My first view of Panama from my airplane (although this is near Panama City, and the island I'm on is on basically the opposite end of the country) was kind of foggy but beautiful!
Guys. I have a confession.
My much talked about trip has arrived and I'm in Panama!
That's not the confession. The confession is that I could not, for the life of me, narrow down my choices for today's Creature Feature (and I'm a day late because work is all-consuming at a field station).
So TA DA THESE ARE THE THINGS I HAVE SEEN SO FAR! I'm here at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute field station in Bocas del Toro and everything I've seen is new and fantastic to me. If it wasn't so hot and humid, I would perhaps never go home. (But it is hot and humid, so don't worry, people that are taking care of my pets while I'm gone, I will definitely be coming home.)
Choloepus didactylus is the scientific name for this two-toed sloth. They are even cuter in person. If you can believe that. (Seriously. They are.)
Tree frogs abound!
Frog I still haven't identified, but OMG SO PRETTY! That bright coloration is usually a warning, so no, I didn't touch him while trying to get this image.
Literally more geckos than I can swing a bat at!
This teeeeeeny tiny gecko was in my room and I ushered him gently outside, but when I returned from dinner he was back. I have since declared him my roommate and named him Alfredo. There's another slightly larger gecko outside my room that I am naming Linguini if he continues to hang around.
Stick bugs! This guy was about 24 cm from stick antenna to stick butt!
Pederson's shrimp (Ancylomenes pedersoni) is STUPIDLY cute with its googly eyes. This specimen was collected by someone on our trip for his PhD research. (Thanks Ben, for letting me take some photos of this little dude!)
The little mangrove fiddler crabs are so amazing! I kept trying to figure out what I was seeing out of the corner of my eye and then finally realized it was these dudes!
And then the creatures that I'm here to draw! The last two days I've been working on tunicates, a very interesting phylum because of their close relation to our phyla, the vertebrates.
Seriously my area in Panama is jam packed with creatures I haven't seen before (both terrestrial and marine) and it's been incredible.
I've been trying to identify stuff that I have found here, but to no avail can I find a "Field Guide" for reptiles or amphibians or insects here at the station. Next time I will come more prepared!
So do you lovely readers recognize any of these? I'd love to learn more and have some names to go with my images!