December 2006

Greetings SARCAlites!

This holiday we can celebrate the SARCA Virtual Museum (VM) reaching 2000 records! It was only in March of this year that we reached 1000, so you guys have done really well! 2000 records represents a 4% increase in the number of distribution records for the reptiles of the region - a significant amount.

As I mentioned in an earlier communication, when one looks at the interim distribution maps on the website (under the "species summary" link), just about every species one cares to look at shows the addition of new information - i.e., records in previously blank grid cells - that has come from the VM, in other words, from you SARCAlites!

The SARCAlites who contributed records 1001-2000 were:
Adams M. (2); Alberts A.J.; Allcock A.E.; Altwegg R.; Anderson M.D. (2); Anderson T.A. & Anderson M.D. (3); Anderson T.A. (12); Archer A.M.; Armstrong A.J. & Craigie J.D.; Armstrong A.J. & Mlambo M.C. (2); Armstrong A.J. & Wimberger K. (2); Armstrong A.J., Ngwenya P. & Goodman P.S.; Armstrong A.J., Zondo N. & Wimberger K.; Badenhorst W.J. (54); Barnard P. & Simmons J.C.B.; Botha W. (33); Bowker M.B. (20); Clanahan C.R.H.; Compion E. (2); Cooke D. & Cooke I.; Cordiero K., Cordiero B., Cordiero C. & Diedericks G.; Craigie J.D. & Armstrong A.J.; Crocombe J. (2); De Beer C.; De Beer C.L.; de Ridder J. & de Ridder D.; de Swardt D.; Deacon A.R (34); Dempere J. (2); Diedericks G. (73); Dorse C. & van Rooyen S. (87); Dorse C. (6); Douglas M. (48); Erni B. & Altwegg R. (3); Erni B., van Kleunen M. & Altwegg R. (3); Erni B., van Kleunen M., Pasqualetto V., Altwegg R.; Erni G., Erni B. & Altwegg R.; Esterhuizen W. (5); Evans S.W. (2); Felmore T. (5); Geddes D. (2); Geyser R.F.; Geyser R.F. & Lötter R. (2); Gibbons B.; Groenewald G.; Grove F. (2); Gwynne-Evans D. (3); Haacke W.D. (26); Haas F. (3); Harebottle D. (3); Hawkins R. (10); Helme N. (2); Heymans J.A. (2); Honiball D. & Honiball L. (11); Honiball D. (21); Honiball L. (2); Howard D.; Huisamen J.; Jacobs E.; Joubert P.R. (2); Kamler J. (3); Knoetze D.; Koeslag A.; Kok A. (2); Kruger A. (5); Laidler G.; Le Feuvre A.; Le Roux E.R. (11); Linström A. (5); Lockwood G. (2); Lottering A. and Oransie J.; Lottering A.D.J. & le Roux E.R.; Louw J. (3); Maguire D. (17); Maphisa D. (3); Marais A. (37); Massyn D.; Masterson G. (6); Maya K. & le Roux E.R. (2); Mc Intyre P. & Diedericks G.; McBurnie H. (3); McCleland W. (2); Mecenero S. & Kirkman S.P. (3); Mecenero S. (10); Mulholland G. (3); Naude A.; Niehaus R.W. (2); Noëls O.; Oliver T.A.; Opperman G.J. (8); Parker L. & Witberg M.; Pfeifer H. (9); Phelps T. & Els J.C.; Phelps T. (46); Rebelo A. (43); Redman A.D. (9); SA Reptiles; Saunt R.V.; Scammell I. & Christie S. (3); Scammell I. & Thomas S.G. (3); Scammell I. (58); Simmons R. (3); Staude H. S.; Storm S., Witberg M. & Prinsloo D.; Stuart-Fox D. & Moussalli A. (6); Sutton M.; Swanepoel D. (2); Theron J. & Diedericks G. (27); Theron J. & Marais H.; Theron J. (3); Theron J., Malloch-Brown D. & Diedericks G. (5); Theron N.; van Reenen P.; Van Wijk W.; van Wyk A.J. (16); Van Zyl G. & Witberg M.; Voigt W.; Vos P. (2); Warncke P.; Watson L.; Webb P. (8); Webster K. (5); Welz A. (2); Wilson B.Y. (16); Witberg M. & Albertyn R. (2); Witberg M. & Botha M.; Witberg M. & Joubert P.; Witberg M. & Lourens F. (3); Witberg M. & Montague-Fryer G.; Witberg M. & Morom J.; Witberg M. & Neumann J. (2); Witberg M. & Parker L. (9); Witberg M. & Van Zyl R (5); Witberg M. & Witberg G.E.; Witberg M. & Witberg H.; Witberg M. & Witberg K.; Witberg M. & Witberg M.C. (3); Witberg M. (21); Witberg M.& Wilson D.; Witberg M., Albertyn R. & Witberg K.; Witberg M., Joubert P., & Wilson D.; Witberg M., Wilson D. & Witberg K.; Witberg M., Witberg G. & Joubert P.; Woods D.; Zambatis G. (2)

The numbers in brackets are the numbers of records submitted. Where there are no brackets, the number is one. In bold are those who submitted 10 or more records.

This time, Cliff Dorse & S. van Rooyen take honours with a magnificent total of 87 records. Hot on their heels was Gerhard Diedericks with an impressive 73 records. Wessel Badenhorst, Ian Scammell, Malcolm Douglas, Tony Phelps and Alex Rebelo also deserve special mention with around 50 records apiece. (Please note: The stats given here cannot be used as an indication of your standing in the competition, because the competition is for records from a specific time period - many of the records referred to here are outside of that period. See the website for competition details. And, by the way, there is a second competition underway - see under "competitions" on the website. )

Many people saw and enjoyed the SARCA features on the TV programme, 50/50. We have been inundated with volunteers for the field surveys. Clearly Marius has charisma! However, please know that contributions to the VM are just as valuable. Encourage your friends and associates to participate!

Correct format please!

Unfortunately, I still have to winge about submissions not in the correct format. PLEASE follow this example, EXACTLY:

Please note:

1. It is necessary to have BOTH the stuff inside AND outside the brackets. The stuff inside the brackets is to tell the retarded computer what is what.
2. The stuff INSIDE the brackets must be EXACTLY as shown, otherwise the computer gets confused.
3. The stuff OUTSIDE the brackets must be formatted as shown. Note especially the reverse order of the date. Variations in format will cause "storings".
4. The preferred format for coordinates is DEGREES, MINUTES AND SECONDS (with or without decimal places for seconds). We can deal with decimal degrees and decimal minutes, but it's more hassle.
5. Those of you who still do not have a GPS (Global Positioning System), may I strongly recommend that you acquire one. They are tremendously useful for all kinds of activities, not only SARCA, and they do make your SARCA records much more useful by providing accurate coordinates.
6. Only supply "notes" if you have something genuinely interesting to say about the specimen/species, and keep it very brief please!

I look forward to many more of your (correctly formatted) submissions!

These are a few of my favourite things...

As usual, a dozen of my favourite pics from the VM. These are all drawn from records 1001-2000. See the records in the VM for species IDs and other details.

1564 A meneer of a chameleon, by W. Voigt.		1553 Is dit 'n tuinslang of 'n slang in die tuin?, by Dave Honiball
1490 Python completing a good meal, by Dave Honiball.		1356 Sidewinding in the Namib, by W. Botha.
1251 A Leopard Tortoise who seemed to believe he needed to swim across the ocean, by P. van Reenen.		1984 Cape Cobra joungster, by Marcel Witberg and L. Parker.
1941 Southern Adder in a bush, by Tony Phelps.		1901 Gaboon Adder on the beach, by Tony Phelps.
1886 Is this agama for real?, by W. Esterhuizen.		1861 A beautiful Rinkhals, by Kate Webster.
1723 Portrait of a gecko, by P. Webb.		1633 Are fish also fooled by log impressions?, by Andrew Deacon.

ONE THOUSAND "THANK YOUS" FOR 1000 EXCITING RECORDS!!

James Harrison   
SARCA Project Coordinator