While hiking a kilometer from the former Aviateca airfield at Tikal (Peten, Guatemala), I noticed a small toad. It was young, perhaps 4 cm long; nowhere near the size it will reach as an adult. We gently picked it up to bring it to the biologist and the other photographers and then put it safely on the ground. It was a challenge to photograph because it liked to hop around.
I have studied Bufo marinus decades ago (now named Rhinalla marina but I prefer to nickname it simply Bufo toad). They never exuded their venom. This toad at Tikal we estimate may be Bufo valliceps (in recent years renamed Incilius valliceps). The key feature is the yellow line of color down the spine. Toads shown on the Internet are more olive colored; our toad is in the center of Mesoamerica, nowhere near the Gulf Coast (or any other coast). So perhaps the color being the same as all the old leaves on the ground provides camouflage so raptors don’t fly down to eat it. If an expert in toads of Mesoamerica has a better identification we will be glad to update our estimate and cite the toad expert.
This toad secreted a colorful venom from its top parotid gland at the right. Both species of toads have well known what I call poison sacs behind their ears. There are also other smaller glands on their legs that I have never noticed.
This toad was the identical colors of the fallen dried leaves; so was well camouflaged.
The toad pictured in Classic Maya art is certainly the significantly larger Rhinella marina. We now have a tabulated list of every Bufo toad that is in Classic Maya art. Plus during our lectures that resulted from winning the Ig Nobel Prize 2022 for Art History, we introduced the Bufo toad as one of many potential ingredients used during the enema ritual of the 4th-9thcenturies. Bufo toxins are still consumed today and often cause death after convulsions. So obviously we do not recommend consuming the toad exudate whatsoever. Many hippies died from this in the 1960’s-1970’s since they did not know how to take it or what to mix it with. Peter De Smet will be explaining the ethnopharmacological aspects in our forthcoming FLAAR Reports on the Bufo toad that have been in preparation for many months. We are working together with epigraphers, linguists, and ethnopharmacologists. We will also ask a specialist in toads of the Americas to add a chapter on the anatomy of Bufo toads under their name.
We at FLAAR will be driving 1,100 kilometers round trip (550 km from Guatemala CIty to the national parks in the Reserva de la Biosfera Maya (RBM). Then we do field work research and photography all week. Then drive the 550 kilometers back to the office to process all the information and photographs and prepare new FLAAR Reports for students, zoologists and people interested in birds, mammals, pollinators, etc.
We have a complete web team in-house plus Alejandra Valenzuela works with them to prepare accurate readership statistics.
For later in 2023 we will be working together with an eco-tourism tour organizer to offer a workshop in photography of flora and fauna. Will be at the Yaxha part of Parque Nacional Yaxha, Nakum and Naranjo (PNYNN). Will cover telephoto photography of birds in flight, plus birds high up in tall trees. Will include macro photography of the eyes of colorful frogs and butterflies. So check back at least once a month until we have the dates and details available.
On Wednesday, 30 November, 6:30 pm (Guatemalan time), you can attend an in-person, live presentation by Nicholas Hellmuth on JAGUARS (and Pumas) in Classic Maya art.
If the zoo in your city, or a natural history museum in your city, art museum or social club would like this lecture in English, by Zoom, this can be arranged. Hellmuth is a graduate of Harvard, MA at Brown, and was Post Graduate Visiting Research Fellow at Yale for many years (over a decade). So any of these alumni associations would also be a good venue. Dr Hellmuth has lectured around the world for many decades: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, UCLA, Berkeley and universities and museums across USA, Canada, Mexico and Guatemala.
While a student intern at Tikal, in 1965, Nicholas uncovered the Tomb of the Jade Jaguar, the royal crypt of the son or brother of the King who was under Temple I. The burial found by Hellmuth was across the Great Plaza under Structure 5D-73. This was his Harvard undergraduate thesis. Then decades of iconographic study resulted in learning more about the role of jaguars in Classic Maya art. Yes, the ancient Maya actually had jaguars in their palaces (as did the Aztec emperor and most imperial areas around the world had ferocious felines as “palace pets”).
When you hike through Tikal you will see friendly coati herds of the copper-colored Nasua narica. The females and cubs are in the herd. When you see a solitary coati that is the male. The Coati are also called Coatimundi.
When walking from the entrance to the Twin Pyramid Complexes and then to Temple I you will better experience these furry animals if you are walking. If you are in a vehicle you don’t have time to take a photo (park vehicles are available to help people with difficulty walking).
We at FLAAR (non-profit research institute in USA) and FLAAR Mesoamerica (non-profit research institute in Guatemala) are accomplishing field work at PANAT so we gathered together our photos of these cute animals and have prepared this FLAAR Report for you.
You do not have to register; just click and the PDF downloads.
The beggining of a new field trip on October 2022 coincided with Hurricane Julia,
fortunately it did not have strong repercussions in Peten other than heavy rain on Sunday
the 9th for one night and a constant drizzle the next day. But it changed our plans to visit
Tikal National Park first, since all national parks would remain closed on Monday, October
10. However, we stayed at Ecolodge El Sombrero (before the entrance to Yaxha) and took
the opportunity to explore the surroundings. In the middle of this exploration we had a
valuable encounter with the red-eyed treefrog, Agalychnis taylori
Agalychnis taylori in Ecolodge El Sombrero, Petén, Guatemala.
Photographs by Edwin Solares. October, 2022
This species was recently reclassified from Agalychnis callidryas (McCranie, Sunyer and
Fonseca, 2019), so it is possible that you are not able to find information under the name of
A. taylori, but you should be able to find information under the name A. callidryas.
This beautiful frog is distributed in southern Mexico, across Central America, and the
northern regions of South America and can be found in humid environments like
rainforests, close to ponds and other small bodies of fresh water; since it is very important
for its reproductive needs. In the dry seasons, this frog finds shelter under broad leaves
closer to the forest floor, this allows A. taylori to reduce dehydration.
As its name says this frog has distinctive bulging red eyes. It also has webbed orange feet,
symmetrical streaks of yellow and blue on the sides of the body and leaf green color for the
rest of the body. Females tend to be larger than males, the average length is between 4 and
7 centimeters.
Their diet consists principally of insects of the orders Diptera, Caelifera and mosquitoes of
the Culicidae family, which they capture during the night. This This helps to prevent
overpopulation of mosquitoes and other parasites. (ecosystemic role). On the other hand,
to repel their predators, their skin contains poisonous peptides.
Did you know?
Red-eyed tree frogs change the color of their skin (from leaf-green to red-brown) based on
their mood and time of the day.
Agalychnis taylori in Ecolodge El Sombrero, Petén, Guatemala.
Photographs by Haniel López. October, 2022
Comments and updates to “Guía Ilustrada de Anfibios y Reptiles de Nicaragua” along with taxonomic and related suggestions associated with the herpetofauna of Nicaragua
When visiting Parque Nacional Tikal, you can watch great diversity of birds, a common one is the ocellated turkey, which walks over the whole park, but you can’t find this beautiful turkey everywhere; since it is endemic to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, north Guatemala, and north-west and west-central Belize. Its stunning colors is the first thing that will catch your eye and if you have luck and keep quiet you will be able to see it closer and enjoy the spectacle, but remember not to touch them and respect the flora and fauna of the reserve.
Meleagris ocellate in Parque Nacional Tikal. Photographs by Edwin Solares. October, 2022
With a naked eye, it can seem similar to the North American wild turkey and, actually, they belong to the same genus, but when you get to see the brilliants colors you will notice the difference. The males are brighter than the female with iridescent bronze-green body feathers and bluish-gray with blue-bronze tail feathers, but its amazing colors don’t end there, the skin of its head and neck is bright blue. Males, in addition have a blue fleshy crown on their heads with yellow-orange warts and during the breeding season, the crown enlarges and the eye-ring and warts become more visible. Legs are a dark red color in both sexes, but the difference is thar adult males have spurs measuring around 3.8 cm in length.
The diet of the ocellated turkeys is varied and omnivorous. This includes insects (mainly moths and beetles), leaves, roots, tubers, seeds, nuts, fruits of different plants. They feed during the day and roost in trees at night.
Meleagris ocellate in Parque Nacional Tikal. Photographs by Edwin Solares. October, 2022
