An olive-brown turtle, head covered in yellow spots, rests head-forward on a submerged log.
A Yellow-spotted River Turtle (Podocnemis unifilis) crawls out of the water to bask at sunset in the Peruvian Amazon. Some swayed back and forth, scraping the plastron against their basking sites. This scratching behavior is presumably done to clean the shell and dislodge parasites, such as leeches.
A large brown and tan spider holds a moulting cicada in its legs while masticating its abdomen.
A giant fishing spider (Ancylometes sp.) feeding on a moulting cicada nymph in the Peruvian Amazon. #NaturePhotography #spiders #macro
A brown and flat-bodied frog rests at the water's surface with its limbs outstretched.
Wheeee! A Suriname Toad (Pipa pipa) froglet from a flooded Amazon rainforest pool in Peru back in January. These warty water pancakes are fully aquatic ambush predators that have ditched typical froggy staples like eyelids, tongues, and a tadpole stage. #NaturePhotography #herps #frogs
A shiny snake with a red head and yellow, black, and red bands extending down the body rests on the decaying leaves on the rainforest floor. It has a relatively large head and small dark eyes.
An Aquatic Coralsnake (Micrurus surinamensis) from the Peruvian Amazon. These are perhaps the most commonly encountered coralsnakes in the Amazon basin, where they hunt shallow waterways at night for fish and other snakes. #reptiles #snakes #NaturePhotography
A closeup of the side of a hatchling caiman's head, mouth open and snout uplifted before a background of lush green aquatic vegetation. The hatchling has a dark brown coloration above, while the throat and lower jaw are yellowish.
A hatchling Black Caiman (Melanosuchus niger), encountered a few weeks ago in the Peruvian Amazon. Hatchlings occur in groups guarded by an adult female. Under her watchful eye, they hunt small fish, frogs, and various invertebrates. #herps #NaturePhotography #crocodilians
A Black-mantled Tamarin (Leontocebus nigricollis) from the Tapiche Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon. These energetic squirrel-sized monkeys weren't difficult to spot, but they tended to keep the foliage between us, making photography challenging. #NaturePhotography
A small treefrog rests on a leaf with its limbs tucked beneath it. Its pattern consists of chestnut spots surrounded by bronze borders. The frog's head is small and has a short snout, with large bronze-colored eyes.
A Variable Clown Treefrog (Dendropsophus triangulum) of the giraffe phase, encountered on a recent visit to the Peruvian Amazon. #herps #frogs #NaturePhotography
A large-headed lizard with a bright yellow head and a greenish-blue body rests, head erect, on a rock outcrop.
An adult male Eastern Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus collaris) looking smug just after mating with a female. Courtship and mating generally occur in May and June in Colorado, and may begin as early as April in more southerly parts of the species' distribution, such as Texas.
An orange fox cub curled at the base of a rock outcrop, ears erect and eyes open and attentive.
A baby red fox hanging just outside one of his family's den entrances. This little guy didn't seem interested in playing with his more energetic siblings and appeared content to lazily watch his surroundings. The scientific name of the red fox, Vulpes vulpes, literally means the "fox's fox."
A brownish-orange, heavy bodied snake coiled at the base of a large tree atop rainforest leaf litter. The snake has a pattern of black rhomboid blotches on its back and a blood-red eye.
A South American Bushmaster (Lachesis m. muta) from the Peruvian Amazon, observed with @somuchpingle.bsky.social and friends in 2023. This is the world's largest pitviper, with the longest known specimen measuring nearly 3.65 m (12 ft) in length. In Peru, this species is known as shushúpe.
A black-and-white banded snake coiled on red sandstone.
California Kingsnake (Lampropeltis californiae), formerly considered a subspecies of L. getula. In addition to being very attractive, this species is potentially long-lived - Dibble (2000) reports a California Kingsnake living 43 years and 11 months. This individual was observed in northern Arizona.
Would anyone with access to the following paper be willing to send a .pdf to me? Susset, E.C., J. Hemptinne, and A. Magro. 2017. Overwintering Sites Might not be Safe Haven for Hippodamia undecimnotata (Schneider) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). The Coleopterists Bulletin 71(3):556-564.
A juvenile Texas Indigo Snake (Drymarchon melanurus erebennus) I had the pleasure of meeting in south Texas in the fall. I've been fortunate to encounter Drymarchon in Mexico and Peru, but it was thrilling to finally see an Indigo Snake in the United States!
A smooth-scaled brown lizard with an orange wash around its mouth, resting on pale gray sand and thatch.
An adult male Long-lined Skink (Plestiodon tetragrammus tetragrammus), distinguished by his sexy orange lips, observed back in November in Willacy County, Texas, USA.
Thanks, I really appreciate it.
Closeup portrait of a brown, yellow, and black snake in profile. Its scales are smooth and shiny, displaying some iridescence.
An adult female Northern Cat-eyed Snake (Leptodeira septentrionalis) from Starr County, Texas, USA.
Thank you!
I was delighted to see my photo of an Arizona Tiger Salamander was featured in this Nature Climate Change article, but I don't have access to the journal. Does anyone have a copy they could share with me? www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A coiled Prairie Rattlesnake with a dark gray-brown ground color, indistinct and irregular dark blotches on the back, a piebald rattle, and yellow mottling on the snout. It is resting on sand and gravel.
A coiled Prairie Rattlesnake with a sandy ground color, brown blotches edged in white down the back with lighter brown centers, a yellow-brown rattle, and two white stripes, one before and one behind the eye. Its black tongue is projected forward and down from the mouth, its first third of its body is held upright and ready to strike, and the tail is held perpendicular to the ground to facilitate tail shaking.
A neonate Prairie Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis) of aberrant color and pattern from Jefferson County vs a more typical specimen from Otero County in Colorado. I've seen hundreds of individuals since moving here in 2015, but this snake's by far the strangest. #snakes #herpetology #wildlife
A brown and tan lizard with intricate lines, ocelli, and transverse blotch patterns on its skin, is seen in profile on a rocky, sandy ground. Its head is slightly raised, and its copper-colored eyes are visible. The lizard's long tail extends behind it.
A male Grey Monitor (Varanus g. griseus) from the Sahara in Morocco. This is the largest lizard species in Morocco. It feeds primarily on lizards and snakes, though it also eats ground-nesting birds and small mammals. #lizards #desertmonitor #greymonitor #wildlifephotography #herpetology #varanus
A close-up shot focuses on the head of a snake with a distinctively elliptical pupil, as it rests on reddish-brown, sandy ground. The snake's scales are a mottled pattern of grays and browns, providing camouflage against the earthy background.
Sahel Egg Eater (Dasypeltis sahelensis) from the Anti-Atlas and Sahara transition zone in Morocco. This slender nocturnal snake has poorly developed teeth and feeds exclusively on bird eggs. #snakes #herpetology #wildlife #dasypeltis #dasypeltissahelensis #wildlifephotography
A desert-dwelling spiny-tailed lizard with a black body and vibrant yellow stripes is captured in a full-length, close-up shot. The lizard is crawling on tan sand, with its head turned slightly to the left. The background is a vast, dry desert landscape with scattered large, flat gray rocks and a clear blue sky.
A Sudan Spiny-tailed Lizard (Uromastyx dispar flavifasciata) from West Sahara. As with other members of the genus, it excavates and dwells in burrows and its diet is dominated by vegetation. #lizards #herpetology #wildlife #Uromastyx #Uromastyxdispar #wildlifephotography
A gray snake with a large head distinct from its body, copper-colored eyes with vertically elliptical black pupils, and a slightly upturned snout rests on soil littered with gravel and small stones. It is robustly built with keeled scales. A dark gray middorsal stripe runs from the neck to the tail, transversed by rounded blotches.
Mountain Viper (Vipera monticola) from the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Once considered a subspecies of the Horned Viper (V. latastei), work by Martínez-Freiría et al. (2021) suggested that all north African Vipera populations should be considered V. monticola. #Viperamonticola #snake #wildlife
A robustly built green lizard covered in small, granular scales rests with most of the body in the sun and the tail in the shade of a basalt rock outcrop.
An Ocellated Atlas Lizard (Timon tangitanus) from the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. This diurnal species occurs in mountainous regions of north Africa with a Mediterranean climate. It is particularly abundant in wet areas such as meadows and stream banks. #lizards #herpetology #wildlifephotography
The snake's doing all the work I just pushed a button
An adult male Greater Short-horned Lizard (Phrynosoma hernandesi) from a shortgrass prairie in eastern Colorado. In addition to consuming vast quantities of ants, these squat, spiny critters also function as tiny happiness generators. #lizard #wildlife #wildlifephotography #hornedlizard
maybe she's born with it, maybe it's Maybelline
Can't recommend it enough, if you get the chance.
I have plenty of unfinished business in CR if you wanna team up
A juvenile Eyelash Viper (Bothriechis schlegelii) of the yellow "oropel" morphotype spotted on a night hike in Alajuela Province, Costa Rica. These small, arboreal and mild-tempered snakes are incredibly variable in color and pattern and are a joy to photograph. #snakes #herpetology #wildlife
