Lizards that forage from ambush do not exhibit prey chemical discrimination, but might enhance foraging efficiency by staying longer at ambush posts bearing chemical prey cues. By presenting chemical stimuli to free-ranging lizards, we tested whether Platysaurus broadleyi had longer giving-up time (i.e., time at an ambush post) in the presence of insect prey stimuli. The lizards remained no longer at tiles labelled by prey chemicals than control substances, but giving-up times were greater at tiles labelled by a plant food (fig). Ambush foragers may not use prey chemicals to assess the quality of ambush posts.

I investigated the early life history of the salamander Amphiuma means. Although adult A. means are entirely aquatic, eggs are often found above water levels in areas from which water has receded. A series of experiments was performed using three egg clutches of A. means collected from organic sediment at the bottom of a dried lake in northern Florida. The first experiment demonstrated that eggs of A. means hatch in response to inundation with water, and aquatic larvae completely resorbed their gills in about 2 wk. Eggs that hatched at later dates produced larger hatchlings in all three clutches and larger juveniles at metamorphosis in two clutches. A second experiment indicated that hatchlings can survive, on average, over 125 d without feeding by using resources from their yolk reserves. The third experiment showed that eggs are capable of surviving an average of 110 d (SD = 47.2 d) on moist substrate without hatching. Some eggs hatched onto the substrate without inundation, and resulting hatchlings could survive on this substrate without inundation for an average of 21 d (SD = 26.1 d). Five eggs produced hatchlings without gills during this experiment, suggesting that this species may bypass the larval period completely if eggs are not inundated. My experiments suggest that the eggs of A. means may be specialized for development in terrestrial nest chambers. Information on development and larval ecology of A. means from my study can be applied to future evaluations of the evolutionary relationships of salamander families.

The effects of prey size on prey-handling behavior for 60 ingestively naive hatchling Elaphe helena were studied in the laboratory. Hatchlings were randomly assigned to one of three diet categories in which prey (Mus musculus) varied by relative mass differences of 20–35%, 40–46%, or 50–59% of an individual snake's own body mass. The effects of prey size on capture position, direction of ingestion, condition of prey at ingestion (dead/alive), feeding duration, and prey-handling tactic were observed and recorded for each feeding episode. Results indicated that prey size significantly affected the prey-handling behavior of hatchling E. helena. In the largest relative mass category, hatchlings captured prey by the anterior end more often than in the smaller two relative mass categories. Prey from the smallest relative mass category were simply seized whereas, in the medium and large categories, pinion and constriction behaviors were observed. Time to subdue and ingest the prey item increased with prey size categories.

We documented both the diet and dietary preference of free-ranging juvenile gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) by direct observation. All observations were conducted on a 1-ha plot of sandhill habitat that has been maintained on a 1-yr fire periodicity by controlled burning for more than 25 yr. Seventeen foraging observations of juvenile gopher tortoises were included in our analyses. Juvenile gopher tortoises ate 26 plant genera. To determine if juvenile gopher tortoises were selecting particular genera, either positively or negatively, we used Resampling Stats. Plants of 16 genera were selected positively by at least one juvenile gopher tortoise. The most abundant plant genus along the foraging paths, Aristida, was selected negatively. Other grasses (Poaceae) were consumed mostly during the cool months when forbs, several of which were selected positively, were in decline. Grasses mostly were eaten in proportion to their availability. Juvenile gopher tortoises foraged only for brief time periods and traveled short distances during a foraging bout. Individuals may satiate quickly and/or may be predisposed to remain near their burrow because they are vulnerable to thermal stress and/or predation. Turtles residing in habitats with high quality and abundant forage grow rapidly to sexual maturity, which, in turn, can increase population growth rate. Understanding the biology of the juvenile gopher tortoise can help shape management practices that prevent declines of gopher tortoise populations.

The results of 11 captive matings among nine female and six male descendents of six wild-caught female common garter snakes from polymorphic populations near Lake Erie confirm that melanism is inherited as a simple Mendelian trait and is recessive to a striped pattern. The make-up of litters born to 71 wild-caught females from five sites corroborate this result: striped females never produced all melanistic litters and the frequency of entirely striped, mixed, and entirely melanistic litters conforms to expectations based on estimated allele frequencies. Possible explanations for a previously reported non-Mendelian inheritance of melanism include the occurrence of a somatic mutation or bias in sperm production and fertilization ability.

The genus Adenomera has been a difficult group for systematic studies because the species are similar and geographically variable. Two species have been reported from the Peruvian Amazon Basin: Adenomera andreae and Adenomera hylaedactyla. However, acoustic recordings from the Tambopata National Reserve in southeastern Peru reveal four sympatric advertisement call types that are distinctive in acoustic parameters and to the human ear. Some subtle morphological differences are also present. We conclude that there are at least four sympatric species at Tambopata and that Adenomera has a greater species diversity than currently acknowledged.

We describe a new species of Stefania from the summit of Cerro Autana in Amazonas, Venezuela. It is the westernmost species hitherto known for the genus, being 200 km northwest of Cerro Huachamacari, the nearest known locality for any other Stefania. The new species is distinguished from other species of Stefania by the following combination of characters: fronto-parietal ridges present but reduced, foot webbing basal, discs on fingers and toes small, post-tympanic warts absent, and head as long as wide. Based on these traits, the species can be placed in the Stefania evansi group of Rivero.

We describe a new species of Cycloramphus from Ribeirão Grande in the Atlantic Forest of the State of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil. The new species is characterized by the presence of an inguinal gland in adult males, feet not webbed, smooth skin, relatively small eyes, and massive jaw adductor muscles. The general aspect of body, conferred by a combination of a relatively short body and hind limbs, reduced eyes, and the massive aspect of head, suggests fossorial habits. Based on these characters, the new species is presumed to be closely related to the Cycloramphus bolitoglossus group, previously allocated to the genus Craspedoglossa.

A new, brightly colored species of Physalaemus similar to P. deimaticus and P. rupestris is described from the Parque Estadual do Itacolomi, Municipality of Ouro Preto, State of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. The new species is characterized by its small size (snout–vent length 23.2 mm in male, 26.2–26.6 mm in females) and by having the snout rounded in the dorsal view and protruding in profile; large inguinal glands, ovoid, light brown with a black ocellus outlined with white on their posterior half; light grayish brown dorsum with elongate longitudinal dark grayish brown stripes and blotches; venter white with gray mottling; and bright red on groin and ventral surfaces of arms, hands, thighs, tibiae, and feet.

We describe a new species of lizard of the genus Abronia from the Sierra Madre del Sur of Guerrero, Mexico. This species previously was confused with its presumed sister taxon Abronia deppii. The discovery to the north of the Balsas Basin of additional specimens referrable to A. deppii and a morphological comparison of these specimens to the populations of Abronia inhabiting the highlands of Guerrero to the south of the Balsas Basin clearly indicate that distinct species are present on each side of the Balsas Depression. Examination of the type material of A. deppii reveals that this name should be associated with the northern populations, and the southern population, often allocated to A. deppii, is an undescribed species. This new species is distinguished from A. deppii by having enlarged knob-like posterior head scales, no azygous scale between interparietal and interoccipital, a greater number of scale whorls on unregenerated tail, a greater number of infralabial scales, and dorsal and ventral coloration differences. We discuss the natural history of the new Guerrero species.

A new species of the Andean-Patagonian Liolaemus elongatus-kriegi complex is described. The new species differs from all other members of the complex in the distinct coloration of the dorsum, a bright red-yellow belly, and other morphological traits. Liolaemus punmahuida is known from a small area in the Tromen Volcano in northwestern Patagonia above 3000 m.

Two new species of Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 are described from Pulau Tioman and Pulau Aur in the Seribuat Archipelago, Pahang and Johor States, respectively, off the southeast coast of West Malaysia. The Pulau Tioman species was previously allocated to C. nigridia by earlier workers, but is distinguishable from all other species on the basis of squamation, color pattern, and maximum size attained. The second new species from Pulau Aur is the first record of Cnemaspis from that island and is similarly distinguished from all other species on the basis of squamation and color pattern.

Two new species of Larutia are described, one from Pulau Tulai, located 38 km off the southeast coast of Pahang, West Malaysia, in the Seribuat Archipelago and another from Gunung Berumput in the Pueh Mountains of Sarawak, East Malaysia. The Pulau Tulai species differs from all others in having a pair of light yellow dorsolateral stripes, light yellow markings on the head, small maximum snout–vent length (115 mm), and characteristics of nuchal banding. The Gunung Berumput species differs from all others in having radiating nuchal markings. Both represent new island records (Pulau Tulai and Borneo) and, based on morphology, are members of different monophyletic species groups within Larutia.

A new species of Gongylosoma is described from Pulau Tioman, a small island 38 km off the southeast coast of Pahang, West Malaysia, in the South China Sea. This species differs from all other Gongylosoma in having a single, enlarged, posterior temporal; chinshields of equal size; and a thin nuchal band that contacts a vestigial vertebral stripe. The new species forms a clade with G. nicobariense from the Nicobar Islands and G. longicauda from Borneo, Java, and Sumatra and is the sister species of the latter.

I describe a new species of the Geophis dubius group from the northern slopes of the Sierra de Juárez of Oaxaca, Mexico. The new species is most similar to G. carinosus. A previously unknown population of the G. dubius group from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca is also reported.