Browsing by Author "Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-"
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Item Additions to the herpetofauna of Nayarit, Mexico. American Museum novitates ; no. 1953(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1959) Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-; Bogert, Charles M. (Charles Mitchill), 1908-1992.Item Australian frogs of the family Microhylidae. Bulletin of the AMNH ; v. 182, article 3([New York] : American Museum of Natural History, 1985) Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-"Study of abundant new material leads to the recognition of 16 species in the Australian microhylid fauna, all but one endemic, in contrast to 8 previously known. One of 5 Sphenophryne and 6 of 11 Cophixalus are described as new species. Differences between advertisement calls are crucial to distinguishing between members of two pairs of sibling species and are important in diagnosing other species. One species of Sphenophryne inhabiting northern Cape York Peninsula and southern New Guinea is the only microhylid common to both areas. It and its sibling in the Northern Territory inhabit regions with prolonged dry seasons, in contrast to the three remaining species of Sphenophryne which are confined to rainforest in tropical northeast Queensland. One species of Cophixalus occurs in a boulder-jumble area a few kilometers outside the rainforest boundary, whereas the other ten apparently live only in rainforest. Most species of Cophixalus are known only from one or two localities but one -- C. ornatus -- has an extensive range, more than 300 km from north to south. The species of Sphenophryne inhabit leaf litter. Only one Cophixalus is principally a ground dweller, the remaining species being more or less scansorial. Like other genyophrynine microhylids, the Australian species presumably all lay large eggs in sheltered, terrestrial situations. An adult frog, male in the few verified instances, accompanies the eggs, which undergo direct development, producing fully formed froglets. The five species of Sphenophryne include two sibling pairs, with all five species being so similar morphologically that they were taxonomically confused in the earlier literature. The Australian species share no characters clearly apomorphic for the genus, and little can be said as to relationships with the more diverse New Guinean Sphenophryne. Similar mating call structure among the Australian Sphenophryne suggests that they form a monophyletic group, but the possibility remains that the calls are primitive and not indicative of close relationship. Australian Cophixalus are morphologically much more diverse than Sphenophryne, though similarly tied together by commonality of elements in the advertisement calls (quite different from those of Sphenophryne) that implies monophyly. Interspecific comparisons of body proportions by use of regression lines reveal many similarities and differences among species, but placement of particular characters on a primitive-derived axis is far from satisfactory. Furthermore, parallel development of presumably apomorphic traits seems to have been common. As a result, the relationships diagrammed are even more subjective than usual. Previous assessments of the Australian microhylids as a slightly differentiated group derived by dispersal from New Guinea are rejected. Paleoclimatic evidence that tropical rainforest habitat suitable for microhylids has been present in northern Australia since well before the Pleistocene, the accessibility of Australia-New Guinea to Southeast Asia since the Miocene collision of plates, and the high degree of endemicity in Australia argue for a long history in situ. Whether the Australian microhylids derive directly from a Gondwanan source, originate from Gondwana indirectly by way of Indian continental drift and subsequent dispersal through Southeast Asia to Australia, or are not of Gondwanan origin at all remains unresolved"--P. 267.Item Descriptive notes on larvae of toads of the debilis group, genus Bufo. American Museum novitates ; no. 2407(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1970) Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-Item The ecology of a population of Xantusia vigilis, the desert night lizard. American Museum novitates ; no. 2247(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1966) Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-; Lowe, Charles H."Over a period of seven years we studied a population of desert night lizards, Xantusia vigilis, in the Antelope Valley part of the Mohave Desert in southern California. These secretive lizards inhabit decaying stumps and fallen trunks and limbs of Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia), nests of wood rats (Neotoma), and similar surface litter. On visits to the study area during the winter, seven times in December and once in March, when the lizards aggregate and are relatively easy to collect in large numbers, we captured 656 lizards and marked them by clipping toes before releasing them. We recaptured 152 marked lizards a total of 216 times. General observations made during the field surveys, together with data on growth, longevity, and movements derived from the recaptured individuals, form the basis for this report. Xantusia vigilis is viviparous and produces only one to three young, usually two, in a litter... Little growth takes place before the winter period of relative inactivity... At the end of slightly more than three years of life the average length is 38.4 mm., range 36-41 mm. Growth rate has decreased considerably, and there is considerable overlap in sizes of individuals comprising samples of two-year-old and three-year-old lizards. The growth rates of male and female lizards evidently diverge in or before the fourth year of life... The amount of growth, particularly in the early years of life, appears to be correlated directly with rainfall which presumably determines the abundance of food. The majority of Xantusia that survive to adulthood lose the tail at least once... Suitable habitat is discontinuously distributed; lizards seldom leave the shelter of their logs or rat nests and take up residence elsewhere... We estimate that an average of 518 lizards (range, 302 to 680) inhabited the 27-acre study area during the period of our winter surveys- about 19 per acre or 12,000 per square mile. These figures are crude approximations and undoubtedly err on the low side. A large percentage of the population, about 50 per cent on the average, is composed of adult lizards- males two years or more in age, females three years or more. In unusually dry years many and perhaps most of the female lizards produce no young, presumably because of inadequate nutrition stemming from a scarcity of the invertebrates upon which the lizards feed... As might be anticipated for a species in which the females do not mature until three years of age and produce only two young per year, Xantusia vigilis has a long average life span. The average life expectancy at birth may be as high as four years, and individuals live for at least nine years, probably longer. Predation is thought not to be significant in population control. Social antagonism causes territorial deployments within the populations during the spring and hot summer months. If shelter is inadequate, heat and antagonism may act together in density-dependent fashion as limiting factors. Unusually cold weather in the winter may find some lizards insufficiently sheltered, though at this season most individuals aggregate in favorable sites. In comparison with other lizards, Xantusia vigilis shows a high life expectancy at birth, slow growth, late maturity, and low reproductive potential- perhaps the lowest known among lizards"--P. 51-53.Item Frogs and lizards from the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea. Bulletin of the AMNH ; v. 165, article 5(New York : American Museum of Natural History, 1980) Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-; Van Deusen, Hobart M.; Archbold Expedition to New Guinea 1964)"The Huon Peninsula forms the eastern end of the Finisterre-Saruwaged mountainous region, nearly 300 km. long, which rises to 4000 m. above the sea and nearly that far above adjacent lowlands. Thirty-eight species of frogs and 52 of lizards are recorded from the peninsula, many of them for the first time. Endemism is slight: none of the lizards and only three of the frog species appear to be endemic. Most of the lizards (92%) and frogs (54% of non-endemic species) are lowland forms, although many of these range into uplands as well. Populations of four species of lizards and 16 of frogs evidently are disjunct from conspecific populations elsewhere, almost all of which are in mountains to the southwest of the Peninsula, across the Ramu-Markham River Valley. The disjunct species are ones with lower elevational limits at about 1000-1400 m., some lower. Frog species restricted to high mountain forests or grasslands elsewhere in New Guinea are absent from the Peninsula. Geological evidence indicates that the mountain mass of which the Huon Peninsula is part has undergone 3000 m. of uplift since the late Pliocene, and that for part of its existence the area was insular. In the Pleistocene, glaciers existed on the highest peaks, montane grassland expanded and cooler temperatures prevailed. It is hypothesized that these altered climatic conditions permitted immigration of such upland species as are present and now, with changed climate, exist in disjunct populations. Climate did not charge sufficiently to permit immigration of high montane species. Lowland species--especially skinks--would have become established shortly after the land mass first appeared above the sea, and the more balanced lowland fauna would have been achieved when the Ramu-Markham area became dry land. The scarcity of endemic forms suggests that the Finisterre-Saruwaged region has not been isolated long enough or continuously enough to permit speciation of isolated populations. The frog and lizard faunas provide no evidence of a former land connection between New Britain and the Huon Peninsula, and the scarcity of lowland New Guinea frog species in New Britain argues against any such connection. One new species of microhylid frog--Cophixalus pipilans--is described, and distributional, ecological, and systematic notes are given for many of the species"--P. 390.Item Frogs of the genus Platymantis (Ranidae) in New Guinea, with the description of a new species. American Museum novitates ; no. 2374(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1969) Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-; Gilliard, E. Thomas (Ernest Thomas), 1912-1965.; Somadikarta, S. (Soekarja), 1930-Item Frogs of the microhylid genus Cophixalus from the mountains of New Guinea. American Museum novitates ; no. 2087(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1962) Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-; Archbold Expedition to New Guinea 1959); Spalding-Peterson Expedition (1959)Item Frogs of the Papuan hylid genus Nyctimystes. American Museum novitates ; no. 1896(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1958) Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-"The genus Nyctimystes (family Hylidae) is defined as including those species that combine the following characteristics: pupil forming a vertical slit when closed, lower eyelid with pigmented venation, feet without elongate or opposable first digits. Fourteen species are recognized as belonging to the genus, seven of them described as new. Principal characters useful in distinguishing the species are the pattern of the palpebral venation, maximum size attained, amount of finger webbing, and ratio of distance from eye to naris to internarial distance. The species comprising the genus are: N. avocalis, new species; N. daymani, n.sp.; N. fluviatilis, n.sp.; N. granti Boulenger; N. gularis Parker; N. humeralis Boulenger; N. kubori, n.sp.; N. montana Parker; N. narinosa, n.sp.; N. papua Boulenger; N. perimetri, n.sp.; N. persimilis, n.sp.; N. rueppelli Boettger; N. semipalmata Parker. The following changes in currently recognized generic and specific names are proposed: Nyctimystes amboinensis Horst = Hyla amboinensis Horst; Nyctimystes flavomaculata Forcart = Hyla darlingtoni Loveridge; Nyctimystes loveridgei Neill = Hyla loveridgei Neill; Nyctimystes milneana Loveridge = Hyla thesaurensis Peters; Hyla humeralis Boulenger = Nyctimystes humeralis Boulenger; Hyla rueppelli Boettger = Nyctimystes rueppelli Boettger. The geographic range of the genus includes the entire Papuan region, from the Moluccas Islands on the northwest to the Louisiade Archipelago on the southeast"--P. 48-49.Item Larval development of the tree frogs Hyla arenicolor and Hyla wrightorum. American Museum novitates ; no. 2056(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1961) Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-Item Long-term ecological studies on a population of painted turtles, Chrysemys picta, on Long Island, New York. American Museum novitates ; ; no. 2952.(New York : American Museum of Natural History, 1989) Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-Item Microhylid frogs from New Guinea, with descriptions of new species. American Museum novitates ; no. 1766(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1956) Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-; Archbold Expedition to New Guinea (1933-1934); Archbold Expedition to New Guinea (1936-1937); Archbold Expedition to New Guinea (1938-1939); Archbold Expedition to New Guinea (1953)Item A new cryptic species of microhylid frog (genus Cophixalus) from Papua New Guinea, with notes on related forms. American Museum novitates ; no. 2678(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1979) Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-"A new species of frog, Cophixalus kaindiensis, found on Mt. Kaindi, Morobe District, Papua New Guinea, is virtually identical with its sympatric congener C. parkeri in size and proportions. The two taxa differ slightly in color pattern and greatly in mating call. Distributional and diagnostic information is presented on these two species and on two other poorly known species, C. biroi and C. cheesmanae, which are possibly related to the new species"--P. [1].Item A new frog of the genus Ctenophryne (Microhylidae) from the Pacific lowlands of northwestern South America. American Museum novitates ; ; no. 2947.(New York : American Museum of Natural History, 1989) Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-; Myers, Charles W.Item A new genus and species of microhylid frog from the Cerro de la Neblina region of Venezuela and a discussion of relationships among New World microhylid genera. American Museum novitates ; no. 2863(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1986) Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-; Cerro de la Neblina Expedition (1984-1985)Adelastes hylonomos, new genus and species, is described from specimens collected on the Cerro de la Neblina Expedition of 1984-1985 at a site in lowland rain forest near the base of Cerro de la Neblina at the southern tip of Venezuela. Cladistic analysis of selected traits of morphology, reproduction, and vocalization suggests that Adelastes and four other genera - Arcovomer, Chiasmocleis, Hamptophryne, and Syncope - form a monophyletic group. A preliminary phylogenetic arrangement of these and other American microhylid genera is presented"--P. [1].Item A new genus of genyophrynine microhylid frogs from New Guinea. American Museum novitates ; no. 3129(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1995) Burton, Thomas C.; Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-"Albericus, new genus, is erected to accommodate three species removed from the genus Cophixalus Boettger 1892: Albericus darlingtoni (Loveridge) 1948, the type species; Albericus tuberculus (Richards et al.) 1992; and Albericus variegatus (van Kampen) 1923. The fifth toe being longer than the third and the M. depressor mandibulae arising mostly or entirely from the otic ramus of the squamosal and the adjacent prootic bone are apomorphic characters distinguishing Albericus from Cophixalus. The closest relative of Albericus is the monotypic genus Choerophryne with which it shares certain derived characters"--P. [1].Item A new lizard of the genus Tribolonotus (Scincidae) from New Britain. American Museum novitates ; no. 2264(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1966) Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-Item A new microhylid frog from the Adelbert Mountains of New Guinea. American Museum novitates ; no. 2012(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1960) Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-; Gilliard, E. Thomas (Ernest Thomas), 1912-1965.; Gilliard, Margaret.Item New microhylid frogs (Baragenys and Cophixalus) from the Louisiade Archipelago, New Guinea. American Museum novitates ; no. 2141(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1963) Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-; Brass, L. J. (Leonard J.); Archbold Expedition to New Guinea 1956-1957)Item A new montane microhylid frog from Papua New Guinea, and comments on the status of the genus Aphantophryne. American Museum novitates ; no. 2723(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1982) Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-; Allison, Allen."Discovery of an undescribed, ground-dwellingspecies of the largely scansorial genus Cophixalus led to the re-evaluation of the monotypic genus Aphantophryne to see if this genus, presently synonymized within Cophixalus, should be revived to accommodate its terrestrial type species, C. pansus, and the new form. The two species share some presumably derived features, but these are ones common to many microhylid species of similar ground-dwelling habits and do not necessarily indicate closeness of relationship. Evaluation of previously unstudied features of the anatomy of C. pansus does not support revival Aphantophryne either as a monotypic genus or to include the new species. The latter is described as Cophixalus sphagnicola, new species"--P. [1].Item A new species of frog from Australia (Microhylidae, Cophixalus). American Museum novitates ; no. 2614(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1977) Zweifel, Richard George, 1926-; Parker, Fred."Cophixalus saxatilis, described from Black Mountain near Cooktown, Queensland, is the fourth known Australian species of Cophixalus. Among the Australian species it is most similar to C. ornatus, whereas in New Guinea there are at least six species similar in size and proportions to C. saxatilis"--P. [1].