No. 15. — Notes on the Herpetology of Jamaica. 

 By Thomas Barbour. 



Introduction. 



On the return from a trip to South America the writer stayed somewhat 

 more than a month (March-April, 1909) in Jamaica. The opportunity 

 was taken for collecting a considerable series of reptiles and amphibians, 

 and as great changes have taken place, and are still taking place, 

 affecting the abundance of many species it seems desirable to prepare 

 the following outline of the Herpetology of the island. The introduc- 

 tion of the mongoose (Herpestes griseus E. Geoff.) has caused the almost 

 complete extinction of many species which were once abundant, and has 

 in some ways radically changed the facies of the fauna. 



In the back country lizards are rarely met with, and it is only in the 

 vicinities of villages and towns, where they are more or less protected, 

 that one may obtain satisfactory series of many species. The true 

 ground-inhabiting forms have, of course, suffered most, so that lizards of 

 the genera Ameiva, Mabuia, and Celestus are now scarce and difficult 

 to obtain. This is all the more unfortunate because the members of the 

 last-named genus were particularly interesting, local in distribution, retir- 

 ing in their habits, and even, before the introduction of the mongoose, 

 rare in collections. 



Snakes have suffered perhaps more than lizards. The general opinion 

 in Jamaica is that the Boa, Epicrates, as well as the large Iguana, are 

 now almost extinct on the main island, though they still occur on some 

 of the near-by outlying islets. As for other snakes, the racers are now 

 scarce and difficult to obtain, while the burrowing snakes are, owing to 

 their habits, of uncertain occurrence. There is no reason to suppose, 

 however, that their abundance has been affected by the spread of the 

 mongoose. 



The amphibians are quite plentiful. The large tree frogs may be 

 heard almost any night or during showers in localities slightly above the 

 level of the sea. I have never heard any near the sea-coast towns. The 

 Hylas generally spend most of their time hiding in the clumps of what 



