The Calusa Herpetological Society Of Southwest Florida

Thursday July 7, 2016 - 7:00 pm

The speaker for this evening will be Jordan Donini.   The title of his talk is "Diamondback Terrapins: Life History and Reproduction with some Notes from the Field & Lab ".  Jordan grew up in Southwest Florida and began keeping and working with reptiles from a very early age. He attended FGCU and received a Bachelors in Biology with focus on organismal biology. He also worked at the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) on Sanibel for several years before attaining a Masters degree in Biology at Southeastern Louisiana University.  His research focuses on reproductive biology and physiology in turtles, with major emphasis on Diamondback Terrapins in Florida and Louisiana.

Diamondback Terrapins have an interesting life history, filling in coastal niches from the Texas Gulf, up though the Northeastern United states. Terrapins appear to have differences in reproductive output through-out this range, which may be due to variations in the temperatures they experience. In this talk we’ll discuss a little about their life history, their reproductive biology, and my personal experiences with their reproductive physiology with some interesting notes from the field.

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The Herp-of-the Month will be the Eastern Narrow-mouthed toad (Gastrophryne carolinensis carolinensis)

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After Meeting Dinner

Do you want to talk herps for another hour or two after the meeting? Don't forget to come out to Stevie Tomatoes (a sports bar and grill) on Daniels Blvd and I-75 after the meeting, for food and plenty of informal herp talk with the speaker and other meeting attendees.