Union Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines

[Deadly_Kermit]

Im back from Union Island! Such a great place for herps!
here is a list of the animals we found:

Mastigodryas bruesi (Windward tree racer)
Corallus grenadensis (Grenada tree boa or Congo snake)
Gymnophthalmus underwoodi (Smooth worm lizard)
Hemidactylus mabuya (house gecko)
Mabuya mabouya (Grenada bank skink)
Ameiva ameiva (Ground lizard)
Anolis aeneus (Bronze anole)
Thecadactylus rapicauda (turnip tailed gecko)
Bachia heteropa (earless worm lizard)
Spaerodactylus kirbyi (grenadines dwarf gecko)
Gonatodes daudini (Union Island gecko)
Geochelone carbonaria (red footed tortoise)
Iguana iguana (green iguana, although on the Tobago keys, they are completely black and white)
Typhlops Sp. (blind snake) *These snakes have not been discovered on Union island before, are unidentified as of now. Possibly tasymicris (known from only 3 specimens from Grenada), but it is very likely a new species.

We got a lot accomplished in 3 weeks, and we are analysind data and preparing manuscripts now.

For those interested, there is a pretty good posting on the "Union Island Environmental Attackers" website. There are pics of most of the animals we studied and a short writeup by our own Hayden Hedman. Here is the link:

(Learning about the Reptiles of Union Island)

 

[Geitje]

Did anyone else visit other islands besides Union after we left? Just curious if you saw Iguana iguana on the Tobago keys or is that information based on someone else's work?

Jon

 

[danscantle]

That Typhlops is T. scantleburyi, after the first collector, Haha!

Looking forward to hearing about your exploits after we bailed.

 

[Deadly_Kermit]

Did anyone else visit other islands besides Union after we left? Just curious if you saw Iguana iguana on the Tobago keys or is that information based on someone else's work?

Jon

We visited one of the keys, dont remember which one by name. We found A. aeneus, G. carbonaria, and I. iguana, plus some Hawksbills on the grass beds in the water nearby.

We never got the chance to explore other islands. We just got to check that one key, and look on Mayreau for about an hour during the middle of the day... didn't see anything but Ameiva and Anolis there.

 

[Deadly_Kermit]

That Typhlops is T. scantleburyi, after the first collector, Haha!

Ha, might very well be! Too bad we found the other 3 12 hours later... could be T. Rivera-Bentzi!
We only sighted one more during the next 2 weeks. It shot down a hole and escaped.

 

[Geitje]

That Typhlops is T. scantleburyi, after the first collector, Haha!

Looking forward to hearing about your exploits after we bailed.

Hmm, perhaps if the Sphaero kirbyi turns out to be unique then it can be S. boonei after the first collector too (2006 and first one on this trip too)! Kinda fitting that you should have a BLIND SNAKE named after you - haha.

 

[Deadly_Kermit]

That Typhlops is T. scantleburyi, after the first collector, Haha!

Im pretty sure you've heard by now, but the Typhlops turned out to be T. tasymicris... Not a new species, but its still cool in that it hasn't been seen in over 42 years!