My old account must have been deleted so I started a new one. So now for a brief, re-introduction, my name is Andrew Snyder. I've been a member of this forum for a few years now if some of you remember me, particularly the Northeast chapter. I graduated with my bachelors from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2009 and have spent my past two summers conducting herpetological and some chytrid surveys in Cusuco National Park, Honduras with the British conservation organization Operation Wallacea Ltd. My studies will now be taking me to the Iwokrama forest and surrounding areas in Guyana in pursuit of my PhD with the University of Mississippi.
Cusuco National Park can be found in northwestern Honduras within the Merendon mountains. It is a mountain-top park and boasts a very unique cloud forest ecosystem with many endemic herps to the park as well as many Honduran endemics and nuclear Mesoamerican endemics. Many of the parks herps can be found on the IUCN redlist of endangered species. Though it is considered a National Park, it lacks adequate protection, or any protection for that matter. In just my three summers there (the first as a volunteer) I have documented coffee farms within the core zone of the park as well as pastured animals. Without proper protection, they will continue to encroach the special core zone habitats and further threaten these already very threatened animals.
Over the past two years I have taken thousands of photos here where I have pretty much taught myself everything I know about photography. These photos will just be the ones from 2010, the other ones can all be found on my flickr page.
So without further adieu here are some of the amphibians from the park and buffer zone.
Frogs and toads
Smilisca baudini-This is a very common species of the lower elevation buffer zones
Mexican Treefrog by asnyder5, on Flickr
Smilisca by asnyder5, on Flickr
Mexican Treefrog by asnyder5, on Flickr
There are many species of leaf-litter frogs of the genus Craugastor found in the park and buffer zones
Craugastor laevissimus-Endangered
Juvenile:
Robber Frog by asnyder5, on Flickr
Adult:
Craugastor laevissimus by asnyder5, on Flickr
Craugastor laticeps
Rainfrog by asnyder5, on Flickr
Robber frog by asnyder5, on Flickr
Glass frog (Hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni)-A common riverside dweller in the buffer zone camps. Just before a heavy thunderstorm, I could have sworn I heard these calling from a remote camp in the core zone but subsequent searches did not yield any.
Glass frog by asnyder5, on Flickr
Glass frog by asnyder5, on Flickr
Lithobates maculata- Another very common species from the buffer zone. These river dwelling frogs were never found farther than 5 meters from a river.
River Frog by asnyder5, on Flickr
River frog by asnyder5, on Flickr
Ollotis valliceps- Another exclusively buffer zone species
Gulf Coast Toad by asnyder5, on Flickr
Untitled by asnyder5, on Flickr
Things that are bumpy in the night by asnyder5, on Flickr
Ollotis valliceps by asnyder5, on Flickr
Endangered Bromeliad frog (Bromeliahyla bromeliacia)-Last summer proved the occurrence of Chytrid in this species, an exclusively arboreal, bromeliad breeding species.
Tadpole:
Bromeliohyla tadpole by asnyder5, on Flickr
Metamorph:
Bromeliad frog metamorph by asnyder5, on Flickr
Adult:
Bromeliad frog by asnyder5, on Flickr
Critically endangered (Ptychohyla ptychomykter
Juvenile:
Juvenile Ptychohyla by asnyder5, on Flickr
Adult:
Untitled by asnyder5, on Flickr
Ptychohyla hypomykter by asnyder5, on Flickr
Critically endangered Brook frog (
- Duellmanohyla soralia
Juvenile:
Juvenile soralia by asnyder5, on Flickr
Untitled by asnyder5, on Flickr
Adult:
Duellmanohyla soralia by asnyder5, on Flickr
Duellmanohyla soralia by asnyder5, on Flickr
Cusuco endemic, critically endangered Plectrohyla dasypus
Plectrohyla dasypus silhouette by asnyder5, on Flickr
Juvenile:
Plectrohyla dasypus by asnyder5, on Flickr
Metamorph:
Metamorph by asnyder5, on Flickr
Adult:
Plectrohyla by asnyder5, on Flickr
Plectrohyla dasypus by asnyder5, on Flickr
Cusuco endemic, critically endangered Plectrohyla exquisita
Untitled by asnyder5, on Flickr
Plectrohyla exquisita by asnyder5, on Flickr
Untitled by asnyder5, on Flickr
Plectrohyla exquisita by asnyder5, on Flickr
Salamanders
Bolitoglossa dofleini
Bolitoglossa dofleini by asnyder5, on Flickr
Bolitoglossa dofleini by asnyder5, on Flickr
Endangered Bolitoglossa conanti
Daytime hideaway by asnyder5, on Flickr
Bolitoglossa conanti by asnyder5, on Flickr
Salamander by asnyder5, on Flickr
Critically endangered, Cusuco endemic Bolitoglossa diaphora
Cusuco climbing salamander by asnyder5, on Flickr
Critically endangered, endemic Cusuco worm salamander (Oedipina tomasi
Oedipina tomasi by asnyder5, on Flickr
Worm salamander by asnyder5, on Flickr
Stay tuned for the reptiles post...