Today I received notice that I was awarded a Wildlife Diversity Small Grant from South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks to survey for the state-endangered Lined Snake (Tropidoclonion lineatum). Within South Dakota, the Lined Snake was thought to occur only in habitats along the Big Sioux River watershed, until I collected a specimen was collected near the James River in Hutchinson County in October 2017. This recently collected snake represents the most northwestern occurrence for this species, provides evidence that populations of Lined Snakes may exist outside of the Big Sioux River watershed, and suggests that the distribution of Lined Snakes in South Dakota may be greater than expected. To better understand the distribution and occurrence of Lined Snakes in southeastern South Dakota, I proposed to conduct a series of targeted surveys for Lined Snakes along the lower James River valley.
Grant Title: Surveys for the state-endangered Lined Snake (Tropidoclonion lineatum) along the lower James River Valley
Lined Snake distribution map from http://www.sdherps.org.
I recently deposited approximately 3600 amphibian and reptile specimens (DRD Field Series) and 3000 tissue samples at the Biodiversity Collections, University of Texas at Austin. These specimens are primarily collected from South Dakota and northeastern Nebraska, but also represent recent collecting trips to Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Further, this collection includes former South Dakota State University, W. H. Over Museum of Natural History, University of Sioux Falls, Augustana University, and Wayne State College specimens. Travis LaDuc, Curator of Herpetology at the Biodiversity Collections, recently traveled up to Vermillion to pick up these specimens from me at the University of South Dakota. Two days of driving later, they have all arrived safely in Austin, Texas. Specimens will be cataloged over the coming months and soon be available for researchers to loan out for studies.
Drew R. Davis, Ph.D. 