REPUBLIC OF CONGO
October-November 2005
(VERSION FRANCAISE)
For an overview of the research program that this expedition was part of, please go back to main
page.
I spent a month collecting reptiles and amphibians in the Likouala District of northern Congo. The X on the map shows the location of my field site. No herpetologist had ever surveyed this location before, so my goal was to collect snakes, lizards, and frogs, in order to find out what species live there --known species to identify, and perhaps new ones to describe...
The flooded forest is a fascinating place. During the dry season the forest floor is visible. However, during the rainy season (which is when I was there), the water is up to chest-deep.
The Likouala forest seen from the air. |
Typical flooded forest habitat. |
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I found an area of dry ground surrounded by flooded forest. Lacking expensive camping equipment, I bought tarpaulins, mosquito nets and some pots and pans at the market in Impfondo, and hired a guide and a cook from the nearest Bantu village. Together we set up a camp and set to work looking for amphibians and reptiles. |
Wading through the forest, Etienne (my guide) and I set up 450m of fishnet in the hope of catching snakes. The water turned out to be full of snakes, mostly the large but harmless Grayia ornata. There were probably also smaller snakes, but the smallest fishing net available at the market was the one we were already using.
A 2m long Water Cobra --a formidable creature! | 
This harmless Water Cobra mimic looks an awful lot like the real thing.
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Cobra or mimic? --and how to get it out of the net?? |
On dry land we built a 10m drift fence with five pitfall traps. Unfortunately we didn't have plastic buckets to line the holes, and we really needed a longer fence to cover more area. What we had wasn't very effective. Other specimens were lucky finds walking trails we'd cut during the day by machete, amphibians collected at night with a headlamp, and specimens bought from locals.
Me preparing specimens in my open-air laboratory.
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This harmless House snake frightened a group of bricklayers
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I couldn't take enough pictures of the flooded forest!
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In spite of some logistical problems, our hard work paid off, though unfortunately some bureaucratic glitches cut into the amount of time I
was actually able to spend in the field. Although I had all the collecting and export (of specimens) permits I should have needed, signed and stamped
by the Délégué Général à la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique, there was one further permit I needed if I was going to work in the Lac Télé Reserve, run by WCS --one
from the Ministère de l'Economie Forestière et de l'Environnement. I waited and waited but, in spite of many promises, it never came through. So I did my work just outside the borders
of the Reserve, where I had all the paperwork I needed and the habitat was the same.
in the month I had left, I obtained, on average, a species a day, including snakes, lizards, and amphibians. I photographed each species alive, and then
took a tissue sample for subsequent DNA extraction, vital for future molecular studies. Finally I fixed each specimen in formalin, in preparation for transporting
it to its final repository, the Smithsonian Institution.
I had to use boiled water from the forest to dilute the formalin --the same water we were drinking! |
Labelling frogs and preserving tissue samples. |
Etienne wanted a real headlamp like mine, so he improvised with a flashlight and some string. |
Here are a few of my most interesting specimens. All are now deposited in the collection of the Smithsonian institution. Whole specimens as well as tissues
are available on loan (see link to Smithsonian Herpetology Department below). I thank the many experts who advised me on the identification of the frogs and lizards.
Any mistakes are mine, not theirs: Aaron Bauer, Dave Blackburn, Alan Channing, Bob Drewes, Alain Dubois, Annemarie Ohler, Andreas Schmitz, and Richard Tinsley.
Hymenochirus curtipes USNM-FS 246314. This species was described in 1924, and nothing, to my knowledge, has been written about it since. |
Xenopus epitropicalis USNM-FS 246240. A larger relative of Hymenochirus, also in the family Pipidae. |
Species collected:
Amnirana albolabris
Aubria masako
Aubria subsigillata
Bufo camerunensis
Bufo maculatus
Bufo regularis
Hoplobatrachus occipitalis
Leptopelis brevirostris
Phrynobatrachus auritus
Ptychadena perreti
Silurana epitropicalis
Agama agama
Hemidactylus mabouia
Hemidactylus pseudomuriceus
Trachylepis maculilabris
Bitis gabonica
Boulengerina annulata
Dasypeltis scabra
Grayia ornata
Hapsidophrys smaragdina
Lamprophis f. fulginosus
Naja melanoleuca
Natriciteres fulginoides
Psammophis phillipsi
Python sebae
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Aubria masako USNM-FS 246290. This rare frog, only described in 1990, has not been collected in the Congo before. This is the first specimen for which tissue samples and a photograph of the animal alive are available |
Trachylepis maculilabris USNM-FS 246215. The most abundant species at my field site. There were so many of them around that I had to discourage people from trying to catch more of them for me! |
Gastropyxis smaragdina USNM-FS 246302. By far my prettiest speciemen. |
Psammophis phillipsi USNM-FS 246248. A very convincing mamba mimic. |
Having completed the identification of my collection from this expedition, I planned a return expedition to the flooded forest of northern Congo between November and
December, 2006, to continue my work. This time I was able to take Congolese
graduate students into the field with me, to give them practical experience. There is a need for more Congolese scientists
trained in systematics to take on the huge task of documenting the biological diversity of their country. Read about the 2006 expedition here.
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The following organisations provided financial or logistical assistance:
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| Forest Cobra (Naja melanoleuca), 2.5 m |
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| THANKSSSSSSSSSSSS!! |
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