Jamaican critters - good, bad and ugly

[rebelgirl]

Re: Jamaican critters - good, bad and ugly

Heres a list of all the reptile species in Jam (I don't know the local names). i love reptiles I should have been a herpetologist.

Oops missed a few

cane toad
 
Jamaican laughing frog
Jamaican snoring frog
yellow bromeliad frog
green bromeliad frog
 
mountain peak eleuth
rumpspot eleuth
portland ridge eleuth
Jamaican rock eleuth
earspot eleuth
blue mountain rock eleuth
gosse's eleuth
pallid eleuth
cockpit eleuth
Jamaican bromeliad eleuth
lesser antillean eleuth
rock pocket eleuth
Jamaican masked eleuth
Jamaican red-eyed eleuth
Jamaican stream eleuth
western yellow-bellied eleuth
eastern yellow-bellied eleuth
cuban flathead eleuth
leaf mimic eleuth
 
bullfrog
 
 
 
limestone forest galliwasp
common Jamaican galliwasp
blue-tailed galliwasp
bromeliad galliwasp
red-spotted galliwasp
smalleyed galliwasp
portland coast galliwasp
Jamaican giant galliwasp
 
Jamaican croaking gecko
neotropical clawed gecko
common house gecko
stippled sphaero
Jamaican tailspot sphaero
Jamaican collared sphaero
Jamaican forest sphaero
Jamaican sharpnosed sphaero
parker's banded sphaero
richardson's banded sphaero
cockpit eyespot sphaero
Jamaican giant gecko
 
Jamaican giant anole
graham's anole
Jamaican gray anole
opal anole
blue mountain anole
cuban brown anole
Jamaican twig anole
Jamaican rock iguana
 
antillean skink
 
Jamaican ameiva
 
 
Jamaican boa
 
Jamaican racer
Jamaican red groundsnake
Jamaican black groundsnake
Jamaican longtailed groundsnake
 
Jamaican brown trope
Jamaican eyespot trope
portland ridge trope
 
Jamaican blindsnake
 
 
Jamaican slider
 
 
american crocodile

[mountaingal]

Re: Jamaican critters - good, bad and ugly

bless you rebel,for that list. what's your source?

that list has also confirmed for me that a pic I saw of a gekko that SERIOUSLY creeped me out (the giant gekko) is in fact one that I saw in Jamaica...I'm going to find its pic now and post...*shudder*

how you could want to be a lizard scientist i'd never know

[mountaingal]

Re: Jamaican critters - good, bad and ugly

Originally posted by dr. bones:
[qb] I hate fortylegs. Had one on my foot when I was in Ja in May. It was big, and ugly, and gross. Just glad the thing didn't bite me.

What about rat bats, and cockroaches [/qb]

i've never seen a rat bat up close in Jamaica, though as a child i used to with my great aunt to clean their droppings out of the church belfry. but i'll try to see if there's a species particular to jamaica and post a pic. i remember doing a radio article once on some bats that canadian scientists recorded in a cave in jamacia.

cockroaches - i figured i'd tackle them after the lizards. cockroaches are another set of things that make me cringe...

[mountaingal]

Re: Jamaican critters - good, bad and ugly

[rebelgirl]

Re: Jamaican critters - good, bad and ugly

Originally posted by mountaingal:
[qb] bless you rebel,for that list. what's your source?

that list has also confirmed for me that a pic I saw of a gekko that SERIOUSLY creeped me out (the giant gekko) is in fact one that I saw in Jamaica...I'm going to find its pic now and post...*shudder*

how you could want to be a lizard scientist i'd never know [/qb]

I got the list from here http://evo.bio.psu.edu/caribherp/lists/JAM-LIST.HTM

Gecko's are so cute. I lived with some Tokay gecko's for a while, what personalities they had. Cute as buttons boy they can bite though (not me but their kind keeper) very agressive & a weird noise they make too.

You can blame my love of reptiles on growing up in the woods. Used to spend my days chasing and playing with snakes and frogs [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[mountaingal]

Re: Jamaican critters - good, bad and ugly

EW! EW! EW! Smaddy tell me if a so croaking lizard look up close:


Croaking lizard is what we in JA call the house gekko. A beast sight of which can petrify the most stalwart of us. This one is called the hemidactylus giganteus.

When I roomed in Kingston couple years ago, one used to crawl out at night time, usually after i fell asleep, and it's cry used to make me bolt up in bed. i started off by pulling the covers over my head whenever i saw it, because i was scared poopless it was going to drop down off the wall or ceiling on to me. Eventually, i got bolder, and would try to shoo it away. it would sort of turn lazily and saunter off under the part where the thatched roof met the wall, then would kind of peer out at me. After a while, i got used to it - whenever it cried i turned the light on, and believe it or not, i think it learned to keep quiet!!

i still get scared whenever I see it for the first time in a long time, though. when i was a child, we thought a cricket signified a duppy.

[mountaingal]

Re: Jamaican critters - good, bad and ugly

Whoever used to climb ackee tree wouldan memba Peggy, the big red ants dem weh run up and dung de tree trunk an whofa bite hot lakka wah.



Official name, I think - Pseudomyrmex apache.

These ants are arboreal, nesting in plant cavities, especially in hollow twigs and spines. They move at high speed when foraging on tree trunks or the ground. Some species have symbiotic relationships with particular host-plant species. Their stings are well developed and painful. from http://taxa.soken.ac.jp/Ant.WWW/Taxo_E/F3----.html

[mountaingal]

Re: Jamaican critters - good, bad and ugly

Okay, Sue, see wan green lizard here: the Jamaican giant anole, anolis garmani. Pretty, don't?

[M]

Re: Jamaican critters - good, bad and ugly

PLEEAAAAZE MG, do you think you could find a photo of a bush rat - a nice big one? I looked all over the Internet the other day, but could not find one.

Also some Jamaican spiders, please, including the ones that are at least 4" across and skinny, and the thick hairy ones that either look like tarantulas or are tarantulas.

And:

Mongoose

John Crow

This is a great thread!!!! I will let you know if I think of any more.

[mountaingal]

Re: Jamaican critters - good, bad and ugly

i'll do my best with your list, M. Not familiar with the term bush rat, wah dat - coney?

Also, the John Crow, aka the turkey vulture or turkey buzzard, was covered in this archived thread I did earlier in the year:

http://www.jamaicans.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=22;t=000574

[mountaingal]

Re: Jamaican critters - good, bad and ugly

Actually, I think Sue asked for a ground lizard, not a green lizard.

this fella looks close enuff to the ones I used to see skittering around the pingwing bushes in my apartment complex in Kingston.



these types of lizards are called ameivas or race runners, because they skitter away so fast.

[mountaingal]

Re: Jamaican critters - good, bad and ugly

was hoping to get a pic of those tiny lizards that as far as I know live in closets and outdoor latrines. this little spotted ones that the tail is always curling this way then that way and who always shed their tails when they are being chased, and the tail keeps curling away on its own.

when i find that i will post it.

[mountaingal]

Re: Jamaican critters - good, bad and ugly

EEEEWWWW

[rebelgirl]

Re: Jamaican critters - good, bad and ugly

Lovely lizards [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Ah my little roach buddies [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] I took some pictures of those guys last trip but they turned out blurry so I didn't post them. Roaches are a little creepy for sure.

[mountaingal]

Re: Jamaican critters - good, bad and ugly

Originally posted by M:
[qb] PLEEAAAAZE MG, do you think you could find a photo of a bush rat - a nice big one? I looked all over the Internet the other day, but could not find one. [/qb]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say by bush rat you mean the coney, just about the only indigenous wild animal in Jamaica (others, like the mongoose, were imported). The coney, aka the Jamaica hutia is thought to be rare, but may just be secretive. though I must say i've only heard of this animal, have never seen one. It's a member of the rodent family.

Description: It is stout and robust, with powerful legs, a heavy snout, and short ears. The fur is thick, short, and dark reddish or blackish brown above, and dusky-brown underneath. Length of head and body is about eighteen inches, with the tail adding only a couple more inches. It can weigh up to eleven pounds or more.

Behavior: This nocturnal hutia feeds on roots, bark, shoots, fruit, and foliage of many different plants. Its gait is usually waddling, but it can run fast when startled. It can jump and climb well, but spends most of its time on the ground. It is basically solitary, but sometimes it is found in small family groups up to a maximum of ten other hutias. Because of its secretive habits and its habitat in areas of an abundance of natural crevices, it is still relatively plentiful despite intensive hunting in earlier years, which continues somewhat even today. from http://www.americazoo.com/goto/index/mammals/217.htm