Last week I returned from an expedition in Southern Thailand which took us ca. 25km up and down jungle trails and up to ca. 1400m in elevation. Over 30 biological researchers, with an environmental team and almost 30 park rangers took part, making it the biggest expedition of its kind in almost 100 years in this country.
Many new records for the province and region were recorded. Here are some pictures from the expedition:
On the ascent, during a break, a
Cyrtodactylus peguensis was found under a rotting log at ca. 500m in elevation.
At the highest elevations,
Rhacophorus bipunctatus was the most common species of reptile or amphibian. Their calls drowned out the sounds of all other frogs. This specimen is a male.
As is common frogs, the female
Rhacophorus bipunctatus is larger.
Limnonechtes spp. were common:
Limnonechtes blythii,
Limnonechtes kuhlii and
Limnonechtes macrognathus. This is a picture of
Limnonechtes macrognathus.
The largest toad of the region,
Phrynoidis aspera, was found in this region. This is a juvenile.
Megophryidae is a family that found in leaf litter. This is one member of the family that was found,
Xenophrys longipes.
For those that read my earlier post from the previous month (Nan, Northern Thailand), they will see an almost identical frog,
Odorrana livida. This is
Odarrana hosii.
A significant new record for the area was
Pseudocalotes floweri, which was previously only recorded in Thailand near the border with Cambodia, over 1000km away. This is an adult in a threat display.
Juvenile
Pseudocalotes floweri lack the long snout of the adults.
A common member of Agamidae found in the southern region is
Acanthosaura crucigera, a species found in light bushes up to ca. 1.5m high in primary forest with significant canopy (80%+). Although primarily arboreal, they use the ground to move from bush to bush.
Taxonomy used is the most recent accepted name for the species, sorry for any confusion this may cause.
I guess this is a long enough post for now. Maybe Knox will be happy
Cheers,
Michael
