Shedd should also now be in the 20-25 species range, a number of which come from two salamander terrariums where it seems like more species are signed than present, but salamanders do hide well.
American Herping: A Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians in US Zoos
- Thread starter Coelacanth18
- Start date
25 species currently on display by my count, but the number on the survey was probably higher due to things that were on-exhibit but are not currently. This is not an artifact of the Amphibians temporary exhibit either, as it ended before the survey timeframe.
Lucas Lang
Well-Known Member
Anderson's crocodile salamander/ Echinotriton andersoni, but I did not find it in exhibit tank last time I visit.
There certainly have been in recent years. I'm not the best person to ask though; I've never been there and most of my data for that zoo is from a 2019 species list, long enough ago that I'm sure several species are gone/have been swapped out by now. At least half a dozen forum members have visited in the last 18 months, they probably have better information than I do.
I modified my write-up and removed the reference to Shedd being 30+. A lot of their amphibian collection are natives and dart frogs, some of which they've apparently lost over the past few years. I should have double-checked that before posting, but this post was only completed last minute so some editing got skipped.
This is also part of why I can't give exact numbers on what places hold, only estimates.
No idea. There are a few places holding Xenopus clawed frogs that aren't the usual laevis, but clawed frogs in general aren't particularly common in American zoos or aquariums apparently.
It is interesting how zoo collections and the pet trade sometimes line up with what they have, and sometimes don't; that's a topic I hope to cover in more detail at some point... but with reptiles too you may notice some of these discrepancies.
Notable from my visit in 2022:
-Fringed Leaf Frog
-Lemur Leaf Frog
-Northern Orange-Legged Leaf Frog
-Wyoming Toad
-Golfodulcean Poison Dart Frog
-Lake Titicaca Water Frog
-Bernhard's Mantella
-Splendid Mantella
-Climbing Mantella
-Blue-Legged Mantella
-Southern Dwarf Siren
-Striped Newt
-Anatolia Spotted Newt
-Texas Blind Salamander
They also held a glass frog I've not encountered elsewhere before, but I never managed to spot it so didn't take note of the exact species.
Fun fact: the man responsible for bringing Detroit's amphibian house to life is also the same individual currently managing the Togo Slippery Frog breeding program at Brookfield.
~Thylo
Oh good, it sounds like they still have a lot of the rarities I had noted for them - not all of them, but a couple of those also weren't on my original list.
Not sure if you didn't note it because you're used to seeing them at Bronx, but Kihansi Spray Toad belongs on that list as well
A couple people on the forum identified them as Granulated Glass Frog (Cochranella granulosa) in 2019; I used a photo of the same species in my glass frog post, and this individual looks very close to that one:
Taken at Detroit Zoo by @jayjds2
That is a fun fact! Sounds like the man is doing a lot for amphibian diversity in American collections.
Class Reptilia
And we’re on to the reptiles! Hold on to your butts, because the survey found ~750 species of reptiles… and we’re covering them all
Okay, calm down. A lot of them will just be names on a page. But we’ll talk about some of the more common or interesting species for sure! Today will be a very brief post covering one of those interesting ones.
Order Rhynchocephalia, Family Sphenodontidae
Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus)
Status in US Zoos: Rare
To gently ease everyone into the lizards, I thought I’d start with a reptile that looks like a lizard but isn’t – the tuatara. The only remaining species from a 250 million year-old lineage, its relatives went extinct around the time dinosaurs did (sorry, paleontology nerds: dinos will *not* be covered in this thread). Meanwhile, this little dude has been chilling in New Zealand the whole time – though unfortunately is now relegated to offshore islands and one fenced sanctuary on North Island. You can thank the egg-eating rats for that (and the people who let them get there, also).
Tuataras generally get around 1.5 to 2 ft in length, and can live for over a century in captivity. Their longevity may be related to their low metabolisms, an adaptation to the cool climate of Middle-Earth. Adults are primarily nocturnal, and will frequently spend the days hiding in seabird burrows… because as everyone knows, nothing is homier than a hole reeking of seabird guano.
Several zoos in New Zealand keep tuataras and are involved in captive breeding for release; outside their native country, they are much rarer. In Europe only Berlin and Chester hold them, the latter breeding them for the first time abroad in 2016. Meanwhile, here in the United States they can be seen at the Dallas Zoo and the Toledo Zoo. At least one other zoo - the San Diego Zoo - holds them off-display, and has a different subspecies called the Brothers Island type.
Taken at Dallas Zoo by @ThylacineAlive
And we’re on to the reptiles! Hold on to your butts, because the survey found ~750 species of reptiles… and we’re covering them all
Okay, calm down. A lot of them will just be names on a page. But we’ll talk about some of the more common or interesting species for sure! Today will be a very brief post covering one of those interesting ones.
Order Rhynchocephalia, Family Sphenodontidae
Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus)
Status in US Zoos: Rare
To gently ease everyone into the lizards, I thought I’d start with a reptile that looks like a lizard but isn’t – the tuatara. The only remaining species from a 250 million year-old lineage, its relatives went extinct around the time dinosaurs did (sorry, paleontology nerds: dinos will *not* be covered in this thread). Meanwhile, this little dude has been chilling in New Zealand the whole time – though unfortunately is now relegated to offshore islands and one fenced sanctuary on North Island. You can thank the egg-eating rats for that (and the people who let them get there, also).
Tuataras generally get around 1.5 to 2 ft in length, and can live for over a century in captivity. Their longevity may be related to their low metabolisms, an adaptation to the cool climate of Middle-Earth. Adults are primarily nocturnal, and will frequently spend the days hiding in seabird burrows… because as everyone knows, nothing is homier than a hole reeking of seabird guano.
Several zoos in New Zealand keep tuataras and are involved in captive breeding for release; outside their native country, they are much rarer. In Europe only Berlin and Chester hold them, the latter breeding them for the first time abroad in 2016. Meanwhile, here in the United States they can be seen at the Dallas Zoo and the Toledo Zoo. At least one other zoo - the San Diego Zoo - holds them off-display, and has a different subspecies called the Brothers Island type.
Taken at Dallas Zoo by @ThylacineAlive
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Oh good, it sounds like they still have a lot of the rarities I had noted for them - not all of them, but a couple of those also weren't on my original list.
Not sure if you didn't note it because you're used to seeing them at Bronx, but Kihansi Spray Toad belongs on that list as well
A couple people on the forum identified them as Granulated Glass Frog (Cochranella granulosa) in 2019; I used a photo of the same species in my glass frog post, and this individual looks very close to that one:
Taken at Detroit Zoo by @jayjds2
That is a fun fact! Sounds like the man is doing a lot for amphibian diversity in American collections.
Yes! Granulated is the species now that you mention it. I saw the silhouette of what was probably the frog through a leaf, but don't count that as a true viewing of the species.
I did forget about the Kihansi, though they were neither on-show nor kept in the amphibian house on my visit. The display for them was in the basement of the museum, but they have been off-exhibit for some time now. Still noteworthy!
~Thylo
Are you sure they're not on exhibit? Three different people uploaded photos of them taken in the latter half of 2022.
They may have gone back on then, but I didn't see any on-exhibit in August 2022 and I remember reading news thread posts around that time that they were off. I did see signage for them, though. The butterflies were also off-exhibit at the time to my disappointment.
~Thylo
Lucas Lang
Well-Known Member
This species is off exhibit for now I would say
Too bad. It was in the children's cave tunnel when I visited (viewable from the outside, I did not crawl through).
~Thylo
Class Reptilia
And we’re on to the reptiles! Hold on to your butts, because the survey found ~750 species of reptiles… and we’re covering them all
Okay, calm down. A lot of them will just be names on a page. But we’ll talk about some of the more common or interesting species for sure! Today will be a very brief post covering one of those interesting ones.
Order Rhynchocephalia, Family Sphenodontidae
Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus)
Status in US Zoos: Rare
To gently ease everyone into the lizards, I thought I’d start with a reptile that looks like a lizard but isn’t – the tuatara. The only remaining species from a 250 million year-old lineage, its relatives went extinct around the time dinosaurs did (sorry, paleontology nerds: dinos will *not* be covered in this thread). Meanwhile, this little dude has been chilling in New Zealand the whole time – though unfortunately is now relegated to offshore islands and one fenced sanctuary on North Island. You can thank the egg-eating rats for that (and the people who let them get there, also).
Tuataras generally get around 1.5 to 2 ft in length, and can live for over a century in captivity. Their longevity may be related to their low metabolisms, an adaptation to the cool climate of Middle-Earth. Adults are primarily nocturnal, and will frequently spend the days hiding in seabird burrows… because as everyone knows, nothing is homier than a hole reeking of seabird guano.
Several zoos in New Zealand keep tuataras and are involved in captive breeding for release; outside their native country, they are much rarer. In Europe only Berlin and Chester hold them, the latter breeding them for the first time abroad in 2016. Meanwhile, here in the United States they can be seen at the Dallas Zoo and the Toledo Zoo. A couple places hold them off-display, including the San Diego Zoo which has the very endangered Brothers Island type.
Taken at Dallas Zoo by @ThylacineAlive
Does St. Louis still have them?
Not on exhibit.
I don't know. As @birdsandbats noted they are not on exhibit there (though I believe they were many years ago), and that is almost always where my knowledge ends.
I don't count bts holdings, and rarely mention or investigate them. I only know of San Diego because the zoo themselves has an article about tuataras mentioning it (Tuatara | San Diego Zoo Animals & Plants). I've edited my original post to reflect that I'm uncertain about other holdings beyond what I've mentioned.
Order Squamata
Part I: Lizards
The survey found ~235 species of lizards in US collections. “Lizards” are not an actual taxonomic group, as snakes and lizards are closely related – in fact, some lizards are more closely related to snakes than to other lizards. Nevertheless, it is easy to tell a legged animal from a legless animal so we’ll stick with the usual branding.
Family Anguidae – Alligator Lizards and Legless Lizards
PSYCH. Gonna start off by throwing everyone for a loop – not all lizards have legs! Called glass lizards or slow worms, these animals offer zoos a great educational opportunity to show how lizards and snakes aren’t as different as people think.
Legless Lizards
European Glass Lizard/Sheltopusik (Pseudopus apodus) – Very Common
Despite the fact that we have native legless lizards here in the States, a European species is by far more common in zoos. Also common in the pet trade, the sheltopusik (also spelled scheltopusik, which I think is technically the correct German spelling) is held by big and small zoos alike; they are popular as an ambassador/education animal.
Taken at San Diego Zoo by @NigeW
Meanwhile, overall native glass lizards are Uncommon. The survey found the following two species, which are also by far the most commonly seen in the wild here:
Slender Glass Lizard (Ophisaurus attenuatus)
Eastern Glass Lizard (Ophisaurus ventralis)
Alligator Lizards
Okay, we’ll move on to lizards that actually have legs. Alligator lizards are the transition here, as they look rather like glass lizards but with legs attached.
Elgaria and Gerrhonotus
Status in US Zoos: Uncommon
Although wild alligator lizards are fairly common in the Southwest (I’ve seen them on a number of occasions), our native species are not commonly kept in zoos. Almost every holding I found was west of the Mississippi River where they are found naturally, and are especially prevalent in nature centers and local desert-focused facilities.
Species in the survey:
Texas Alligator Lizard (Gerrhonotus infernalis)
Northern Alligator Lizard (Elgaria coerulea)
Madrean Alligator Lizard (Elgaria kingii)
Southern Alligator Lizard (Elgaria multicarinata)
Southern Alligator Lizard (Elgaria multicarinata)
Taken in the wild by @Great Argus
Abronia
Status in US Zoos: Prevalent
A genus of arboreal alligator lizards, commonly found in bromeliads throughout the forest canopies of Mexico and Central America. Most of the ones in zoos are the Mexican Alligator Lizard (A. graminea), an endangered species found in a sliver of Mexican montane forest. Although habitat loss is the main cause of their decline, illegal trafficking for the pet trade has also contributed.
Mexican Alligator Lizard (A. graminea)
Taken at Zoo Atlanta by @DannySG
Other species:
Bromeliad Arboreal Alligator Lizard (A. taeniata) – Rare
Family Diploglossidae – Galliwasps
Closely related to the anguids, these lizards are mostly found on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. There is one species I found in American zoos:
Haitian Giant Galliwasp (Caribicus warreni, formerly Celestes warreni) – Uncommon
Only found in a handful of zoos, this endangered galliwasp (assigned a new genus in 2021) hails from the jungles of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It is threatened by habitat loss and the illegal pet trade. The Nashville Zoo has kept a breeding colony of these lizards for several years; they are also inexplicably found in a few Texas facilities.
Taken at Nashville Zoo by @Coelacanth18
Part I: Lizards
The survey found ~235 species of lizards in US collections. “Lizards” are not an actual taxonomic group, as snakes and lizards are closely related – in fact, some lizards are more closely related to snakes than to other lizards. Nevertheless, it is easy to tell a legged animal from a legless animal so we’ll stick with the usual branding.
Family Anguidae – Alligator Lizards and Legless Lizards
PSYCH. Gonna start off by throwing everyone for a loop – not all lizards have legs! Called glass lizards or slow worms, these animals offer zoos a great educational opportunity to show how lizards and snakes aren’t as different as people think.
Legless Lizards
European Glass Lizard/Sheltopusik (Pseudopus apodus) – Very Common
Despite the fact that we have native legless lizards here in the States, a European species is by far more common in zoos. Also common in the pet trade, the sheltopusik (also spelled scheltopusik, which I think is technically the correct German spelling) is held by big and small zoos alike; they are popular as an ambassador/education animal.
Taken at San Diego Zoo by @NigeW
Meanwhile, overall native glass lizards are Uncommon. The survey found the following two species, which are also by far the most commonly seen in the wild here:
Slender Glass Lizard (Ophisaurus attenuatus)
Eastern Glass Lizard (Ophisaurus ventralis)
Alligator Lizards
Okay, we’ll move on to lizards that actually have legs. Alligator lizards are the transition here, as they look rather like glass lizards but with legs attached.
Elgaria and Gerrhonotus
Status in US Zoos: Uncommon
Although wild alligator lizards are fairly common in the Southwest (I’ve seen them on a number of occasions), our native species are not commonly kept in zoos. Almost every holding I found was west of the Mississippi River where they are found naturally, and are especially prevalent in nature centers and local desert-focused facilities.
Species in the survey:
Texas Alligator Lizard (Gerrhonotus infernalis)
Northern Alligator Lizard (Elgaria coerulea)
Madrean Alligator Lizard (Elgaria kingii)
Southern Alligator Lizard (Elgaria multicarinata)
Southern Alligator Lizard (Elgaria multicarinata)
Taken in the wild by @Great Argus
Abronia
Status in US Zoos: Prevalent
A genus of arboreal alligator lizards, commonly found in bromeliads throughout the forest canopies of Mexico and Central America. Most of the ones in zoos are the Mexican Alligator Lizard (A. graminea), an endangered species found in a sliver of Mexican montane forest. Although habitat loss is the main cause of their decline, illegal trafficking for the pet trade has also contributed.
Mexican Alligator Lizard (A. graminea)
Taken at Zoo Atlanta by @DannySG
Other species:
Bromeliad Arboreal Alligator Lizard (A. taeniata) – Rare
Family Diploglossidae – Galliwasps
Closely related to the anguids, these lizards are mostly found on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. There is one species I found in American zoos:
Haitian Giant Galliwasp (Caribicus warreni, formerly Celestes warreni) – Uncommon
Only found in a handful of zoos, this endangered galliwasp (assigned a new genus in 2021) hails from the jungles of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It is threatened by habitat loss and the illegal pet trade. The Nashville Zoo has kept a breeding colony of these lizards for several years; they are also inexplicably found in a few Texas facilities.
Taken at Nashville Zoo by @Coelacanth18
And likewise: not all snakes are legless!
Madrean Alligator Lizard used to be held at the NC Zoo, so they did have a bigger presence east of the Mississippi at some point.
Also surprised to hear that the European Glass Lizard is more common in captivity than our own species, considering I have been more facilities with the latter than ones with the former.
Also surprised to hear that the European Glass Lizard is more common in captivity than our own species, considering I have been more facilities with the latter than ones with the former.
I have never seen a native North American glass lizard. Are there any kept in zoos or nature centers in the Northeast, or just in the states they naturally range in?
