Abstract
Phylogenetics has been shown to be a useful forensics tool, and this use can be expanded to the conservation arena. Here we employ phylogenetics to test a cryptozoological specimen for species identification. Over the past decade, one of us (JW) has been collecting and recording stories about unusual animals in the Manitoba wilderness of Canada. Recently, a two meter plus shed was found in the wilderness of Manitoba, Canada. We isolated DNA from the shed and amplified and sequenced a portion of the cyt-b gene. This sequence was compared in a phylogenetic context with cyt-b sequences from a number of snake taxa. Based on these analyses, the shed appears to have come from a Boa constrictor from northeastern South America.

Abstract
We examined 152 Ameiva plei from four sites on Anguilla and from Scrub Island, a nearby satellite, and 12 A. corax from Little Scrub Island, another Anguillian satellite, generated indices of condition by dividing mass (g) by SVL (mm), and quantifi ed degrees of eutrombiculid chigger mite infections by measuring the total areas (mm2) of each lizard covered by one or more clusters of mites. Prevalence in infected A. plei (N = 77) varied significantly by site, but frequencies of infected males and females within sites did not differ significantly. Indices of condition of infected and mite-free lizards did not differ significantly, nor was area covered by mites significantly correlated with condition, suggesting that mite infections are relatively asymptomatic. All Ameiva corax were infected, and area covered by mites was not signifi cantly correlated with condition. Indices of condition for A. corax were signifi cantly lower than for infected A. plei, probably reflecting the poorer condition of lizards occupying a food-deficient habitat.

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Abstract
Among frogs, vocalizations play important roles in their social interactions. Herein we describe five new types of vocalizations for two foam-nesting species of the Leptodactylus pentadactylus group, L. syphax and L. labyrinthicus. Behavioral observations and recordings were done in four localities within the Cerrado biome, at southeast and central Brazil. Before emitting advertisement calls, males of L. syphax often started producing a sequence of notes, which gradually turned into the advertisement call. These different notes may be an introductory call, which would serve to prepare the vocal structures for the emission of the high-frequency/amplitude advertisement calls. A male of L. syphax was emitting advertisement calls when a female approached and started to emit brief and low-amplitude calls; these vocalizations probably are reciprocation calls. Males of L. labyrinthicus involved in agonistic interactions can emit vocal cracks (encounter call) and deep rough sounds (territorial calls). Five courting males of L. labyrinthicus released screams with their mouth slightly opened in response to the approach of human observers. We conclude that these screams do not represent distress or territorial calls.

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Reproductive biology of Aspideretes gangeticus was studied between 1986 and 2001. Clutch size averaged 17.9 eggs and ranged between six to thirty-five eggs. Egg length averaged 30.6 mm, egg width averaged 30.22 mm, and egg weight averaged 16.85 g. Clutch volume averaged 253.75 ml. No significant difference was observed in clutch size between dry and wet seasons. Of the various incubation protocols tested, one that involved transitional temperatures of 28º–31ºC, to chilling at 15º–18ºC, and then 23º–26ºC resulted in the highest hatching success. Aspideretes gangeticus exhibit two forms of development arrest during incubation, embryonic diapause early in incubation and embryonic aestivation in the latter trimester of incubation. The two Aspideretes gangeticus females that produced clutches for the current study produced eggs with a high fertility percentage throughout the fifteen years for which they stored sperm.

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Abstract
The green salamander (Aneides aeneus) is primarily considered a rock crevice dwelling species. However, many early observations from Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia report A. aeneus taken from woody and arboreal habitats. There have been only four published records of A. aeneus using such habitats within the Blue Ridge Disjunct population of southwest North Carolina, northeast Georgia, and northwest South Carolina, and no records since 1952. Here I report two personal observations of A. aeneus using arboreal habitats in North Carolina. Additionally, I report nine observations, made by others, of A. aeneus using woody, arboreal, or otherwise non-rock-crevice habitats in North and South Carolina, including the first non-rock-crevice A. aeneus nesting record for the Blue Ridge. I also speculate that woody and arboreal habitats play a much larger role in the life-history of A. aeneus than generally thought, and that the rarity of A. aeneus is linked to the loss of American Chestnut and old-growth forests.

Abstract
We investigated the relationship between arboreal frogs, tank bromeliads and landscape transformation in tropical forests of southeastern Campeche, Mexico. We surveyed frogs in six distinct habitats: slash and burn agriculture, seasonally flooded forest (bajo), aquatic habitats (lagoons and small ponds), second growth upland forest, primary forest and creek habitat using both systematic and non-systematic surveys. The highest species richness of frogs was documented in primary forest and small ponds. In contrast, no frogs were recorded in second growth forest. Similarly, tank bromeliads (Aechmea bracteata) were completely absent from early successional stages and were almost twice as abundant in seasonally flooded forest as in upland forest. The vertical distribution of A. bracteata differed between forest types, and they significantly more abundant in larger diameter trees. We examined 60 tank bromeliads during the peak of the dry season to test their use as refugia by frogs. Approximately 27% of tank bromeliads sampled had arboreal frogs belonging to three species, but 9 species have been recorded as occasional users of bromeliads in the region. There were significantly more frogs on large than on medium-sized bromeliads, and frogs were more abundant on bromeliads higher on host trees, particularly those above 3 m in height. Our results suggest that the loss of tank bromeliads from drier and less structurally complex habitats created by slash and burn agriculture and selective logging results in loss of refugia for arboreal frogs in this seasonal tropical forest. We suggest that Aechmea bracteata be a keystone species in seasonal tropical forest.

Abstract
Morphology of kingsnakes, Lampropeltis getula, is described and analyzed in the Apalachicola region of the Florida panhandle. Populations inhabiting the eastern Apalachicola Lowlands, a distinct biotic province, are different from the surrounding populations in having fewer and wider light body crossbands, distinct ontogenetic interband lightening, unique ventral patterns, and the presence of non-banded (striped and patternless) individuals. We conclude that the name L. g. goini as well as the hypothesis that Apalachicola L. getula are relict populations of intergrades between L. g. getula and L. g. floridana are invalid. We believe the polymorphic eastern Apalachicola Lowlands populations are most closely related to L. g. getula, and evolved in isolation on a barrier island or the coastal strand of a peninsula during one of the many higher stands of sea in the Pleistocene.

Abstract
This study lists the amphibian and reptile species of Kibale National Park, Uganda, and discusses the natural history and biogeography of this unique herpetofauna. This herpetofaunal inventory was compiled based upon literature records and collections made during 17 mo fieldwork between 1995 and 1997, and includes 28 anuran, 15 lizard, and 32 snake species. Faunal comparisons with seven other tropical African forests show a high degree similarity between the Kibale herpetofauna and those of central and West Africa.

Abstract
We review the ecological consequences of habitat and microhabitat use in lizards. Different habitats have different biotic and abiotic properties and thus are likely to have different consequences for the lizards that occur in them. Individual performance and life histories are influenced by habitat use, particularly when habitats differ in thermal characteristics that may influence physiological processes or constrain activity. We know relatively little about how the effects of habitat use on individual performance translate into population dynamics. We do know that the ability of lizards to use particular habitats can influence the persistence of populations in the face of habitat changes. Community-level processes (e.g., competition) and community structure (e.g., diversity) can be influenced by habitat use in lizards, often by habitat use facilitating co-existence of two or more potentially competing species. We know relatively little about how other community processes, such as predation and parasitism, are influenced by habitat use.

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Abstract
We examined diet, habitat use, and behavior (focal animal observations of intraspecific interactions, escape behavior, and activity period) of Leiocephalus semilineatus from near Puerto Alejandro, Provincia de Barahona, República Dominicana, and compared some parameters to similar data collected at a site near Baní, Provincia de Peravia. Leiocephalus semilineatus is found in sympatry in dry scrub forests at both sites with Ameiva lineolata, an active-foraging teiid of approximately the same size, and at the Puerto Alejandro site with a larger congener, L. schreibersii. Leiocephalus semilineatus and L. schreibersii from Puerto Alejandro exhibited sexual size dimorphism, whereas L. semilineatus from the Baní site and A. lineolata did not. Leiocephalus semilineatus spent most of the time motionless; other observed activities were interactions with conspecifics, movement, and feeding. Lizards were active from shortly after sunrise to sundown, although activity peaked in late morning. Mean cloacal temperatures of L. semilineatus did not differ significantly from those of the other two species, but were significantly above ambient temperatures. Reproductive condition of collected specimens was examined and no correlation was found between snout-vent length and egg, follicle, or testis size. Clutch size was 1–2. Diets consisted primarily of invertebrates and did not differ significantly between the three species.

Abstract
Different snake species respond differently to various anesthetic agents. Hence, an anesthetic procedure developed for one species cannot necessarily be safely transferred to another species. The goal of this paper is to summarize our experience using inhalant anesthetics on three snake species, including both procedures that were successful and those we found to be less satisfactory. We found isoflurane delivered with a precision vaporizer to be the best agent to anesthetize black rat snakes (Elaphe o. obsoleta). Sex and mass did not seem to affect induction times in black rat snakes, but larger female rat snakes recovered faster from anesthesia than smaller females. Halothane delivered in the open method provided consistent anesthesia in northern water snakes (Nerodia s. sipedon), although it caused some mortality and should not be used on debilitated patients. Halothane delivered with a precision vaporizer may be used to anesthetize eastern massasauga rattlesnakes (Sistrurus c. catenatus). However, care must be taken to prevent mortality resulting from anesthetic overdose. Sex and mass had no effect on induction and recovery times in the rattlesnakes, but stressed animals require longer induction and recovery times.

Abstract
Freeze-dried parotoid gland secretions from toads of the genus Bufo contained large proportions of protein (25–35% by weight). SDS-PAGE suggested that secretions from several species of Bufo contained mixtures of proteins in the relative molecular mass range of approximately 12–200 kDa, which exhibited markedly different banding patterns from species to species. These proteins were presumably not discovered before because the previous extraction procedures used with these secretions were designed to examine low molecular mass compounds and would denature the proteins. SDS-PAGE of secretions from B. mauritanicus and B. calamita are shown here. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of one of the bands (approx. 58 kDa) of B. mauritanicus was found to be LPIPAFPGLDHGF and of a B. calamita band (30.5 kDa) was VQVFGLQKEA. No significant similarities to these two sequences and to three separate but partial N-terminal sequences obtained from these species were found in genetic databases.

Abstract
The first comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the family Rhacophoridae was conducted by Liem (1970) scoring 81 species for 36 morphological characters. Channing (1989), in a reanalysis of Liem’s study, produced a phylogenetic hypothesis different from that of Liem. We compared the two studies and produced a third phylogenetic hypothesis based on the same characters. We also present the synapomorphic characters from Liem that define the major clades and each genus within the family. Finally, we summarize intergeneric relationships within the family as hypothesized by other studies, and the family’s current status as it relates to other ranoid families.

Abstract
Body temperatures and thermoregulatory behavior of field-active Holbrookia maculata were evaluated for two sites at approximately equal elevation (approximately 1200 m) in southern New Mexico: 1) a population at White Sands National Monument, and 2) a population at the Jornada Long-term Ecological Research site. H. maculata at WS had significantly lower body temperatures (mean = 36.3°C) than those measured at the Jornada Long-term Ecological Research site (mean = 39.5°C). The slope of a regression of body temperature on air temperature was significantly different between populations (White Sands National Monument; 0.65, the Jornada Long-term Ecological Research site; 0.36). The microhabitats in which individuals were first observed correlated with body temperatures at White Sands National Monument, but not at the Jornada Long-term Ecological Research site. These data suggest that environmental temperature differences between sites influenced body temperatures and thermoregulation in behavior H. maculata.

Abstract
The cladistic relationships of several Middle American pitvipers representing the genera Bothrops (sensu stricto), Bothriechis, Cerrophidion, Lachesis and Porthidium were determined using mitochondrial 12S and 16S DNA sequence information. Maximum parsimony analyses were performed using PAUP on aligned sequences that included published information for related taxa. Two sets of analyses were conducted: one disregarding gaps in the aligned matrix, and another with gaps treated as a fifth base. When gaps were excluded resolution declined, although the general arrangement of the taxa changed little. A consistent relationship was the grouping of ((Porthidium, Bothriechis) Lachesis). The placement of Lachesis, as nested within other bothropoid genera, is only partially supported by results of other authors. The arrangement of Crotalus, Bothrops and Cerrophidion was ambiguous when gaps were discounted. In both trees, Agkistrodon was basal to the New World forms. The remaining genera, Trimeresurus (Protobothrops), Vipera, Azemiops, and Coluber, were uniformly distant to the former taxa. Also of interest is the lack of close relationship, based on the DNA data here and elsewhere, between Bothrops and Porthidium. This is in striking contrast to results based on morphologic and allozymic analyses of previous studies. It is concluded that additional DNA sequence information from a larger sample of taxa will be necessary to better assess the phylogenetic relationships among Middle American and related pitvipers.

Abstract
The evolutionary relationships of the West Indian (W. I.) xenodontine snake assemblage has been considered as either monophyletic or paraphyletic. Allozyme data from protein electrophoresis were used to estimate the phylogeny of the W. I. xenodontine snakes. Forty-two species from 25 genera (mainland and W. I. taxa) were examined. The phylogenetic relationships were estimated using parsimony analyses with successive approximation weighting on the data coded two ways: (1) the allele as the character and (2) the locus as the character. The most parsimonious trees from both coding methods indicated a non-monophyletic W. I. xenodontine assemblage. Three W.I. groups were recovered in both coding methods: (1) Jamaican Arrhyton and Darlingtonia, (2) Uromacer and the Cuban Arrhyton, and (3) Alsophis, Ialtris, and the South American Alsophis elegans. The relationships of Hypsirhynchus, Antillophis and Arrhyton exiguum were unstable. Nomenclatural changes are recommended for Darlingtonia, Arrhyton, Ialtris and Alsophis.

Abstract
Amphibian surveys provide information on the distribution, abundance and habitat requirements of species, and the environmental variables that control diversity. Such information is needed for effective conservation planning and management of forests and woodlands, including monitoring of amphibian populations in a period of apparent global decline. Amphibian surveys can be time-consuming and expensive, and many issues must be addressed to maximize the reliability of the resulting data. Sampling techniques that are effective in one region or habitat type may be less so in another, and a preliminary study comparing different techniques before undertaking a survey may be necessary. Data collected in poorly designed surveys can be unsuitable for statistical analysis, and may sometimes present a misleading picture of the distribution, abundance and habitat requirements of amphibian species. This review examines issues of survey design, assesses past amphibian surveys in forest and woodland habitats, and provides recommendations for planning an amphibian survey. Firstly, the study area and survey aims should be identified, and proposed sampling techniques assessed using relevant literature or a pilot study. Ethical issues associated with proposed sampling techniques should also be considered. The number, size and arrangement of the survey units (e.g. plots, sites or transects) should be sufficient to address the survey aims. The survey units should be systematically surveyed several times with appropriate sampling techniques.

Abstract
The lectotype of Boa carinata Schneider, 1801, has been rediscovered and is now ZMFK 35503, having been transferred in 1977 from the Göttingen Museum, its original location. Its type locality has not been reported previously, but is indicated as "Amboina" on a label with the lectotype. The specimen is redescribed and figured, and conforms with expectations for material from the vicinity of the type locality. A brief history of Schneider and of the syntypes of Boa carinata, now Candoia carinata, is reviewed.

Abstract
The population of toads in southeastern Wyoming named Bufo hemiophrys baxteri by Porter in 1968 is presumed to be extinct in nature, except perhaps for released, captive-bred specimens. It is sufficiently distinct in several respects, and sufficiently isolated geographically from its nearest relative, B. h. hemiophrys, that it should be regarded as a distinct species, forming a superspecies group with B. hemiophrys.