Mas Panama

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Jon Wedow
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Joined: June 9th, 2010, 7:38 am
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Mas Panama

Post by Jon Wedow »

Back in January I had the pleasure of joining a couple fellow FHF members gretzkyrh4 (Chris) and ritt (Eric) for a whirlwind herping tour of central and western Panama. It was a great trip overall and I think I ended up seeing 70+ herp species in 2 weeks. I'll get on with the pics and add comments for some. You can see the post Chris has made here.

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Trimetopon barbouri - After splitting a crumbling log this little guy was lying and waiting to be picked up for picture ;)

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Smilisca sila

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Sibon nebulatus

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Scinax boulengeri

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Agalychnis callidryas

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Pseustes poecilonotus

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.. and as found. An extremely rare sight in Panama!

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Pristimantis gaigei - In my experience they seem to have a melanistic wash in the Canal Zone (-100m) and bright coloration at higher elevations (around 700-800m)

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Young Oxybelis brevirostris were a common sight on this trip. I saw one during the day in El Valle and two during a single night hike at El Cope. We even managed a sleeping adult at El Cope one night.

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Ninia sp El Valle

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It seems I have not seen a normal Ninia yet .. only this species without a name.

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Leptodactylus savegei

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An awesome sight to see in the beam of your headlamp!

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Leaf insect - El Cope

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Bothrops asper - Canal Zone

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Same snake

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Eric and another Bothrops. If you look close you can see a wet footprint on a rock in the top right of the photo. Apparantly I almost stepped on this guy while shining the bank. I only saw him while backtracking!

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Hypsiboas rosenbergi

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Hypsiboas rufitelus

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Coniophanes fissidens

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Boa constrictor

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Canal Zone

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San Lorenzo

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San Lorenzo

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Portobelo

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Norops biporcatus

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Imantodes inornatus

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Imantodes cenchoa - In situ

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A juvenile Imantodes

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Another In Situ. This was one of the most common snakes of the trip with the count being 7 I think.

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Trachycephalus venulosus

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Oxybelis aeneus

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Rhinella alata

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Love that face ...

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Dipsas articulata

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Dipsas temporalis (for now) - Juvenile

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Adult - Julie had tagged this snake 5 years earlier! Such a cool find.

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Dactyloa frenata

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Dendrobates auratus - Canal Zone

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Dendrobates auratus - Campana

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Campana area

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Campana view

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Masticophis mentovarius - A sad DOR near Campana but a new province record for Panama province!

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Caldera habitat (Chiriqui)

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Rhinoclemmys annulata

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gymnophthalmus speciosus

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Lepidopblephares xanthostigma

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Leposoma southi

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Echinosaura panamensis

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Dendropsophus microcephalus

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Ctenosaura similis

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Parque Nacional Omar Torrijos (El Cope)

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Same place

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The cabin where we stayed there. You can herp right out your door and inside your cabin ;) - Awesome place!

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Hyloscirtus colymba

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Enyalioides heterolepis

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Bothriechis schlegeli In Situ - Somehow I spotted this guy at about 10' above ground, at eye level towards the slope and then another the next night at about 12' which was dangling from a thin vine and swinging in the mist. These were some of the coolest herp finds of my life.

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Posed in the daylight.

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Bolitoglossa shizodactyla - another species found flapping in the misty breeze - love it!

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A captive specimen of Atropoides mexicanus - Courtesy of Mario Urriolla - Serpentario, El Valle

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Mario and the crew - El Valle

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New mountain road, 1000m, El Valle

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More El Valle habitat, 700-800m

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On our way to the tip of the highlands in Panama

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Habitat

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Inhabitant - Cerrophidion godmani

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More highlands habitat (Chiriqui)

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Amastridium veliferum 1200m, Chiriqui, Panama

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Leptodeira septentrionalis - I broke the curse and flipped a snake under a rock in Panama!

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Liotyphlops albirostris - Eric spotted this little gem in the gutter at Playa Blanca, Cocle province

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Kids are ripped and fast in Panama

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Gamboa

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Gamboa

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Cheepers birding hotel in Gamboa

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Highway through jungle in the Canal Zone

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I woke up at Mario's house to see this little guy hanging out on the railing of his porch! Dead ....

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And that's it for now. I may add some more stuff soon. Hope you enjoyed it :beer:
VICtort
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Re: Mas Panama

Post by VICtort »

You guys did well especially since it was a "whirlwind" tour...nice work. I was amazed how healthy and stout the boa constrictor was, and I really enjoyed the habitat shots. The Oxybelis posted and many others on the forum tend to be brown ones, do green ones occur in the same zones?

Very enjoyable post, makes me want to go to Panama...Vic
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fins72
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Re: Mas Panama

Post by fins72 »

Wow, it looks like it was an awesome trip. What is the rest of the story on the bushmaster?

Jacob
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Dr. Dark
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Re: Mas Panama

Post by Dr. Dark »

Outstanding! Looks like you had an amazing trip. My question as well...who killed the bushmaster?!
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Jon Wedow
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Location: Canada

Re: Mas Panama

Post by Jon Wedow »

VICtort wrote:The Oxybelis posted and many others on the forum tend to be brown ones, do green ones occur in the same zones?
Oxybelis fulgidus = Green (yet to see this one alive)
Oxybelis aeneus = Brown (in this post)
Oxybelis brevirostris = Green (in this post)

Is that what you meant? Or do you mean color phases of a certain species?

The story on the Bushmaster: Mario (my guide in El Valle) recieved a call early in the morning that some local people had a couple big vipers in their yard. By the time Mario picked them up they were both dead. One Bothrops, one Lachesis, both the same size. They were so freshly killed that the Fer de Lance was still moving, the Lachesis had just stopped. For a young snake this thing had a very formidable head .. a very impressive animal.

Jon
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Dr. Dark
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Re: Mas Panama

Post by Dr. Dark »

Jon, that is heartbreaking! You have to wonder if the people called about the snakes first and then pummeled them, or the other way around. What a shame...
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VanAR
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Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Mas Panama

Post by VanAR »

Cool stuff Jon. Shame about the Bushmaster- I remember Mario having another dead individual when we stopped by in 2010. Seems like they turn up there on an occasional basis.

Van
will lattea
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Location: East Coast

Re: Mas Panama

Post by will lattea »

that was kick ass! thanks for sharing.

your sila look mighty sordida-ish to me though.

:beer:

w
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Mas Panama

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Holy Hemidactylus! That's one of those posts that make you seriously ache for a tropical vacation. Thanks very much!
gretzkyrh4
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Re: Mas Panama

Post by gretzkyrh4 »

Great stuff Jon. Really makes me wish I could have stayed the extra week.

And I can't believe you've found another Ninia sp, but can't find any other Ninia in the country.

Chris
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MaartenSFS
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Re: Mas Panama

Post by MaartenSFS »

I have never been too excited about Central American posts until I saw this one. I really like the habitat shots and it looks like you found a variety of herps. I laughed when I saw that sign and your "ripped kids" caption. :lol:

@Hans: What are you talking about vacation?? You live in a never-ending one? And where have you been?? I have winter as an excuse. :twisted:
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Mas Panama

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

MaartenSFS wrote:I have never been too excited about Central American posts until I saw this one.
To paraphrase my Kiwi college roommate: "There's three things I hate: warm beer, cold pie, and Asian herp snobs" :-)
@Hans: What are you talking about vacation??
I didn't say "me", I said "you", as in "one" or "a body".
And where have you been??
Working, for a change. All play and no work makes Hans a poor jerk. :-)
mikemike
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Re: Mas Panama

Post by mikemike »

Awesome post and great pics man.
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MaartenSFS
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Re: Mas Panama

Post by MaartenSFS »

Hans Breuer (twoton) wrote:
MaartenSFS wrote:I have never been too excited about Central American posts until I saw this one.
To paraphrase my Kiwi college roommate: "There's three things I hate: warm beer, cold pie, and Asian herp snobs" :-)
@Hans: What are you talking about vacation??
I didn't say "me", I said "you", as in "one" or "a body".
And where have you been??
Working, for a change. All play and no work makes Hans a poor jerk. :-)
I know that sounded snobbish, but it just seems like the area is a more known quantity (at least to me) and we see the same species all the time and snakes are often absent. I suppose it could be said that Australian snakes are boring because most are elapids, but, since I haven't been there, I would be in heaven. That said, I would sacrifice my left testicle to live there. ;)

I've actually been working over-time as well since my wife is pregnant and I just spent a bit of money on a new camera. :o ... Bastard. :twisted:
Robert McManus
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Re: Mas Panama

Post by Robert McManus »

Very nice as usual Jon. You're getting some killer photos these days. Let me know when you start hitting the road for Hogs. I'm off to Carolina, and I'll try to post when back.
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