The Dominican Republic

For your reports/images, made outside Europe and the "Mediterranean" countries. Not to be too narrow minded and limited to our European/Mediterranean herps.

The Dominican Republic

Postby Michal Szkudlarek » Sat Mar 17, 2018 2:51 pm

Hi
I have stepped on territory of American fieldherpers and here I will present my trip to the Dominican Republic I did this February.
I landed in Punta Cana and then I was taken by bus to Dominicus where I had accommodation. In front of my aparthotel I quickly noticed Hemidactylus haitianus
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They seemed to coexist with Anolis properus praying on insects attracted to the same lamp.
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The next day I went by free aparthotel bus to Bayahibe. Walking from beach to city along border of mangrove bush I noticed Leiocephalus lunatus thomasi. They were not skittish so I even caught one for a moment. I have also noticed anole which had stripe along its back so I assumed it was different species than Anolis properus and it was indeed Anolis cybotes cybotes.
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Habitat of these two species.
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The next day after having found ponds in map of Bayahibe I vitisted them and found Trachemys stejnegeri cf. scripta elegans
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and Trachemys scripta cf. decorata
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Trachemys decorata lives in south-west of the Dominican Republic so if it is this species then it would be a new discovery since Bayahibe is not in south-west.

The habitat
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Then I found some Anolis cybotes cybotes.
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And Anolis properus in Dominicus on bark of the tree below.
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The next day I went to beach in Dominicus and there I found Leiocephalus lunatus thomasi under tree and Anolis properus on bark of that tree.
male
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Then I went along shore heading Parque Nacional Del Este and found more Leiocephalus lunatus thomasi
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female in back- females are said to be less colourful and be smaller
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their habitat
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I reached entrance to Parque Nacional Del Este. There were Anolis properus, Anolis cybotes cybotes, Pholidoscelis taeniurus cf. vafra and Leiocephalus lunatus thomasi by the entrance- picture below.
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Then I entered Parque Nacional Del Este having paid 200 RD$. I asked about iguanas and worker of that park replied that they can be found "a veces" what means "sometimes" in Spanish- they did not speak English at all.
in this habitat
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I found more Leiocephalus lunatus thomasi
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and skittish as usual Pholidoscelis taeniurus cf. vafra
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Going through jungle I found adult Hypsirhynchus parvifrons paraniger
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its habitat
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and a suprise- Gymnophthalmus underwoodi - unisexual and parthenogenetic invasive species. This is the only good photo I managed to take of this species. In fact it could be Gymnophthalmus pleii but my photos are not good enough to count infralabial scales.
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habitat-litter
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Already in Poland I have written to Inaturalist user who lives in the Dominican Republic and likes herptiles. I have finally met her and her friends who were biology students as well. We went to 2 caves: Cueva Padre Nuestro and Cueva de Chicho where we swam. When coming back to Bayahibe Patricia has found beautiful green anole for me on a rod next to street. The lizard climbed higher so I have not taken proper photo.
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Then she has found Uromacer oxyrhynchus on a tree next to road.
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The snake has been injured by a dog/rat/cat.
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After that she has found green anole for me again. Since it has reddish dewlap I assume it is Anolis porcatus- invasive species originally from Cuba that can be found also on Tenerife. I tried to find it on Tenerife few years ago but without success.
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its habitat- that palm
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Then we went to eat yuka with rice, beans, sauce and chicken. Yuca served with onions was very tasty, it tasted like potatoes. After dinner we snorkeled. Having returned to my apartment I found juvenile gecko in lobby of the aparthotel, I think it is Hemidactylus haitianus since it has no markings on its back.
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The next day I spend with the girls as well. We took a walk from Bayahibe to Dominicus through wildness and we snorkeled in Dominicus- snorkeling in Bayahibe was more successful wildlife-wise though- there were some corals while no corals in Dominicus were foudn by me. We observed Anolis cybotes cybotes.
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juvenile Anolis cybotes cybotes
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Going from Bayahibe to Dominicus we visited habitat potentially suitable for Cyclura cornuta but no specimen was observed.
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This time beautiful green anole was found for me by Patricia in Dominicus- I have walked next to this place few times before but I have not found this species there.
juvenile Anolis chlorocyanus
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when handled it changed colour into brown
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its habitat
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The following day I visited Isla Saona but found no iguanas. However I did visit turtle hatchery.
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The next day was dedicated to find more herptiles species in Parque Nacional Del Este. In the rainforest I found Anolis cybotes cybotes- juveniles below.
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adults
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Coming back to my aparthotel I noticed adult Anolis chlorocyanus.
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After sunset I decided to visit flooded bush nearby to find frogs but I did not hear any vocalizations of frogs. I however found many turtles- Trachemys stegnigeri vicina
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female of Trachemys stegnigeri vicina
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very old male Trachemys stegnigeri vicina
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Later I found them during day but not in such quantity. They were not skittish.
Their habitat.
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Later that night I found male Anolis properus resting in bush.
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And its conspecific coing push-ups
[youtube]udWZ8l_kjFU[/youtube]

The next day was spend partially on Catalina Island what delivered observations of Pholidoscelis chrysolaemus parvoris.
subadult
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adults
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juvenile
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[youtube]oBeWIP11YDE[/youtube]

habitat of Pholidoscelis chrysolaemus parvoris
racoons were found nearby
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habitat of Pholidoscelis chrysolaemus parvoris and juvenile Hypsirhynchus parvifrons paraniger
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Pholidoscelis chrysolaemus parvoris were omnipresent. As suggestet before, I found Hypsirhynchus parvifrons paraniger- 1 adult (photo below) and 3 juveniles.
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Pholidoscelis lineolatus semota were observed basking on a piece of concrete next to beach.
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Leiocephalus lunatus melaenascelis juvenile
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Leiocephalus lunatus melaenascelis adult
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Pholidoscelis taeniurus tofacea shared habitat with Pholidoscelis chrysolaemus parvoris but not peacefully
adult of Pholidoscelis taeniurus tofacea
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On bark of trees next to beach bars I could spot Anolis distichus tostus
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Michal Szkudlarek
 
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Re: The Dominican Republic

Postby Bobby Bok » Sun Mar 18, 2018 6:13 pm

Interesting post Michal, hope you find some more new species.
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Re: The Dominican Republic

Postby Guillaume Blanchet » Tue Mar 20, 2018 9:51 am

Wow, Impressive collection of lizards Michal!
Glad to have a look at the famous anole's radiation on this part of the world. Thank you!
And Uromacer is such a snake!

I'm really curious to see what will come next after that :shock: :shock:
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Re: The Dominican Republic

Postby Michal Szkudlarek » Tue Mar 20, 2018 9:00 pm

For the next day I was appointed to take part in organized trip which included whale-watching. First I was taken to Cayo Levantado island which was full of anoles.
Anolis cybotes cybotes
juvenile
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adult male
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adult
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habitat
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Anolis cf. distichus
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Anolis distichus ignigularis
copulation
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habitat
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Re: The Dominican Republic

Postby Michal Szkudlarek » Sun Mar 25, 2018 4:28 pm

Then I was taken to a farm with many plants of cultural significance. I noticed Anolis porcatus cf. chlorocyanus on brass.
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find an anole
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Re: The Dominican Republic

Postby Michal Szkudlarek » Wed Mar 28, 2018 2:04 pm

Do we have any specialist in Caribbean herpetofauna? I would like to identify species of lizards I have on photos before posting them here :oops:
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Samana Peninsula

Postby Michal Szkudlarek » Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:02 pm

Anolis cf. ignigularis
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their habitat on Samana peninsula
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Then we were taken by quasi-bus to parking from where we went to El Limón waterfall. I noticed an anole in a trash. Tourists threw food into the trash so insects got attracted to it and anole could profit from this as well since it seemed to prey on the insects.
Anolis chlorocyanus
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Re: The Dominican Republic

Postby Michal Szkudlarek » Mon Apr 02, 2018 6:55 pm

When I entered jungle I noticed some Anolis cybotes
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I also found Anolis cf. ignigularis there
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