I recently discovered a preserved Eastern Hog-nosed Snake (Heterodon platirhinos) from Brule County, South Dakota (pictured) that represents an important distributional record in the state. Heterodon platirhinos was historically known from southeastern South Dakota in Union and Clay counties. This specimen, from Chamberlain, is roughly 300 km up the Missouri River from previously known localities in Clay County, South Dakota. This historic specimen, combined with recent observations of H. platirhinos from western South Dakota (see https://www.herpmapper.org/record/193175) suggest this species may be present in additional localities across the state and further surveys for this state-threatened species should be a conservation priority.

Davis DR. 2018. Geographic distribution: USA, South Dakota, Brule Co.: Heterodon platirhinos (Eastern Hog-nosed Snake). Herpetological Review 49:76. [PDF]

Two natural history notes were published in the June 2017 issue of Herpetological Review. One note reports a new prey item and a new maximum prey/predator mass ratio for the Chihuahuan Nightsnake (Hypsiglena jani) and is co-authored with Travis J. LaDuc. Previously, the maximum prey/predator mass ratio known for Hypsiglena was 0.54 reported by Lacey et al. (1996), but our observation increases the maximum to 0.58. The two prey items that were consumed by this individual were two Little Striped Whiptails (Aspidoscelis inornata). Additionally, this observation adds to the list of prey species known to be consumed by Hypsiglena as only two other species of Aspidoscelis have been reported in the diet of Hypsiglena. 

Davis DR, LaDuc TJ. 2017. Hypsiglena jani (Chihuahuan Nightsnake). Diet and Prey Size. Herpetological Review 48:450–451. [PDF]

The second is a report of predation of a juvenile North American Racer (Coluber constrictor) by a theridiid spider from Vermillion, South Dakota. One of my co-authors, Mark Dahlhoff, photographed and observed this incident over several days. While the exact circumstances leading to the snake’s entrapment in the spider web are unclear, it may be that the juvenile snake was attempting to either capture and consume the spider or other insects in the web. While spiders are known as prey items of Coluber constrictor, this is the first report of spider predation on this species of snake and may suggest bidirectional predator-prey interactions between these two species.

Davis DR, Farkas JK, Kerby JL, Dahlhoff MW. 2017. Coluber constrictor (North American Racer). Predation. Herpetological Review 48:446–447. [PDF]

A new publication documenting the historic distributional records of amphibians and reptiles in South Dakota was published in the June 2017 issue of Herpetological Review. This publication is a series of 100 county records from South Dakota collected over the past several decades from 18 different natural history collections. Many of these specimens were part of the former South Dakota State University collection that is currently housed at the University of South Dakota (and will soon be transferred to the Biodiversity Collections at the University of Texas at Austin). Included in these records is the only specimen of a Mudpuppy from South Dakota, a species historically reported in lists of the amphibians of South Dakota (Over 1923; Over 1943), but until now, no specimens were known to exist. These records highlight the continued importance of natural history collections, and especially, collections housed at regional or small universities. These South Dakota records have been added to the Amphibians and Reptiles of South Dakota website and help fill gaps in the distributions of species across the state.

Davis DR, Farkas JK, Johannsen RE, Maltaverne GA. 2017. Historic amphibian and reptile county records from South Dakota, USA. Herpetological Review 48:394–406. [PDF]

The Philippines possess a remarkable species diversity of amphibians and reptiles, much of which is endemic to this Southeast Asia island nation. Lizard diversity in the family Gekkonidae is no exception, with more than 80% of the country’s gecko species endemic to the archipelago, including the entire genus of False Geckos (Pseudogekko). This small radiation of diminutive, slender, arboreal forest species has been the focus of several recent phylogenetic and systematic studies that have highlighted the prevalence of undocumented species concentrated in several geographical regions within the archipelago. Newly available genetic data have led to the revision of two species complexes in the genus Pseudogekko, one of which is the focus of this study. We describe a new member of the Pseudogekko brevipes complex, which represents the first population from this species group discovered in the Luzon Faunal Region. Because of the species’ secretive nature, rarity, or restricted geographic range, it has gone undetected despite recent biodiversity surveys targeting the central and northern portions of the Bicol Peninsula. We evaluate both morphological and genetic data to support the recognition of the new species. All three members of the P. brevipes complex have allopatric distributions situated within three of the archipelago’s distinct faunal regions. The recognition of the new species increases the total number of taxa in the genus Pseudogekko to nine species.

Siler CD, Davis DR, Watters JL, Freitas ES, Griffith OW, Binaday JWB*, Lobos AHT*, Amarga AKS, Brown RM. 2017. The first record of the Pseudogekko brevipes Complex from the northern Philippines, with description of a new species from Luzon Island. Herpetologica 73:162–175. [PDF]

I was recently awarded a Wildlife Diversity Small Grant from South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks to promote and develop additional resources for the newly launched website www.sdherps.org. These funds were awarded to me and partners at HerpMapper, Inc. to promote the use of this website, increase public awareness of this resource, and encourage user-submitted observations of amphibians and reptiles from across the state. An additional goal will be to travel to the University of Nebraska State Museum (UNSM) in Lincoln, NE to examine and verify species identifications of voucher specimens that were formerly part of the University of South Dakota Herpetological Collection. The collection at UNSM represents the largest collection of amphibians and reptiles from South Dakota and represents a large portion of the data used to map species distributions (see www.sdherps.org/about). I am particularly interested in examining similar species pairs (i.e., Plains Leopard Frog vs. Northern Leopard Frog, Plains Gartersnake vs. Common Gartersnake) and rare species (i.e., Common Watersnake, Dekay’s Brownsnake).

Grant Title: Creating online resources to engage South Dakota citizens in amphibians and reptile identification and conservation