Pages [20 and 21]

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20
MARCH 8, 1949, cont.

FOUND HEAVY FOREST AND BANANA, COFFEE AND TOBACCO
PLANTATIONS. THIS DRIVE IS THROUGH BREATHTAKING COUNTRY,
WITH DEEP CANYONS AND LUSH TROPICAL FORESTS. I COULD CALL
IT HUMID TROPICAL FOREST, MYSELF.

WE DROVE TO POTRERO VIEJO TO THE FORBES HACIENDA NEXT.
FORBES DAUGHTER (MARIANA) TOOK ME TO A SPOT WHERE HYLA
VENULOSA ABOUNDED. THEY LIVE IN THE VERY MOIST BASES
OF BANANA TREE BOLES. THE TREES GROW IN WRAPAROUND
LAYERS, AND CATCH WATER AND HOLD MUCH MOISTURE. THE FIBER
ARE DEEP WITHIN THESE LAYERS, AND ARE SOMETIMES, IN OLD
TREES, WAY INTO THE PULPY CORE. WE TOOK NINE WITH NO TROUBLE.
WALTER DAHLQUIST TOOK ME NEXT TO THE REAR OF THE HACIENDA
TO A LARGE PLANT HE CALLED "ELEPHANT EAR". THE PLANT
CONSISTS OF LONG PETALED, ENORMOUS LEAVES, ALL FROM A CENTRAL
LOW BASE. HERE AGAIN THE PETIOLES FORM A CHUTE WHICH
FUNNELS WATER TO THE BASE WHERE IT IS STORED, DAHLQUIST
EXPECTED TO FIND SOME HYLA [MICRO???] HERE FOR ME,
HAVING FOUND THEM THERE BEFORE. BUT WE FOUIND 3 HYLA ^STAUFFERI^
UNKNOWN TO HIM, AND ANOTHER H. VENULOSA.

WE LUNCHED WITH THE FORBES, AND DROVE TO A CAMPING
SPOT 8KM. ENE OF POTRERO VIEJO ^[illegible]^ (DATA FROM DAHLQUIST) CALLED
OJO DE AGUA. THIS WAS A SHARP HILLSIDE NEAR LARGE SUGAR
CANE FIELDS, THE HILL WAS COVERED WITH DENSE JUNGLE GROWTH,
MORE HUMID TROPICAL FOREST. WE COLLECTED 3 ANOLIS (SAGREI?)
AND A LEIOLOPISMA BEFORE DARK. I SPENT THE EVENING
FINISHING THE SPECIMENS FROM PLAN DEL RIO, AND COULDENS
NIGHT COLLECTING.

THE ANOLES HAVE A BRILLIANT ORANGE DEWLAP WHICH THEY
EXPAND AND CONTRACT AS THEY SIT ON BUSHES IN THE JUNGLE
TANGLE. THEY HAVE A DEFINITE DORSAL PATTERN OF CHEVRONS,
WHICH APPEAR AND DISAPPEAR EASILY, HOWEVER.

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MARCH 8, 1949 POTRERO VIEJO, CONT.

THE LEIOLOPISMA WAS IN A HEAVY ROCK SLOPE, DEEP
IN THE ROCKS. I SHOT HIM TO GET HIM.

MARCH 9, 1949 POTRERO VIEJO.

HEAVY RAIN THIS MORNING. I HAD TO STAY IN CAMP
WHILE THE MAMMALOGISTS PACKED UP THEIR TRAPS, AND THEY
DIDN'T SKIN WHEN THEY GOT BACK, SO I HAD LITTLE TIME
FOR COLLECTING. I WENT AFTER SOME BROMELIADS I
HAD SEEN ALONG THE TRAK THE NIGHT BEFORE, AND I HAD
TIME TO TEAR 2 APART BEFORE I LEFT AT THE HONK
OF THE TRUCK'S HORN. EACH OF THE BROMELIADS PRODUCED
A SALAMANDER. MACINTOSH BROUGHT IN A HYLA HE FOUND
IN A SMALL HOLE INSIDE THE CAVE WHICH IS THE SOURCE OF
THE RIVER.

THE SALAMANDERS WERE QUITE DIFFERENT IN
COLORATION WHEN COLLECTED. THE SMALL ONE WAS LIGHT
GREY DORSALLY, WITH BROWNISH GRAY SIDES. THE LARGE
ONE WAS DULL REDDISH ABOVE WITH DARK BROWN SIDES.
I CARRIED THEM ALIVE IN A VIAL, HOWEVER, AND A FEW
HOURS LATER THE SMALL ONE HAD CHANGED COLOR
UNTIL HE CLOSELY RESEMBLED THE LARGER [symbol female ♀]. A FEW
HOURS LATER THE LARGE ONE WAS CLOSE TO THE ORIGINAL
COLOR OF THE SMALLER. THIS RANGE OF COLOR VARIABILITY
IS SURPRISING, TO SAY THE LEAST, AND I'M TRYING TO
GET COLOR PICTURES OF IT.

MARCH 10-13 - MEXICO CITY.

MARCH 14, NEVADA DE TOLUCA.

WE DROVE UP TOLUCA IN THE AFTERNOON, LEAVING M. C.
ABOUT 11 A.M. THE ROAD CLIMBS THE MOUNTAIN FROM