Table Of Content

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES Fifteen clutches ofeggs were found during the study end towards it. The carapace covered the hole completely, period, first in June 1999 and later in December 1999 and hence actual oviposition could not be seen. (Table2).Theyhadbeenlaidneartherootsoftreesorshrubs, 20mins-Shemovedthehindlegsalternatelytowards andinareasthathadscantyleaflittercover(c. 2mm;average the tail, covering the eggs with earth and compacting it by depthoflitterin enclosure = 53.45 mm). The eggs had been pressingwithhind legs. Thiscontinuedforanother29mins. deposited in a chamber dug in the ground and covered up 50 mins - She finished covering the nest and walked withearth.Meannestdimensionswere 13.6cm(depth)x8.5cm away. The nest was excavated and measured. Four white, (width).OncandlingtheJuneclutches,mosteggswerefound hard-shelled eggs covered by a thin layer of mucus were to be infertile or dehydrated, some had rudimentary, but found along with an olderdesiccated egg. disintegratingembryos. Theonlyeggwithan intactembryo Substratetemperaturerecordedat 1700hrswas22.9°C. wasmonitored inthelaboratory,butafter46days,itcracked ACKNOWJJ2DGEMENTS opentorevealafully-developed,rottingembryo.Oviposition wasobservedforthefirstclutchlaidon December4, 1999at 1735 hrs, and the behavioural sequence isgiven below: I thank everyone at the Madras Crocodile Bank, 0mins-(Femalewasseensittingneartherootofatree particularly Harry Andrews for guidance, and Romaine for throughouttheday.)Femaleclearedleaflitterawaywith hind hospitality. I am also grateful to Dr. Ajith Kumar, Dr. N.M. legsusingsmall,slowmovements. Ishwar and S.U. Saravanakumar for their comments on an 09mins-Sheexcavatedaholeandloweredherposterior earlierdraft. Andrews, H.V. & R.Whitaker(1993):Captivebreedingoffreshwater M.W.Klemens).OccasionalPaper,IUSN/SSCNo.5.IUCN,Gland. turtlesandtortoisesattheCentreforHerpetology,MadrasCrocodile 202 pp. Bank. Zoos' Print8: 12-13. Ramesh, M. (2002): Observations on the Travancore Tortoise Auffenberg, W. (1964):Afirstrecordofbreedingcolourchangesina (Indotestudoforstenii) in captivity. Rept. Rap 4: 4. tortoise. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 61(1): 191-192. Sane, L.S. & S.R. Sane (1989): Some observations on growth ofthe Das, I. (1991): Colourguide to the Turtles andTortoises ofthe Indian Travancore Tortoise (Geochelone travancorica). J. Bombay Nat. Subcontinent.R&APublishingLtd.,Portishead.vi+ 133pp+ 16pi. Hist. Soc. 86(1): 109. Moll, E.O. (1989): Indotestudoforstenii Travancore Tortoise. Vijaya, J. (1983): TheTravancoreTortoise Geochelone travancorica. In:TheConservationBiologyofTortoises(Eds: Swingland, I.R. & Hamadryad 8(3): 11-13. 14. FURTHER NOTES ON BREEDING COLOUR IN MALE CALOTES VERSICOLOR1 SatishKumarSharma2 'Accepted February 26, 2005 foundation for Ecological Security, 18-New Ahinsapuri, Fatehpura, Udaipur 313 001, Rajasthan, India. Email: [email protected] TheIndian GardenLizard Calotesversicolorisone of confinedtothesouthernendofRajasthan(Udaipur)differin the commonest arboreal lizards in Rajasthan. It can be seen colour pattern from those in the northern part (Jaipur). The everywhere, scaling rough-barked trees, especially Acacia majordifference is seen in the extentofits blackpatch. The nilotica and Prosopis cineraria. During the non-breeding blackpatchinthesouthernformisconfinedtotheneckregion, season, malesarebrownorsandgreyabove,uniformorwith justtouchingtheswollencheeksandfarfromthetympanum, apattern ofspots and bars on the back and the sides (Daniel whileinthenorthernformthebroaderblackpatchextendsup 2002),butasthebreedingseasoncommences(latesummerto tothe swollencheeksandpassesbelowthetympanum. Both early monsoon), males acquire a brilliant crimson or scarlet morphs have blackish lower eyelids, but the black is more colourontheforeheadandtheshoulders. Blackpatchesalso prominent in the southern morph. appear upon the neck, the cheeks and on the throat (Smith Duringarecentsurvey,athirdcolourmorphwasfound 1935;TikaderandSharma 1992;Daniel2002;Sharma 1998, innorth-eastRajasthan(Alwar).Duringthebreedingseason, 2001). themalesofthisareaattainascarletcolouronthehead,gular Two colour morphs have been recognized in the male pouchanddorsalside. Blackcolourappearsonthetrunkand C. versicolor in Rajasthan (Sharma 2001). Individuals, forelimb, extends towards the anterior half of its belly and 102 J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 104 (1), Jan-Apr 2007 . MISCELLANEOUS NOTES disappears just near the lumbar zone. No black patch is their breeding colours after death. Although a light tinge of present on the lower eyelid. Alternate whitish and blackish scarletcolourcanbeseenafterdeath,noblackcolourisvisible. bands are present on the dorsal side ofthe distal end ofthe Photographic evidence for the morphs has been tail. Thiscolourformseems largerthen theothertwocolour provided. forms. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Itisawell-establishedfactthat,justaftermating,males lose their scarlet coloration quickly, but the black patches remain (Sharma 1998). From May 7, 2002toJune 14, 2002, I am grateful to V.S. Sharma, D.P. Govil, R.G. Soni, while studying the colour pattern ofthe male C. versicolor R.P. Kapoor, U.M. Sahai and Bharat Taimini for their on theAlwar-Behror Road inAlwardistrict, many trampled encouragement. 1 am also thankful to I. Das forsuggestions specimens were observed and it was found that males lose forimprovingthemanuscript. Daniel, J.C. (2002): The Book of Indian Reptiles and Amphibians. versicolorofthe southern and northernAravallis in Rajasthan. BombayNatural HistorySocietyandOxfordUniversityPress, J. BombayNat. Hist. Soc. 98(1): 121-22. Mumbai. Pp. 50-52. Smith, M.A. (1935):TheFaunaofBritish India. Vol. Il-Sauria.Taylor Sharma, S.K. (1998): Fading of breeding colour in male Calotes and Francis, London. Pp. 189-193. versicolor after copulation. Cobra 34: 20-21. Tikader, B.K. & R.C. Sharma (1992): Hand Book: Indian Lizards. Sharma, S.K. (2001): Difference in breeding coloration in Calotes Zoological Survey ofIndia, Calcutta. Pp. 97-98. 15. RECORD OF BOIGA BEDDOMEI (WALL 1909) FROM SRIHARIKOTA, ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA 1 S. SlVAKUMAR2'3 AND RaNJIT MaNAKADAN2'4 'Accepted December 15, 2004 2Bombay Natural History Society, Hornbill House, S.B. Singh Road, Mumbai 400 023, Maharashtra, India. -’Email: [email protected] 4Email: [email protected] On March 30, 2004, whilecarryingout herpetofaunal early 1970s, while the forest and its wildlife are protected. sampling in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, we recorded a The nearest majorforesttoSriharikotaistheEasternGhats, greenishcatsnakeinaCasuartnaplantation. Theplantation, running about 100kmtothe west. raisedasashelterbelt,wasc. 300mfromtheBayofBengal. Thesnakewas 88cmintotal length withasnout-vent The average tree height was 19 m, with about 90% canopy length of 68.6 cm. The dorsal region was dull green with and 100% littercover.Thesnake wasrecordedunderahuge distinct black horizontal bars. The throat was white with a pileofpalmleavesaccumulatedunderaBorassusflabellifer yellow border, and the entire ventral region was deep tree with a fallen Casuarina tree heaped with dense yellow. A dark streak ran from the back of the eye to the accumulatedlitterand a3.5 m shrub to the side ofthe pile. neck.Theeyeswere large,with agreenish-brown irisanda Sriharikota is a spindle shaped island (c 181 sq. km), black,verticalpupil.Ithad8supralabialswiththe3rd,4thand situated largely in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh 5th touching the eye; body scale row of 19:19:13; ventrals (with a portion ofits southern part in Tiruvallur district of 248, and 106subcaudals. (Someofthe body measurements Tamil Nadu),boundedon theeastbythe BayofBengal and are: eye = 3.22 mm; distance between eye & nostril = 3.22 onthewest,northandsouthbythePulicatlake(461 sq.km). mm; distance between nostril and snout = 1.88 mm; head mm The island is acknowledged to have one ofthe last, largest, length = 18.27 and head width = 12.7 mm). Voucher andbest-preservedpatchesofTropicalDryEvergreenForest specimenwasdepositedintheBNHSCollection(Regn.No. in India (Sastry and Rao 1973; Blasco and Legris 1973; BNHS3343). Meher-Homji 1974). Besideitsnatural forest, theislandhas ThesnakewasidentifiedasBoigabeddomei(Wall 1909), plantations ofEucalyptus, Casuarinaand Cashew, covering supposedlyendemictotheWesternGhatsandSriLanka(Smith 21% ofthe landmass. The island hasbeen underthe control 1943). The species was not listed in the faunal list of the oftheIndianSpaceResearchOrganisation(ISRO) sincethe easternregionofIndia,whichincludesB.forsteni(Dumeril, J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 104 (1), Jan-Apr 2007 103