08/27/2019
This post is a comment on exotic species of amphibians and reptiles in Florida and a review of the new book Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida by K. Krysto, K. Enge, and P. Moler (2019, University of Florida Press, 706 pp.)
On a recent trip to Florida, I was 15 minutes out of the airport and on the Turnpike when I saw a Brown Basilisk Lizard (Basiliscus vittatus), native to Central America, basking on the shoulder of the road. Seeing the very distinctive profile I was sure that’s what it was, and I had to remind myself that I was in southern Florida, not Belize. Within an hour I was at Tom Crutchfield’s farm in Homestead. While I unpacked the car several Peter’s Rock Agama (Agama picticauda), native to sub-Sahara Africa scattered as I got too close while carrying my luggage into the house. All this activity was being observed by Madagascan Giant Day Geckos (Phelsuma grandis) that lived on a couple of giant palm trees in the front yard as well as wild Neotropical Green Iguanas (Iguana iguana) basking on a fence that surrounded the perimeter of the property. Just after sunset I heard a familiar sound, a female Tokay Gecko was calling from just outside the front door. When I located the crevice, it was a colossal Tokay, and there was an egg in the space with the adult.
My first trip to Florida to look for h**ps was in 1967, at that time none of the species I saw in the early few hours of the 2019 trip were present, at least as far as I know. Florida has 57 species of native amphibians and 98 species of native reptiles. Figure 1.1 in Krysto et al. shows that the diversity of native and non-native h**p species continues to grow, and exotic species exceeded the number of known native species for the first time between 1900 and 1909. A total of 180 taxa have been introduced into Florida from 1860 to 2015; only 63 have become established. They also point out that the terms exotic, non-native, nonindigenous, and invasive are interchangeable. Relatively few non-native species that have colonized the state are invasive – meaning that they cause harm to the environment, the economy, or human health. Three invasives are the Cuban Treefrog, the Green Iguana, and the Burmese Python.
Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida is the best treatment the Florida h**petofauna has received to date. The photographs are excellent; each account has a distribution map, at least one photo, and sections that provide a description, a taxonomic summary, geographical distribution, and habitat summary, as well as parts on reproduction, diet, behavior, and conservation. The book will likely become the classic on the h**petofauna of Florida and will be required for anyone with an interest in the Florida amphibians and reptiles.
As for the non-native invasion of amphibians and reptiles (as well as other significant clades of organisms), it is tempting to consider this biological population and deride all of it as human folly. However, it is more complicated than that. Humans and their ancestors have been moving around the planet for over a million years; as they move they transport animals with them. Some are accidental travlers others are domesticated and essential for human survival. The greatly enhanced Florida h**petofauna provides an opportunity to understand some basics of ecology as well as species that would have not ever be studied because they come from countries with few h**petologsists.
