A NEW BRITISH LIZARD? UNLIKELY... BUT YOU NEVER KNOW

Some weeks ago I received an e-mail from Darren Naish; it was brief and to the point, and said that someone had just left a comment on his blog posting about green lizards, which read: "Hi - We have just found what we realised was a green lizard (half its tail missing) in our hall in Dorchester. Perhaps our cat brought it in - it ran out to the front garden, which has shingle and shrub cover. Both of us were pretty surprised - does anyone know of green lizards in Dorchester?"

It is just the latest event in a long, and tortuous saga, which was partially my fault in the first place. As I am sure every British reader of this bloggo will know, there are only three species of lizard known in these islands; the sand lizard, the common lizard and the slow-worm. However for nearly two hundred years now there have been reports of bright green lizards, considerably larger than any of the native species, which have been reported along the coast of East Devon and parts of Dorset. These animals are not just known from anecdotal reports but have been described in such august journals as the zoological society report from the Devonshire Association.

The scientific luminaries of the 19th Century were convinced that there was in fact a relic population of a fourth species of lizard living on the south coast of England, but after about 1920 everyone forgot about it until I rediscovered the old scientific papers a few years ago in a museum basement! After having investigated these reports for a number of years it seems (although I cannot prove it) that I am now pretty sure about what these creatures are.

There is a large and beautiful lacertid called the Western green lizard (Lacerta bilineata) which is found across much of Europe and is even found in the Channel Islands. Until very recently there was a thriving trade between the Channel Islands and the Dorset port of Weymouth (where boatloads of tomatoes and other delicacies were often unloaded before being transported into the hinterland for sale). I am sure that it is not a coincidence that when one plots the sightings of these green lizards over the years on a distribution map that Weymouth proves to be the epicentre. This suggests that over a period of perhaps two hundred years Lacerta bilineata as been an unwary stowaway to this country inside baskets of fruit and vegetables. Upon disembarking on the UK mainland they have spread into the surrounding areas where they have become established, and may even have bred.

Darren takes up the story:

On the basis of these historical records, Jon Downes (1994) proposed that viable feral colonies of green lizards existed in Devon and Dorset, and that they were probably introduced from either France or the Channel Islands. He became disappointed that his idea was ‘ignored by the zoological establishment’ and that ‘two famous zoologists (who shall remain nameless) told us that the theory was arrant nonsense. The paper was returned with a brusque letter from several zoological magazines and after a while we just gave up’ (Downes 2003, p. 13). Given that, as noted above, relatively long-lived feral colonies had been reported earlier from the Isle of Wight, however, it would seem likely that Jon was right.

The presence of what appears to be a viable, breeding colony, this time at Bournemouth, led Jon (Downes 2003) to write an article titled ‘Told u so’ [sic]. However, because there’s no evidence that the Bournemouth colony is anything to do with the historical Devon and Dorset records discussed by Jon, it’s not entirely satisfactory to claim that his contention has been vindicated. Then again, the fact that the Bournemouth colony is apparently viable and spreading (breeding is thought to have occurred) suggests that other colonies in southern England may well have been capable of this too. The Bournemouth colony was discovered by herpetologist Chris Gleed-Owen of the Herpetological Conservation Trust when he was on his way to work one day, and the colony is located just a few hundred metres away from Gleed-Owen’s office (Gleed-Owen 2004).

Why are the lizards there? Gleed-Owen has suggested that they are dumped pets that have since bred. Could they have been introduced accidentally from the Channel Islands, or the continent, as Jon suggested for the other possible colonies? To answer this you’d need to know what sort of imports Bournemouth receives from abroad, and I haven’t bothered to check that out. Finally, could they be late-surviving, hitherto-overlooked natives? This possibility has been inspired by the recent discovery that the (now extinct) British Pool frogs Rana lessonae of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire were almost certainly natives, and not continental introductions as usually thought. It’s also now being suggested that the European tree frog Hyla arborea colonies of the New Forest are also natives. Gleed-Owen regards the possibility of native status for the Bournemouth lizards as ‘unlikely, but not impossible’.


Leaving aside the mildly embarrassing reminder, that a few years ago I didn't suffer fools as gladly as I do now, and I was much more pugnacious and combative in my professional outlook than I have been since, I would suggest that the discovery of a specimen inland in Dorset; in Dorchester, does up the ante a little bit for those who either support my earlier theory that these lizards have been here much longer than just as a result of being 'dumped' exotic pets, or those who support the theory that Gleed-Owen describes as 'unlikely, but not impossible', that they are actually hitherto unsuspected natives.

Darren's article on the species can be found in the original version of Tetrapod Zoology:
http://darrennaish.blogspot.com/2006/04/hunting-green-lizards-in-dorset-new.html

GUEST BLOGGER FLEUR FULCHER: Battletoads - beleaguered batrachians and ambushed anurans

Over, once again to the divine Ms F. Charming as usual, she is taking up cudgels on behalf of the poor downtrodden amphibians of the planet. They are in crisis - but there is good news as well...

Worldwide things are looking dire on the amphibian front, the Chytrid disease has been spreading fast and there is as yet no treatment, one billion frogs also end up as food for humans each year, or used in traditional medicines and rituals.

Yet there are still pieces of good news from the amphibian world, an expedition by Frontiers has discovered 15 new species in Tanzania’s remote mountain forests. Some of these are bizarre looking, brightly coloured and covered in lumps, bumps and growths. But the most unusual characteristic displayed by the newly found Nectophrynoides toads is that they give birth to live offspring rather than laying eggs.

As well as these toads there is a new type of very cute looking burrowing toad belonging to the genus Probreviceps, unfortunately, this little toad is already in danger from habitat loss, the ecologically important forests in which it lives are rapidly being felled.

The success of this expedition shows the need for more exploration into the more remote forests, valleys and mountains to record and protect the animal inhabitants of these places before their homes vanish forever.

If these adorable lumpy bumpy and burrowing toads are not enough to catch your attention to the plight facing our planet’s amphibians then perhaps the ever photogenic tree frog will do the trick, the new one found in Tanzania is from the genus Leptopelis, and I cannot imagine looking into its huge browny gold eyes and telling it I don’t care about frogs and their kin.

It is unfortunate that there are many types of amphibian that are heading towards the same fate as the famous golden toad, but this does not have to happen, if a cure can be found for the disease, important habitats protected and responsible collecting methods for the food and pet trades enforced then who knows how many new species we will find in the future. If those things are not done then it is almost inevitable that many species of amphibian will disappear before science, (and the rest of us) has even had a chance to see them.

On the Track of Unknown Terrapins

Friday seems to be chelonian day here at the CFZ Bloggo, and so, in order to compliment the charming article by Glen Vaudrey, here is a reprint of an article I wrote for Fortean Times nearly six years ago....

The late great Bernard Heuvelmans once wrote that "there are lost worlds everywhere ". It is a dictum which has been quoted many times in the last 40 years by cryptozoologists who are determined to prove that many species of new animals still remain to be discovered. It is, of course, true. A multinational marine census which hopes to catalogue all the animals and plants in the world's oceans recently announced that they are discovering an average of three new fish species a week. Even the Zoology of the British Isles - arguably the most well explored place on the planet is in a continual state of flux. Within the last year or so it has been proved that at least two new species of reptiles and amphibians - the pool frog, and the European green lizard are indeed British residents. A fascinating article in the the Herpetological Review even suggests that there may be up to seven taxa of European water frog resident in the UK. It is probable that these are mostly introductions - but in the light of recent discoveries it would, in my opinion at least, be unwise to reject the possibility that at least some of these may well be native to Britain.

However, to return to Heuvelmans's dictum. Unknown animals can indeed be found anywhere, but it I feel that it was very unlikely that when the "father of cryptozoology" made the statement are that he realised that some 40 years later there would be a pair of a bona fide species of unknown animal residing in a home-made garden shed tacked onto the back of a mid-terrace house in Exeter.

In the 12 years that I have been running the Centre for Fortean Zoology I have carried out many investigations into strange, and bizarre creatures. However, I have to admit that many of the higher profile investigations that we have done - and especially many of the TV programmes which we have made about the more media-friendly cryptids such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster et al - have been done purely to finance some of the projects which are closer to my heart involving smaller and ( in the public's eyes at least), less interesting animals.

In the early summer, whilst Richard was tramping around the jungles of Sumatra in search of the Orang-Pendek, I had a telephone call from my old friend and colleague Darren Naish. He told me that the university department where he worked had become a home for a number of terrapins, including two which nobody had been able to identify. Would we, be interested in taking them on? Since my youngest days I have been fascinated by aquatic reptiles. The CFZ is home to various of these creatures and I'm always happy to take more. A few weeks later Darren and his boss arrived for lunch, and with them came the three large turtles. The female - called Gladys - is a very large red eared terrapin. These animals have been commonly kept as pets for over 50 years, and while I am very fond of them (and am quite happy to have another one in my collection), her only Fortean significance is that she is a fine example of the species which since the craze for such things which surrounded the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle" movie about 13 years ago has become naturalised in various parts of the UK.

The other two turtles are something else entirely. Both males, Cuthbert and Spots ( no we ain't responsible for the names), appear to be members of the same species. Nobody - not even the keen herpetologists who work and live at the CFZ, nor any of the Zoologists who have visited us in the last six months I able to identify them.

They are particularly attractive looking reptiles. They have broad, flat, heads covered in a striking pattern of grey and brown spots. Both of them have a tendency to turn pink on various occasions. When Cuthbert first exhibited this propensity we panicked. When a semi aquatic turtle wayward turns pink it usually means that it is suffering from serious blood poisoning. We rushed him down to a friendly neighbourhood vet who gave him a course of antibiotic injections, and told us to keep him segregated from the others. This we did, and to our great delight he slowly recovered his normal coloration and carried on eating heartily. A week later he did exactly the same thing again.

They have now been living with us for nearly six months. Spots has exhibited courtship behaviour with Gladys on several occasions and has also become very territorial, forcing Cuthbert out of the water whenever he feels horny. We still have no idea what they are, which is why we have prevailed upon FT to print this peice for us. From the configurations of on their shells and plastrons they appear to be Emydids - from the same family as Gladys and all the other North American fresh water terrapins. However, they don't look reminiscent of any of the known species. Their provenance is very murky indeed. Together with Gladys they were donated to Portsmouth University when they outgrew their homes in suburbia. Because all three turtles are roughly the same size it is - I feel - reasonably safe to assume that they were purchased at the same time, probably from a pet shop. However there is no way of finding out for sure.

They may, of course be either a rare colour morph of the red eared terrapin, or they may be a hybrid which has hitherto been unknown to science. I feel, that because the two unknown animals are so similar that a hybrid is unlikely. However, it is not impossible. Over the past 30 years or so, a large proportion of the red eared terrapins which have been imported into the UK have come from farms in Singapore, the Philippines and Hong Kong. It is not impossible that - if these are hybrids - that they are a hybrid between the red eared terrapin and some Asian species. However, I feel that this is highly unlikely. The best prognosis - in my opinion at least - is that they are either a hitherto unknown North American species, or an Asian species which merely looks like its distant cousins from the New World.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology has never been about trying to prove any theory. Our job is to find out the truth - however prosaic it turns out to be. I am hoping that somebody reading this article will recognise the pictures and be able to tell us what species Cuthbert and Spots actually are. If we have been completely dumb and that they are obviously members of a well known species I apologise to everyone out there in Forteanaland for having wasted their time. If not, then any suggestions from anyone about how we can resolve this mystery will be gratefully appreciated.

To bring the story up to date, "Spots" died in 2004, but Cuthbert and Gladys are now living in their winter quarters - a heated tank in the CFZ Museum. However, this very afternoon I have to go into Bideford for a diabetic eye test, and on the way home Graham and I are going to look at an old cast iron bath which we have been donated. If it proves suitable, it will be manhandled back to Woolsery, and converted into a turtle pond - summer quarters for Gladys and Cuthbert, and our two newly acquired map turtles.

But the main crux of the article remains. What the heck is Cuthbert?