One of the aspects of academic life in a small research institute is that you are sometimes called upon to supervise student projects that are outside your normal sphere of research activities. Broadening your experience and knowledge can only be a good thing so I welcome this. It also can provide an outlet of unusual activities that can break the monotony of the usual working week.
I am currently supervising one such project that is proving to be quite entertaining. The project is centred upon the almost entirely neglected herpetofauna that occurs alongside the famous Australopithecus fossils of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Area.
I found out, much to my surprise, when this project was started that there are no comparative osteological collections of southern african reptiles available in South Africa. So we have had to set about creating one. Fortunately we have been given permission to prepare the skulls of duplicate specimens from the Transvaal Museum collections. I was very pleasantly surprised at the breadth of the taxonomic scope we were supplied with - two specimens of over 40 species from the eastern half of
South Africa. So it was with some excitment that we took consignment of the above pictured and rather full bucket of lizards (Can anyone name the species visible? I'd be impressed if someone managed five or more).
Of course it is the students job to prepare the skulls, but with so many to get through, I've been mucking in and helping with the defleshing, which is surprising satisfying work, especially when you finish with a nice clean skull.
7 comments:
Wow, you lucky. I'm assuming the big cordylid on the top of the pile is a Sungazer or Giant zonure Cordylus giganteus: above it (in the picture) is, I think, a 'Pseudocordylus', probably 'P.' microlepidotus. The small lizard at bottom left (with the dark spots on the back) is definitely (he says) a Delalande's sundveld lizard Nucras lalandii. I assume that the green chameleon beneath the zonure's hindfoot is a Flap-neck Chamaeleo dilepis. A big plated lizard runs across the right side of the bucket: its dark stripes suggest that it's a Namaqua plated lizard Gerrhosaurus typicus... and, without spending more time on it, I think that's the best I can do.
Very good, You are absolutely correct on the sungazer, Delande's sunveld lizard and flap-neck chameleon. Very close on the other two. The Pseudocordylus isn't microlepidotus and the big, obvious Gerrhosaurus isn't typicus.
By the way I'm still coming to grips with the African herpetofauna and my refernce books are kinda old, what's with the 'Pseudocordylus' in inverted commas, has this genus been found to be paraphyletic?
You should check out a blog called Tetrapod Zoology: use the search box, and your answer will be found :)
I'm guessing there's at least one agama in the bucket, and perhaps another chameleon and another girdled lizard, but can't see enough to try for an id.
Thanks for that, I should have known to use Tet Zoo as a first port of call for a query like that.
Anyway yes there is an Agama hispidalying arse up just below the sungazer's head. There is also an Agama atricolis at the right side between the belly-up crag lizard and the Delalande's sandveld lizard (not that it is identifiable in the photo). The big Gerrhosaurus is G. major, also just visible at the extreme bottom s the distinctive black-edged yellow dorsolateral stripe of G. nigrolineatus. There is also a section of Chamaesaura anguina lying in front of the chameleon's nose. Sadly none of the other chameleon species are represented but there are loads of skinks, geckos and even a few amphisbaenians that are lying at the the bottom out of view.
Wow. Good photos of any or all of these would be very much appreciated when they're available. There are a reasonable number of good herp photos online, but virtualy all are fiercely guarded by copyright and/or by the image owners, and I have real trouble in finding images that I can use. I'm regularly asked to remove such images after borrowing them for my site.
Photos of the skulls or the preserved specimens?
I'll make a disc up to send to you, though preserved specimens don't look as good as living animals.
I mean of the intact preserved bodies - but don't worry if it's too much trouble.
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