View allAll Photos Tagged coldblooded
An American Alligator (Alligator Mississippiensis) trying to avoid the intense heat by staying in the swampy water at Brazos Bend State Park, Texas, USA.
7 days on and the young newt has doubled in size. It now has front legs and the beginnings of the rear legs. You can also see the internal organs developing.
This newt doesn't know it, but it's getting a free pass in return for posing for photographs. It's now living in it's own spacious tank with natural cover to hide in and a good supply of greens and Daphne to feed on*. With all of the final instar Southern Hawker nymphs in the pond at the moment, it's definitely in the safest place!
N.B. *Whilst they are larvae most amphibians are herbivores that eat algae, but as they grow their digestive system and eating apparatus rapidly changes and they develop into carnivores!
North America's only venomous water snake, the Eastern Cottonmouth/Water Moccasin (Agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus) and the Florida Cottonmouth/Water Moccasin (Agkistrodon piscivorus conanti) are large heavy-bodied venomous snakes. This snake has two names and cottonmouth is the more appropriate one and more widely used. This name is given because when the snake is threatened it will open its mouth and the lining of the mouth is cotton white. The other name is used since it lives near on in water and the skin feels like moccasin leather. The Eastern Cottonmouth has a brown to olive-brown background with dark cross bands. When they get older they often lose their coloration, and will become solid black. Florida Cottonmouth looks very similar to an Eastern but is usually a lot darker. One big difference is that the have two dark vertical bards on each side of the nose. The babies look a lot like baby copperheads and can be hard to distinguish. They also have the yellow tip to. Both subspecies average length is between 3ft to 4ft long. The maximum record for both subspecies was 7ft 2in.
I found this slightly shorter version of a Florida Cottonmouth on the road to my camp sight at Dinner Island Ranch, in Hendry County, Florida.
It didn't take much for it to cop an attitude with me, and show me why it is called A Cottonmouth. I took a few shots, and let it go on its way in "Peace".
Brown Anole is one of the most commonly found lizards in Hawaii's gardens. Like chameleons, anoles can change color. However, brown anoles can only change their shade of brown. When they feel threatened or are trying to attract a mate, they will show a fantastic pop of bright orange and red with their dewlap.
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I guess she hits a car or something cause she didnt flied away the nearer i´ve come; she just nod her head a little bit from time to time...
Of course my flash i´ve left at home...
i am quite lucky always when searching for matching images to get the right composite. There are two images blended here. BEYOND THE WILD– Stand alone the image would not be as effective.
Experiencing the thrill of a slithering snake up close at the Mandai Zoo. An archive re-edited in my own way with photoshop.
A big, heavily armored, semi aquatic lizard found in the Amazon. The Caiman lizard is a specialized snail eater and has specialized molars to crush them.
Island of Madagascar
Off The East Coast of Africa
Palmarium Reserve
Best Seen In Lightbox-
www.flickr.com/photos/42964440@N08/38599404045/in/photost...
The male chameleon is more colorful than the male and has a bump on the nose. The males can come in a variety of colors.
Wikipedia-
The panther chameleon (Furcifer pardalis) is a species of chameleon found in the eastern and northern parts of Madagascar in a tropical forest biome.
Panther chameleons are zygodactylous: on each foot, the five toes are fused into a group of two and a group of three, giving the foot a tongs-like appearance. These specialized feet allow the panther chameleon a tight grip on narrow branches.
Their eyes are the most distinctive among the reptiles and function like a gun turret. The upper and lower eyelids are joined, with only a pinhole large enough for the pupil to see through. They can rotate and focus separately to observe two different objects simultaneously; their eyes move independently from each other. It in effect gives them a full 360-degree arc of vision around their bodies.
Panther chameleons have very long tongues which they are capable of rapidly extending out of the mouth. The tongue extends at around 26 body lengths per second. The tongue hits the prey in about 0.0030 sec. The tongue of the chameleon is a complex arrangement of bone, muscle and sinew. At the base of the tongue, a bone is shot forward, giving the tongue the initial momentum it needs to reach the prey quickly. At the tip of this elastic tongue, a muscular, club-like structure covered in thick mucus forms a suction cup. Once the tip sticks to a prey item, it is drawn quickly back into the mouth, where the panther chameleon's strong jaws crush it and it is consumed.
Island Of Madagascar
Off The East Coast Of Africa
Berenty Reserve
A warty chameleon on a low bush in the reserve.
Furcifer verrucosus, also known as the warty chameleon, spiny chameleon or crocodile chameleon, is a species of small reptile endemic to Madagascar. It was first described by Georges Cuvier in 1829.
The warty chameleon is found only on the island of Madagascar including Manderano in the Tulear region. It occurs over much of the west part of the island and in drier parts of the south. It is seldom found in primary rainforest but favours arid disturbed land, including near the sea. It is a terrestrial species and also climbs around in low bushes. In hot weather it sometimes retreats into a sandy burrow to keep cool.
There are two subspecies, Furcifer v. verrucosus and Furcifer v. semicristatus, the latter being found mainly in the southernmost part of the island. This chameleon is closely related to Oustalet's chameleon Furcifer oustaleti (Malagasy giant chameleon), the pair forming a species complex, but each member of the group may be a cryptic species (two species indistinguishable in the field and currently believed to be a single species) and the exact taxonomical relationship between members of the group is unclear.
The warty chameleon feeds largely on insects which it catches with its long sticky tongue. The female lays one clutch of 30 to 60 eggs a year and these are incubated for about 200 days. They hatch into juvenile chameleons which may take six months to a year to become mature. - source Wikipedia
Taken in Sarapiqui region of Costa Rica.
The red-eyed tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas) is an arboreal hylid native to Neotropical rainforests where it ranges from Mexico, through Central America, to Colombia.
As its name suggests, the red-eyed tree frog has red eyes with vertically narrowed pupils. It has a vibrant green body with yellow and blue vertically striped sides. Its webbed feet and toes are orange or red. The skin on the red-eyed tree frog's stomach is soft and fragile skin, whereas the back is thicker and rougher.
The red-eyed tree frog has three eyelids, and sticky pads on its toes. Phyllomedusine tree frogs are arboreal animals, meaning they spend a majority of their lives in trees; they are excellent jumpers.
Red-eyed tree frogs are not poisonous and rely on camouflage to protect themselves. During the day, they remain motionless, cover their blue sides with their back legs, tuck their bright feet under their stomachs, and shut their red eyes. Thus, they appear almost completely green, and well hidden among the foliage.
Had every intention of posting the gator couple once again but am no longer sure that they are the latest on the bayou. Will have to wait and see what pans out over the mating season. Instead, I’ve chosen one of the larger beasts that dwell in the horseshoe bends near Alligator Alley and made him the star of day three of Gator Week. This monster is all of 13-feet and one healthy beast. A massive alligator that will be a key player in the mating rituals on the bayou in the coming weeks. A considerable amount of the tail is under water in this capture. Photo taken on Horsepen Bayou.
A7R07095uls
"Because it wants to get to the other side!" ~ *The Knickerbocker* 1847
Perhaps a snapping turtle?
Thank you all ~ my fellow photographers and Flickr friends ~ for your visits, likes and notes.
51218
Varanus varius
Ok i give up, i have had enough. I'm headed for the nearest tree for safety.
Oh thats a funny tree with a lens and only tall as i'm long. Hmmm
Photographer makes sure he is not standing tall ;-)
An American Alligator (Alligator Mississipiensis) enjoying a beautiful sunrise on 40 Acre Lake at Brazos Bend State Park, Texas, USA.
A male Northern Tenerife lizard, (Gallotia galloti eisentrauti), soaking up the sunshine and warmth at the Botanical Garden in Puerto de la Cruz in Tenerife.
Galapagos Islands
Off The Coast Of Equador
South America
Santa Fe Island
The Barrington Land Iguana or Santa Fe Land Iguana (Conolophus pallidus) is a species of lizard in the Iguanidae family. It is one of three species of Conolophus. It is endemic to Santa Fe Island in the Galapagos.
The Barrington Land Iguana is similar in every detail to the Galapagos Land Iguana except that the Barrington Island Iguana is paler yellow in color with a longer more tapered snout and more pronounced dorsal spines. The Barrington Land Iguana grows to a length of three feet with a body weight of up to twenty-five pounds.
Being cold-blooded, they absorb heat from the sun basking on volcanic rock and at night sleep in burrows to conserve their body heat. These iguanas also enjoy a symbiotic relationship with the island's finches; the birds remove parasites and ticks providing relief to the iguana and food for the birds.
Barrington Land iguanas are primarily herbivorous, however some individuals have shown that they are opportunistic carnivores supplementing their diet with insects, centipedes and carrion. Because fresh water is scarce on the islands it inhabits, the Land Iguana obtains the majority of its moisture from the prickly-pear cactus that makes up 80% of its diet: fruit, flowers, pads, and even spines. During the rainy season it will drink from available standing pools of water and feast on yellow flowers of the Genus Portulaca. Listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. - Source Wikipedia
Bull Snake (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in defensive position. I almost stepped on this snake and I surprised it as much as it surprised me. That thing sure could hiss. Image taken in Elbert County, Colorado.
Cuiaba River
The Pantanal
Brazil
South America
Another image of the iguana can be seen in the first comment section.
The green iguana (Iguana iguana), also known as the American iguana, is a large, arboreal, mostly herbivorous species of lizard of the genus Iguana. It is native to Central, South America, and the Caribbean. The green iguana ranges over a large geographic area, from southern Brazil and Paraguay as far north as Mexico and the Caribbean islands.
They have been introduced from South America to Puerto Rico and are very common throughout the island, where they are colloquially known as gallina de palo and considered an invasive species; in the United States feral populations also exist in South Florida (including the Florida Keys), Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
A herbivore, it has adapted significantly with regard to locomotion and osmoregulation as a result of its diet. It grows to 1.5 meters (4.9 ft) in length from head to tail, although a few specimens have grown more than 2 metres (6.6 ft) with bodyweights upward of 20 pounds (9.1 kg).
When frightened by a predator, green iguanas will attempt to flee, and if near a body of water, they dive into it and swim away. If cornered by a threat, the green iguana will extend and display the dewlap under its neck, stiffen and puff up its body, hiss, and bob its head at the aggressor. If threat persists the iguana can lash with its tail, bite and use its claws in defense. The wounded are more inclined to fight than uninjured prey.
Green iguanas use "head bobs" and dewlaps in a variety of ways in social interactions, such as greeting another iguana or to court a possible mate. The frequency and number of head bobs have particular meanings to other iguanas. Green iguanas are hunted by predatory birds.
Green Iguanas are primarily herbivores, with the reptiles feeding on growing shoots of upwards of 100 different species of plant. In Panama one of the green iguana's favorite foods is wild plum, Spondias mombin.
Tenerife. Icod.
Mariposario del Drago
Don't add invitations to mandatory post & comment groups please. I'll comment when I feel like it, not because a group rule says so. I don't have time for that, sorry
All other comments are welcome and appreciated, as well as admin invites to groups without the post1/award1,2,3 rule.
This photo appears in the gallery Exquisite
Island of Madagascar
Off The East Coast of Africa
Palmarium Reserve
Image of a Panther chameleon. The male chameleon is more colorful than the female and has a bump on the nose. The males can come in a variety of colors.
The panther chameleon (Furcifer pardalis) is a species of chameleon found in the eastern and northern parts of Madagascar in a tropical forest biome.
Panther chameleons are zygodactylous: on each foot, the five toes are fused into a group of two and a group of three, giving the foot a tongs-like appearance. These specialized feet allow the panther chameleon a tight grip on narrow branches.
Their eyes are the most distinctive among the reptiles and function like a gun turret. The upper and lower eyelids are joined, with only a pinhole large enough for the pupil to see through. They can rotate and focus separately to observe two different objects simultaneously; their eyes move independently from each other. It in effect gives them a full 360-degree arc of vision around their bodies.
Panther chameleons have very long tongues which they are capable of rapidly extending out of the mouth. The tongue extends at around 26 body lengths per second. The tongue hits the prey in about 0.0030 sec.
At the base of the tongue, a bone is shot forward, giving the tongue the initial momentum it needs to reach the prey quickly. At the tip of this elastic tongue, a muscular, club-like structure covered in thick mucus forms a suction cup.
Once the tip sticks to a prey item, it is drawn quickly back into the mouth, where the panther chameleon's strong jaws crush it and it is consumed.