Rhianna Banana

I saw this sleeping Galapagos tortoise, Geoche lonehoodensis, at our beach resort. He was pretty friendly when he was awake. I´m excited about seeing the real thing and visiting the Galapagos tortoise breeding center when I go to the Galapagos next month!
I like the way this frog, a Jordan´s casque-headed treefrog (Tetraprion jordani) seems to be looking directly into the camera. The skin on his head is co-ossified to his skull, which makes it really bony and protects him from predators. Or maybe drying out. I can´t remember which =)
These turniptail geckos (Thecadactylus rapicaudata), liked to hang out on the trunk of the banana trees.
Here´s a view from the Pacific Trail at Lalo Loor.
This whiptail scorpion is actually not a scorpion, but a member of the Arachnid family (same family as spiders). I don´t think it was venomous.
You can´t really tell in this photo, but this wolf spider is carrying lots of tiny baby spiders on her back. The nest of this black vulture (Coragyps atratus) was in the base of a tree. The mother let us get pretty close to the hatchlings, but then flew out of the tree the next day when we passed by.

This anole, Anolis bitectus, had a large orange dewlap (flap under its chin used to attract females during breeding season).

posted by Unknown @ Tuesday, January 30, 2007