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.

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.

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.

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.