the long journey of approximately 200 feet from nest to the Caribbean.

Due to the stresses mentioned earlier, only ~1% of the hatchlings actually survive. Individuals from our group walked with the newly emerged turtles as they made their way to the water. Then more turtles began to emerge. And more.

In the hour or so that we watched, 37 babies emerged from the nest and fought their way through footprints in the sand, over debris, and into the sea. This was a small nest; sometimes, up to 100 hatchlings will emerge.

It felt good to be the guardian for a few of these turtles for the first 20 minutes or so of their lives, but it was exhausting watching them make this arduous journey.