Max Seldes

Since moving to Virginia, I must say that something I miss about Georgia is that no matter the season, there are always plenty of cool amphibians to be found. With mild temperatures and often plenty of rain, even the Piedmont and mountains of North Georgia are alive with activity. Here is a selection of some of those species that seem to become abundant as temps begin to drop.

1-3: Webster’s Salamander (Plethodon websteri)
4: Upland Chorus Frog (Pseudacris feriarum)
5: Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum)
6: Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum)
7-8: Spring Salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus)
9: Southern Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon serratus)
10: Mole Salamander (Ambystoma talpoideum)
11: Southern Zig-zag Salamander (Plethodon ventralis)

Any trip to the American West reminds me that the US DOES have cool lizard diversity. With tons of structure and variety in the form of cliff faces, desert flats, forested uplands, and grassy lowlands, the Rocky Mountain formations of Colorado and Utah are prime for these four-legged squamates.

1) Eastern Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus collaris)
2) Long-nosed Leopard Lizard (Gambelia wislizenii)
3) Greater Short-horned Lizard (Phrynosoma hernandesi)
4) Sagebrush Lizard (Sceloporus graciosus)
5) Western Whiptail (Aspidoscelis tigris)
6) Side-blotched Lizard (Uta stansubrinus)
7) Plateau Fence Lizard (Sceloporus tristichus)
8) Southern Prairie Lizard (Sceloporus consobrinus)


**petology **petofauna **ping **ping

Of course, one cannot make a trip to Arizona without seeing a rattlesnake. For my first ever trip to the Southwest and spending a grand total of 2.5 days in the state, I felt quite happy with the diversity we were able to find. From high elevation conifer forests to low grassy flats and the desert in between, it is no mystery how Arizona has become perhaps the Rattlesnake Capital of the World.

1 and 2) Twin-spotted Rattlesnake (Crotalus pricei)
3) Arizona Ridge-nosed Rattlesnake (Crotalus willardi)
4) Banded Rock Rattlesnake (Crotalus lepidus)
5) Mojave Rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus)
6) Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox)
7) Northern Black-tailed Rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus)
8 and 9) Prairie Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis)


**petology **petofauna **ping **ping **pingtheglobe