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SARCA Field Survey No. 4 - trip reportMarch 2006 Date: Date: 14 - 22 December 2005
SARCA Team 4:
Marius's comments: Well I suppose not all trips can be highly successful, and SARCA 4 proved to be a case in point. We managed to record only 24 reptile species during the 10-day surveying effort (see checklist below). This was quite a bit lower than the previous three trips which each produced more than 30 species. Nevertheless, 24 species out of an expected 40 for the cluster of grid cells that we surveyed is still a 60% success rate and not bad, especially as absolutely nothing was previously known from these cells. Volunteers Donovan and Robert had a wish-list: they so wanted to find a Black Spitting Cobra, and a Cape Cobra, and a Horned Adder, Tiger Snake, Coral Snake - any snake in fact! In the end we got only eight snakes of four different species. Yep, they got their Cape Cobra, and three Kalahari Sand Snakes in the funnel traps, a dead-on-road Brown House Snake, and we missed a Black Spitter that was killed at Boegoeberg just a few days before we visited that locality. But the most special of all were two specimens of thread snake (Leptotyphlops sp.) that fell into our pitfall traps. They still have to be identified, but for now we know that this is the first record of a thread snake species from this region. In fact, this is the first time that any member of this snake family (Leptotyphlopidae) has been recorded within 250 km of this locality! The maps in the snake field guides will have to be redrawn… Checking the pitfall and funnel traps each morning is always done with great anticipation - akin to opening Christmas presents as a child. Quite often the traps contain the common, not-so-exciting species - handkerchiefs from grandma, or a dictionary from some aunt. But once in a while you get a bright red fire engine! I found mine in a pitfall trap: it was a beautiful Spotted Sandveld Lizard (Nucras intertexta). When I say beautiful, I mean stunning - in fact the most gorgeously handsome lizard that I've ever captured in a pitfall trap. And what's more, this species was also about 200 km beyond its known distribution range. Keep on redrawing those maps…
Donovan's comments: SARCA 4 was great fun for me. I already knew a bit about reptiles, but still learnt a hell of a lot. Unfortunately it was very dry and not many retiles were caught. My best moments were catching the Rock Monitor, finding the hatchling Bushveld Lizard, the Spotted Sandveld Lizard and, best of all, the food and guys we stayed with at Vaalkop. So thanks to Marius and SARCA for the opportunity!
Robert's comments: A SARCA survey is an excellent experience that I would highly recommend to anyone with an interest in reptiles. During the trip I learnt a lot of useful information, ranging from building traps to how to preserve specimens. Highlights were knowledge gained, catching a Cape Cobra, working with so many scorpions (especially Parabuthus spp.), and the hospitality of our hosts at Vaalkop. The downside was a lack of rain which resulted in rather few reptiles. Better luck next time, I hope.
Species recorded during SARCA 4: LIZARDS Agama aculeata Common Ground Agama Agama anchietae Anchieta's Agama Agama atra Southern Rock Agama Chamaeleo dilepis Flap-necked Chameleon Cordylus polyzonus Karoo Girdled Lizard Heliobulus lugubris Bushveld Lizard Pedioplanis lineoocellatus subsp. Spotted Sand Lizard Nucras intertexta Spotted Sandveld Lizard Trachylepis occidentalis Western Three-striped Skink Trachylepis sparsa Karasburg Tree Skink Trachylepis spilogaster Kalahari Tree Skink Trachylepis sulcata Western Rock Skink Trachylepis v. variegate Variegated Skink Pachydactylus bibronii Bibron's Thick-toed Gecko Pachydactylus capensis Cape Thick-toed Gecko Pachydactylus mariquensis latirostris Marico Thick-toed Gecko Pachydactylus purcelli Purcell's Thick-toed Gecko Ptenopus g. garrulus Common Barking Gecko Varanus albigularis Rock Monitor Varanus niloticus Nile Monitor SNAKES Leptotyphlops sp. thread snake (species identification pending) Lamprophis capensis Brown House Snake Psammophis trinisalis Kalahari Sand Snake Naja nivea Cape Cobra AcknowledgementsSARCA 4 was based on the farm Vaalkop, in a luxurious hunter's lapa, with the brothers Jaco and Joachim van der Walt feeding us at every opportunity and making our stay memorable. Many thanks boys! We are thankful to the farmers who permitted us to survey their properties: Jannie Jacobs (Blackridge), Hanlie and Philip van Staden (Koedoesnek) and Kobie van der Walt (Vaalkop).
The bakkie performed admirably, clocking 1000s of kilometres on tar and off-road. We gratefully acknowledge the support and sponsorship of 4x4 Eco Challenge for biodiversity research projects such as SARCA. (See www.4x4ecochallenge.co.za for details of their other projects.)
Thanks to Northern Cape Nature Conservation Service for providing a permit Photos by Marius Burger Compiled by James Harrison & Marius Burger
SARCA is a joint project of the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), the Herpetological Association of Africa (HAA), and the Avian Demography Unit (ADU), Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Cape Town.
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[ Document posted on 27 March 2006 ] |
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December 3, 2024, 10:25 am | ||||