iHerp_Australia_-_September_-_October_2018

Lokonos to successfully transition into the new

millennium and still maintain their centuries-old

traditions.

Few places in the world offer a better opportunity for

field herping than the jungles and moist forests of

upper Amazonia. Better still, Damon’s homeland of

Guyana is the only English-speaking nation in all of

South America, and he’d be delighted to create a

custom itinerary just for you and your entourage.

Here you may encounter constrictors, rattlers,

Fer-de-lance vipers, rat snakes, tortoises and

turtles, geckos, ameivas (‘jungle runners’), tegus,

and frogs and toads. A quest for gargantuan

anacondas (water camoudis) would require

venturing farther inland. Though these huge snakes

are often found sunning on the banks of the rivers,

Damon notes that, “Ours don’t expose themselves

near the village. We really must go in search for

them a good distance away and hope for luck.”

Early one morning, before the daily rains, we

explore an area of forest near the eco-lodge; a low-

land thicket of mahogany and nutmeg trees. There

are also Greenheart laurels, valuable for their

timber, while in the understorey knotted lianas creep

up bitter-wood stalks; mosses and lichens

germinate along buttress roots, and a maze of mud

tubes lead down to termite nests poking out of the

soil. An Amazon Lava Lizard (Tropidurus torquatus)

scatters at our approach, running momentarily on

only its two hind legs, bipedal fashion.

The upper canopy is dominated by Silk-cotton trees,

or Kapoks (Ceiba pentandra). With thorn-studded

trunks and sweeping branches, these giants fan out

like frilly Victorian um-

brellas, with hundreds

of flocculent balls of

‘fluff’ protecting their

precious seeds. At

night, their pink and

white flowers emit a

foul-smelling stench

that acts as an aphro-

disiac to the rainforest bats. They flock to the sugary

nectar like bears to honey, feasting happily and in

the process also pollinating the flowers. They may

also end up as unsuspecting prey for the beautiful

nocturnal Emerald Tree Boa (Corallus caninus). In a

striking example of convergent evolution, this

species is remarkably similar in appearance to the

Green Tree Python (Morelia viridis), and also

‘perches’ in the same fashion. It even undergoes a

corresponding ontogentic colour change – morphing

from a red-brown or orange juvenile to a bright

green adult at round 9-12 months of age. Described

In a striking example of convergent evolution,

the Emerald Tree Boa even perches in the

same fashion as the Green Tree Python.

Left: Amazon Lava lizard (Tropidurus torquatus). Image

by Fotos593.

Above: Juvenile Emerald Tree Boa. Image by Audrey

Snider-Bell.

Below: Adult Emerald Tree boa after ontogenetic colour

change. Image by Babu Paul.