NORTHEAST INDIANA'S REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS - Bruce Kingsbury Indiana - Purdue University Fort Wayne - IPFW Herp Center
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4/18/2018
NORTHEAST INDIANA’S REPTILES
AND AMPHIBIANS
Bruce Kingsbury
Indiana – Purdue University Fort Wayne
BruceAKingsbury.org
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http://inherpatlas.org
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http://erc.ipfw.edu
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What are Herps?
Herp is short for “herpetofauna”
– Amphibians – Reptiles
• Salamanders • Turtles
• Frogs • Tuataras
• Caecilians • Snakes
• Lizards
• Amphisbaenids
• Crocodilians
Reptile or amphibian?
What are Herps?
– Amphibians – Mammals (not reptiles)
• Salamanders – Reptiles
• Frogs • Turtles
• Caecilians • Tuataras
• Reptiles • Snakes
• Mammals • Lizards
• Amphisbaenids
What is a “unique, • Crocodilians
derived, character”? • Dinosaurs
• Birds
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What are Herps?
– Amphibians – Reptiles
• Salamanders • Turtles
• Frogs • Tuataras
• Caecilians • Snakes
• Lizards
• Amphisbaenids
• Crocodilians
Amphibians
• Moist skin
• No scales
• Larval stage typically external
to animal
• Unshelled eggs
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All Vertebrates Have “Tadpole” Stage
• From fish to people, there is a
larval stage
– For many amphibians it is out
there to see
– For us, and many other
organisms, it occurs during
internal development
• But it is still there
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Carnivorous tadpoles
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Global Amphibian Decline
• 5000 species – 1/3 threatened
• Causes
– Habitat loss
– Introduced species
– Over‐exploitation
– Contamination/pollution
Cricket Frog (Acris
– Disease crepitans)
Herp Conservation
• Wetlands are REALLY important
– Preserve shallow wetlands, even if they often
dry up in the summer
– Don’t add fish everywhere
– Keep pesticides and fertilizers out of
wetlands and areas that drain into them
• Strategize about connectivity
• Be responsible naturalists
– Limit collection for purposes of display
– To catch is to keep
– Don’t mix things from various places
– Anything brought home needs to go back to
where it came from
104/18/2018
Amphibian Reproductive Cycles
and Ephemeral Wetlands
Wood Frogs, Rana sylvatica
114/18/2018
Winter
Spring
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Spring
Wood Frogs breed
early in the spring
Females can lay
Thousands of eggs
Summer
134/18/2018
Summer
Tadpoles hatch in late
Spring. They develop
very quickly into adults
Adult frogs move into
surrounding upland
habitats
Fall
144/18/2018
Fall
Adult frogs will spend the rest of the
year foraging or hiding under debris in
the uplands
Winter
154/18/2018
Winter
Wood Frogs
hibernate in the
uplands around
ephemeral
wetlands.
They are freeze
tolerant and can
survive extended
periods of being
frozen solid
The Amniotes
• Amphibians not included, but amniotes
appear before nonamniote radiation
• Showed up in Carboniferous
• Features:
– Dry skin: not such a robust character
• Generally more water resistant
• Keratinized layer‐ appearance of reptile scales
– Amniotic egg: a robust character
This gets us mammals, reptiles (and birds)
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Reptiles
• Dry skin
• Scales
• Amniotic, if not shelled,
eggs
174/18/2018
Herps are
Ectotherms
• Ectothermy – heat
from outside
• Endothermy – heat
from within
• Amphibians might be
cool, but reptiles are
not if they can help it!
• Ectothermy has its
advantages…
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Advantages of Ectothermy
• Low energy requirements
– Take low metabolic rate, lower average
temperatures and winter, and energy
consumption may b 1‐2% of that for similar‐sized
bird or mammal!!
– That leaves energy for growth and reproduction
• Heat conserving body form not critical
– You can be little, long and skinny
– Live in nooks and crannies
– Live for extended periods without food
Tour of the Herps
• Salamanders
• Frogs and
Toads
• Turtles
• Lizards and
Snakes
194/18/2018
Salamanders (Urodela or Caudata)
• elongated bodies
• costal grooves
• reduced limbs
• frequent internal
fertilization
• well developed tails
Plethodontid Salamanders
204/18/2018
Plethodontidae
• By far the most speciose salamander family
around the world, with most species being in
the New World
• The “lungless” salamanders are indeed
lungless and respire through their skin
• Another feature is the
nasolabial groove under
each nostril
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Our most common salamander, and maybe our most common vertebrate!
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Ambystomatid Salamanders
Ambystomatidae
• Medium to large in size – fit in your
hand
• Called mole salamanders because they
spend most of their lives underground
• Breed in late winter and early spring
• Need shallow fishless ponds to breed
• Many species are otherwise forest
dwellers, though some do well in
grasslands
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But many such
salamanders are
unisexual “hybrids”
Unisexal Ambystoma
Blue spotted Salamander Jefferson Salamander
Jefferson complex
264/18/2018
Eastern Newt
Salamandridae
274/18/2018
Mudpuppy
Proteidae
Hellbender
Cryptobranchidae
284/18/2018
Tour of the Herps
• Salamanders
• Frogs and
Toads
• Turtles
• Lizards and
Snakes
Frogs (Anura)
• short bodies
• reduced vertebrae (4/18/2018
Adaptations for Hopping
• Long muscular legs
• Compact body
‐ Ribs are gone
‐ Vertebrae are
anteroventrally
compressed
Adaptations for Hopping
• Urostyle
– modified caudal
vertebrae
• Elongated pelvis
– Allows for elongation of
muscles for hopping
• Suprascapula
– Increases surface area
for shock absorber
muscles
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Anuran Vocalization Structures
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Ranid Frogs: the big guys
Lithobates (was Rana)
• Includes the largest of our frogs
• Species like Bullfrog and Green Frog require
semipermanent water to breed, while others
like Leopard Frog and Wood Frog do not
• Bullfrogs have become an invasive species in
many areas because they move into water
made permanent, or because people have
moved them around on purpose
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Hylids: The Treefrogs
Hylidae
• Treefrogs are often, though not
always, arboreal
• Most are quite small, though a few
of ours can get 4‐5 cm (~2 in)
• All of our treefrogs require shallow,
generally fishless, wetlands in which
to breed
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Bufonids: the “True” Toads
Bufonidae
• Bumpy skin does not a toad make
• May be found far from water
• Skin looks dry, but evaporative water loss across skin is
comparable to other frogs,
– Which is comparable to a wet sponge
• Breeds in shallow wetlands
– Does better with most fish because they taste bad
• Compounds in parotoid glands and other areas of skin
(“warts”) provide safety from many predators
– Bufotoxins are neurotoxins
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Tour of the Herps
• Salamanders
• Frogs and
Toads
• Turtles
• Lizards and
Snakes
Turtles
Odd Reptile Out
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Turtle Epidermal Scutes
Turtle Dermal Bones
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Growth Rings
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Emydidae
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Testudinidae
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Cheyldridae
Chelydridae
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Trionychidae
Softshells: Trionichidae
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Kinosternidae
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Tour of the Herps
• Salamanders
• Frogs and
Toads
• Turtles
• Lizards and
Snakes
Anguidae
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Phyrnosomatidae
Scincidae
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a) Lateral undulation
b) Rectilinear
c) Concertina
d) Sidewinding
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Viperidae Viperidae
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Viperidae
• Hollow, retractable fangs
• Typically keeled scales
– Not a good diagnostic character
• Most are ovoviviparous
• Venoms are variable
– Concoction of hemotoxins and neurotoxins
– Venom glands derived from salivary glands
• All of our vipers are pit vipers (Crotalinae)
All of our native venomous species are “pit
vipers”
554/18/2018
These are venomous…
The Northern Copperhead
564/18/2018
Distribution of the Northern Copperhead
(a roughly similar distribution in southern
Indiana with Timber Rattlesnake)
574/18/2018
Crypsis – A
Digression
Constructive shading & pictorial relief in the
copperhead
Copperhead as if uniformly colored on a plain background
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copperhead as if uniformly colored on a natural background
copperhead with normal coloration on a plain background
594/18/2018
copperhead with normal coloration on a natural background
pattern matches the fallen leaves
604/18/2018
The Midland
Watersnake may be
confused with the
Copperhead
Associated with
water, not dry forest
Cottonmouth (Water Moccasin)
614/18/2018
Cottonmouths are not common!
Habitat:
bottomland
swamp
confirmed
624/18/2018
We are not venomous!
•but we do like water
•and we will bite you (sorry)
Northern Watersnake
Midland Watersnake
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Tiny, the Timber Rattler
644/18/2018
Reliable historic
records of Timber
Rattlesnakes in
Indiana
Habitat:
Forested, rugged
hills
Reliable recent
records
654/18/2018
Eastern Massasauga: the “swamp rattler”
Habitat:
wet meadows and grassy/sedgy wetlands
(gooey places where most people don’t go)
664/18/2018
Confusing Species
Milk Snake
Hognosed Snake
Northern Watersnake
Foxsnake
674/18/2018
Colubridae
Colubridae
684/18/2018
Colubridae
• By far the most speciose group of snakes
in many areas of the world and in
Indiana
• Not all of the systematic relationships
are sorted out
• Most but not all species are not
venomous
• Most of Indiana’s snakes are colubrids
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Northern Watersnake
Midland Watersnake
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CONCLUSIONS
• Amphibians and reptiles are cool
• They are quite diverse, even around
here
• They are often in trouble
– We can help by understanding them
better, preserving their habitat, and by
making more of it whenever possible
754/18/2018
Questions?
Contact me at:
Environmental Resources Center
Purdue University Fort Wayne, IN 46805
kingsbur@pfw.edu http://erc.pfw.edu
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