Eastern Six-Lined Racerunner

Natural History

Unfortunately, Memphis weather did not work with me this time, so I have not had the chance to go out and take any good pictures. Instead, I  shuffled up my pile of herp flashcards (hand-laminated pictures of lab specimens) and drew Gastrophryne carolinensus. However, I thought that would have been a boring second blog entry, so I chose to do Cnemidophorus sexlineatus. Commonly known as the Eastern Six-Lined Racerunner, C. sexlineatus has distributed itself all over the Eastern United States. They're cute little creatures.

Photographic proof of cuteness courtesy of Virginia Herpetological Society

As you can see, the species name sexlineatus was derived from Latin words sex and lineata, meaning "six" and "of a line", respectively. How could I have possibly known that? I'm smart... and I've taken two semesters of Latin. But, just to make people happy, I shall credit some website: http://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/reptiles/lizards/eastern-six-lined-racerunner/eastern_six-lined_racerunner.htm. I can tell you this, the -us suffix means that only one sexlineata is being addressed. Now that we've had our lesson in forgotten languages, let us amble back over to Herpetology. Cross-referencing a couple websites has provided this entry with many lovely facts. C. sexlineatus reach an average length of 6 - 9.5 inches (15.24 - 24.13 centimeters) in length. Their preferred habitat includes open, sunny, dry areas with soft, loose sand and/or soil and sparse vegetation. This information can be found by clicking on http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/Plants_Wildlife/herps/Squamata/EasternSix-linedRacerunner.asp and/or http://www.tnwatchablewildlife.org/details2.cfm?sort=aounumber&uid=11060917103376207&commonname=Six-lined%20Racerunner&DISPLAYHABITAT=&typename=Reptile&Taxonomicgroup=Reptile%20-%20Lizards. Information on mating habits, admittedly the most interesting information shared thus far, can be found by clicking on the latter link. Tennessee's Watchable Wildlife states (pun intended) that males turn bluer around breeding time. Yes, the website said "bluer." I hope you enjoy that as much as I do. Once past the wording, a lizard turning bluer sounds pretty cool, I mean interesting. Let me see if I can find a picture...

Photographer: Seth Berry
This photograph is courtesy of the very courteous copyright owner: George M. Jett
Yes. That is bluer.

Alright, that is pretty blue... but it may not be as blue as they get. Actually, the latter picture may not be any bluer than the first picture in this blog entry... Be that as it may, the ventral portion of the body very well has the potential to be bluer, or even less blue. Once mating has occurred, the female may lay anywhere from

1 - 6 eggs in open, shallow sand and soil. These eggs remain unguarded by either parent and have a 60 day incubation period before hatching. That, to me, seems quite a long time to be sitting there unguarded, but  I have been unable to successfully research that C. sexlineatus eat any organism's eggs, much less their own. Of course, other organisms may end up eating some, most, or all of the eggs of a female C. sexlineatus. Other than turning different shades of blue based on the amount of Barry White playing in a guy's head, these herps are pretty boring. Good thing they have looks going for them.

Leave it to Tennessee to create funny sounding names for any critter; Eastern Six-Lined Racerunners are also known as "field-streaks" and "sandlappers." My favorite alias is the latter one. ... Gasp!

OhMyGosh!

Looky There!

Photograph courtesy of  Maryland's Department of Natural Resources

Ain't it cute!?

Red-Eared Slider

Natural History

After attempting to find herps in the outskirts of Memphis to no avail, my girlfriend, who doubles as my all-time photographer, and I broke down and went to Shelby Farms. Here we were hoping to capture a photograph of one of the many frogs we could hear, but, after the inevitable scare from a snake and zero luck in sneaking up on a frog, we managed to catch a few photographs of Trachemys scripta, or red-eared slider. Red-eared sliders are very common as pets; until that new law against keeping turtles as pets was passed, of course. As you should deduce from the turtle's common name, the telltale marking is a red blotch behind the eye.

Credit for this photo belongs to my own, personal photographer, Dayne Nelson. Taken on 2/11/2013

All I could find on who came up with the taxonomic name was this ---> http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=173823

According to Jeff LeClere at http://www.herpnet.net/Iowa-Herpetology/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=74&Itemid=26,the red-eared slider can be found anywhere along the Mississippi River. These reptiles have an affinity for any permanent body of water, be it a pond, marsh, river etc. Native to southern and southeastern United States and northern Mexico, Trachemys scripta is apparently very adept at existing, as is exemplified by its label as an invasive species. Everywhere from California to Australia, Trachemys scripta is invading native wildlife's territories and multiplying. Australia even sent out an alert against red-eared sliders, which can be viewed at the following link: http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/objtwr/imported_assets/content/pw/vp/toad/red-earedslideralert.pdf . In fact, a major method by which red-eared sliders are introduced into the wild is a previous pet owner letting them go free into the wilderness. Granted, these turtles can live 50-70 years, so I may be able to say some of those owners got too old to properly care for them. By the way, if you happen to be in Australia and find a red-eared slider, just call 1-800-084-881. No joke.

As is shown in the picture above and one that is to follow, Trachemys scripta absolutely love basking in the sun.

Credit for this photo goes to Dayne Nelson. Taken on 2/11/2013

Like crocodilia, this turtle can move incredibly quickly in short bursts. My younger brother called me while Dayne was preparing to take this picture. As soon as I answered, "Hello", which was a fraction of a second before Dayne took this picture, this turtle leaped into the water. This action occurred so quickly that, once the shutter of the camera reopened, the turtle was already out of sight. If you (yes, I am self-indulging enough to assume that I will have at least one reader that I can specifically address) look at this picture closely enough, you can see that this turtle is in pre-mid jump. I'm not sure if these pictures can be double-clicked and zoomed in upon, but take a look at its eye. It reminds me of the velociraptors' eyes on Jurassic Park...