Herp note 4: Miami

Snapping a photo of A. carolinensis (photo by Renata B)

~Welcome to the city where the heat is on…. This past weekend, I was very fortunate to have a chance to spend time looking for herps in Miami (Florida, USA) with my colleagues Josh, Tim, and Renata. Our main objective was to collect some brown anoles (A. sagrei) for Josh’s egg incubation thermal spike experiment, and to survey possible location to set up another experiment I will conduct this summer on maternal nest-site behavior of Puerto Rican crested anoles (A. cristatellus).

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_A. cristatellus _perching at Matheson Hammock[/caption]

Nonetheless, we had some time to survey for herpetofauna at multiple spots including Pinecrest, Matheson Hammock, Coral Gables and Key Biscayne.

**Pinecrest **- along Red Road and Snapper Creek Canal We spent almost four hours here and found: Brown anole, Crested anole, bark anole, Green anole, brown basilisk, Knight anole, African rock agama, and a Green iguana (respectively: Anolis sagrei, Anolis cristatellus, Anolis distichus, Anolis carolinensis, Basillicus vittatus, Anolis equestris, Agama agama, and Iguna iguana).

**Matheson Hammock **A. cristatellus and a lot of Agama agama living in the rock wall in the parking lot.

Key Biscayne - Crandon Park and downtown A. cristatellus, A. distichus, _A. carolinensis _and _Ctenosaura similis _(black spiny tail iguana). It was very windy by the beach!

**Coral Gables - **Peacock Park _A. sagrei, A. cristatellus, _and _Leiocephalus carinatus _(Northern curly-tail lizard). This park was quite busy with people.

Overall, we saw 13 species of herpetofauna (a snake and turtle not listed) despite the windy condition and overcast sky. It was a very fun and productive weekend, and I look forward to spending more time down in Miami over the summer!

If you would like detailed field notes, please feel free to contact me!

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juvenile Ctenosaurus similis[/caption]

HDTH, Putter