LIZARDS AND TURTLES AND FROGS – OH MY!
WEBSITE PROVIDES INFO. ABOUT REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS
IN STATE WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREAS

Scientists from the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History at the University of Oklahoma have recently completed a survey of reptiles and amphibians in Packsaddle Wildlife Management Area in western Oklahoma. The Packsaddle survey is part of a multiple-year project to study the biodiversity of three of Oklahoma’s Wildlife Management Areas: Packsaddle WMA, located in Ellis County north of the Canadian River; Cookson WMA, located in southeastern Cherokee and southwestern Adair Counties; and Atoka WMA in the southeast part of the state. The study is funded by the State Wildlife Grants program through the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. The scientists, lead by Dr. Laurie J. Vitt and Dr. Janalee P. Caldwell, herpetology curators at the museum, have made their findings available to the public in a user-friendly website.

The State Wildlife Grants program is a national program that provides federal cost-share funding to state wildlife conservation agencies for the management of rare and declining species. It is the nation's core program for the proactive conservation of wildlife to prevent the need to list species as threatened or endangered. The mission of the ODWC is the management, protection and enhancement of wildlife resources and habitat for the scientific, educational, recreational, aesthetic and economic benefit to present and future generations of citizens and visitors to Oklahoma. While ODWC's wildlife management areas are used primarily for the management of sport fish and game species to enhance fishing and hunting opportunities, they also serve a wide variety of scientific institutions, museums, nature organizations and the public at large as a resource for learning and teaching about the natural history of Oklahoma.

The survey project serves both a scientific and a popular audience. Scientists need to track populations of species in order to get a handle on possible changes due to global warming or other environmental factors.
“Amphibian declines have been observed through much of the United States and the rest of the world, but we currently have no baseline data for Oklahoma,” explained Caldwell. “Our studies will provide some of the information necessary to determine when and where amphibian declines might occur in the state.”

The public benefits from the study through a new website that provides clear, simple information about reptiles and amphibians found in Oklahoma, along with beautiful photographs of each species.
“Oklahoma has a remarkable diversity of natural habitats contained within the Wildlife Management Area complex, and each of these has its own unique fauna,” said Vitt. “Amphibians and reptiles are a part of the natural ecosystems that we use for hunting, fishing, recreation and education. Surprisingly little information is available to aid interested citizens in observing, identifying and understanding the fauna that is part of the natural heritage of all Oklahomans.”

Vitt and Caldwell made some surprising discoveries during their survey of the Packsaddle Wildlife Management Area. Several species were found there that had never before been known to exist in that part of the state. These include western slender glass lizards – limbless lizards that look like snakes and can shed their tails, which comprise more than 70% of their total length, when threatened; southern prairie skinks, previously known from only central Oklahoma; and Texas nightsnakes, previously known from southwestern and south-central Oklahoma.

“These discoveries demonstrate how little we actually know about distributions in the state and point to the importance of conducting accurate surveys,” said Vitt. “It serves the public well to be able to make management decisions based on real data rather than assumptions that are often not backed up by defendable information.”

At present, the new Web site lists only those reptiles and amphibians found in Packsaddle, but as additional sites are surveyed over the next two years, the results of each survey will be added to the site until eventually it will represent species from across the state of Oklahoma. Vitt and Caldwell have already begun surveying reptiles and amphibians in the Atoka WMA. Those results will post to the Website in 2008. In the meantime, the site already features a number of common Oklahoma reptiles and amphibians.

“We believe that the site will be of interest to hunters and fisherman, as well as others who utilize the Wildlife Management Areas,” said Vitt. “Remember, most people who hunt or fish have a deep interest in wildlife, and the Web pages that we develop will allow them to answer many questions they have had based on their own field experiences.”

Brian Aucone, Director of Animal Management at the Oklahoma City Zoo & Botanical Garden, describes the website as “…one of the best references for Oklahoma herpetofauna.” The website can be seen at http://www.snomnh.ou.edu/personnel/herpetology/vitt/WMA/index.shtml. It also is accessible through the museum’s Web page at www.snomnh.ou.edu.

The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is located on the University of Oklahoma Norman campus. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p. m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. A family of four can visit for under $20. Additional information is available by calling (405) 325-4712, or on the Web at www.snomnh.ou.edu.
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