Robert Powell, Ph.D.

Reptiles of Navassa Island

• Map of Navassa Island
• Photographs of Navassan reptiles
• Reptiles reported from Navassa Island
• Bibliography of Navassa Island
• Museum collections with herpetological specimens from Navassa Island
• Commentary on Navassa Island
• Links to related sites

  Map of Navassa Island

Navassa Island: the solid line represents the old railbed, the dot marks the location of the lighthouse.

Location of Navassa Island.

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PHOTOGRAPHS OF NAVASSAN REPTILES

Anolis longiceps, an endemic green anole and undoubtedly the most visible of all Navassan reptiles (adult males, except for the last photograph, which is an adult female).

Celestus badius, often heard scurrying through the leaf litter on the forest floor.

Aristelliger cochranae, adult (above), subadult (lower left), hatchling (lower right)

Sphaerodactylus becki, an endemic dwarf gecko (photograph on left courtesy of S. Blair Hedges).

Cyclura onchiopsis, probably extinct (illustrated is the holotypes, USNM 9977, and a paratype, USNM 12239).

Leiocephalus eremitus, probably extinct (illustrated is the only known specimen, USMN12016)

Tropidophis bucculentus, probably extinct (illustrated are two of the three syntypes at the National Museum, USNM 12377).

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REPTILES REPORTED FROM NAVASSA ISLAND

Species known to be extant and from Navassa Island are listed in red.

¹ Thomas (1966)

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BIBLIOGRAPHY OF NAVASSA ISLAND

Listed are published references pertaining to Navassa Island or to species of reptiles associated with the island.

Important herpetological references are in red.

Anonymous. 1998. First marine expedition to Navassa Island, U.S.A. Plant Press (Smithson. Inst.) n.s. 1(5):4.

Anonymous. 1999. Navassa Island… Not your typical wildlife refuge. Flyer (Natl. Wildl. Ref. Assoc.) 25(4):1, 9.

Auffenberg, W. 1967. Notes on West Indian tortoises. Herpetologica 23:34–44.

Bailey, J. R. 1937. A review of some recent Trophidophis material. Proc. New England Zool. Club 16:41–52.

Barbour, T. 1937. Third list of Antillean reptiles and amphibians. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl. 82:77–166.

Barbour, T., and G.K. Noble. 1916. A revision of the lizards of the genus Cyclura. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl. 60:139–164 + 15 pl.

Boulenger, G. A. 1893. Catalogue of Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 1. Trustees of the British Museum, London. xiv + 448 pp.

Buck, W. R. 1999. Navassa Island and its flora. 1. History and bryophytes. Hausknechtia Beiheft 9 (Riclef-Frolle-Festschrift):61–66.

Burne, R. V., W. T. Horsfield, and E. Robinson. 1974. The geology of Navassa Island. Carib. J. Sci. 14:109–114.

Burns, D. J., H. R. Versey, and J. B. Williams. 1959. Appendix II. In G. R. Proctor, Observations on Navassa Island. Geonotes, Quart. J. Jamaica Grp. Geol. Assoc. 2:53–54.

Clench, W. J. 1930. The Harvard Expedition to Navassa Island. Harvard Alumni Bull. 32:684–687.

Cochran, D. M. 1941. The herpetology of Hispaniola. Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus. (177):vii + 398 p.

Cope, E. D. 1868. An examination of the Reptilia and Batrachia obtained by the Orton Expedition to Ecuador and the Upper Amazon, with notes on other species. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 20:96–140.

Cope, E. D. 1885. The large iguanas of the Greater Antilles. Amer. Nat. 19:1005–1006.

Cope, E. D. 1886. On the species of Iguanidae. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 23:261–271.

D’Invilliers, E. V. 1891. The phosphate deposits of the island of Navassa. Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. 2:75–84.

Ekman, E. L. 1929. Plants of Navassa Island, West Indies. Ark. Bot. 22A(16):1–12 + 2 pl.

Fick, A. H. 1864. Report on the phosphatic mineral of Navassa Island, W. I. In Navassa Phosphate Company Report to Shareholders. Baltimore, Maryland.

Gaussoin, E. 1866. Memoir on the island of Navassa, (West Indies). Baltimore, Maryland.

Grant, C. 1931. A new species of Aristelliger from Navassa. J. Dept. Agric. Porto Rico 4:399–400.

Hall, T. I. (comp.). 1889. The Navassa Island Riot. National Grand Tabernacle, Order of Galilean Fishermen, Baltimore, Maryland.

Hass, C. A. 1996. Relationships among West Indian geckos of the genus Sphaerodactylus: a preliminary analysis of mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA sequences, p. 175–194. In R. Powell and R. W. Henderson (eds.), Contributions to West Indian Herpetology: A Tribute to Albert Schwartz. Soc. Study Amphib. Rept. Contrib. Herpetol. 12. Ithaca, New York.

Howard, A.K., R. Powell, and J.S. Parmerlee, Jr. 1999. Anolis barbouri. Cat. Amer. Amph. Rept. (692):1–4.

Hurley, N. 1986. Navassa Island light, "where chickens only miraculously survive the attacks of lizards." Manuscript, 5 pp.

Liebig, G. A. 1864. Report to Navassa Phosphate Company. In Navassa Phosphate Company Report to Shareholders. Baltimore, Maryland.

Mertens, R. 1939. Herpetologische Ergebnisse einer Reise nach der Insel Hispaniola, Westindien. Abh. Senckenb. Naturfor. Ges. (449):1–84 + 10 pl.

Nichols, R.F. 1933. Navassa: a forgotten acquistion. Amer. Hist. Rev. 38:505–510.

Noble, G. K., and G. C. Klingel. 1932. The reptiles of Great Inagua Island, British West Indies. Amer. Mus. Novit. (549):1–25.

Patton, T. H. 1967 (1968), Fossil vertebrates from Navassa Island, W. I. Quart. J. Florida Acad. Sci. 30:59–60.

Powell, R. 1993. Comments on the taxonomic arrangement of some Hispaniolan amphibians and reptiles. Herpetol. Rev. 24:135–137.

Powell, R. 1999. Herpetology of Navassa Island, West Indies. Carib. J. Sci. 35:1–13.

Powell, R. 1999. Sphaerodactylus becki. Cat. Amer. Amph. Rept. (697):1–2.

Powell, R. 1999. Leiocephalus eremitus. Cat. Amer. Amph. Rept. (696):1–2.

Powell, R. 1999. Celestus badius. Cat. Amer. Amph. Rept. (694):1–2.

Powell, R. 1999. Anolis longiceps. Cat. Amer. Amph. Rept. (693):1–2.

Powell, R. 2000. Cyclura onchiopsis. Cat. Amer. Amph. Rept. (710):1–3.

Powell, R. 2002. Tropidophis bucculentus. Cat. Amer. Amphib. Rept. (760):1–3.

Powell, R., and R. W. Henderson. 1996. A brief history of West Indian herpetology, p. 29–50. In R. Powell and R. W. Henderson (eds.), Contributions to West Indian Herpetology: A Tribute to Albert Schwartz. Soc. Study Amphib. Rept. Contrib. Herpetol. 12. Ithaca, New York.

Powell, R., R. W. Henderson, K. Adler, and H. A. Dundee. 1996. An annotated checklist of West Indian amphibians and reptiles, p. 51–93 + 8 pl. In R. Powell and R. W. Henderson (eds.), Contributions to West Indian Herpetology: A Tribute to Albert Schwartz. Soc. Study Amphib. Rept. Contrib. Herpetol. 12. Ithaca, New York.

Powell, R., J. A. Ottenwalder, and S. J. Incháustegui. 1999. The Hispaniolan herpetofauna: diversity, endemism, and historical perspectives, with comments on Navassa Island, p. 93–163. In B. I. Crother (ed.), Caribbean Amphibians and Reptiles. Academic Press, San Diego and New York.

Pregill, G. K. 1992. Systematics of the West Indian lizard genus Leiocephalus (Squamata: Iguania: Tropiduridae). Univ. Kansas Mus. Nat. Hist. Misc. Publ. (84):1–69.

Proctor, G. R. 1959. Observations on Navassa Island. Geonotes, Quart. J. Jamaica Grp. Geol. Assoc. 2:49–51.

Putnam, G. R. 1918. An important new guide for shipping: Navassa Light, on a barren island in the West Indies, is the first signal for the Panama
Canal. Natl. Geogr. Mag. 34:401–406.

Putnam, G. R. 1918. An important new guide for shipping. Navassa Light, on a barren island in the West Indies, is the first signal for the
Panama Canal. Natl. Geogr. 36:401-406.

Rohter, L. 1998. Port-au-Prince journal: Whose rock is it? And, yes, the Haitians care. New York Times, Oct. 19:A4.

Schmidt, K. P. 1919. Descriptions of new amphibians and reptiles from Santo Domingo and Navassa. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 41:519–525.

Schmidt, K. P. 1921. The herpetology of Navassa Island. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 44:555–559.

Schwartz, A. 1964. Diploglossus costatus Cope (Sauria, Anguidae) and its relatives in Hispaniola. Reading Pub. Mus. Art Gall. Sci. Publ. (13):1–57.

Schwartz, A., and M. Carey. 1977. Systematics and evolution in the West Indian iguanid genus Cyclura. Stud. Fauna Curaçao Carib. Isl. 53:15–97.

Schwartz, A., and R. W. Henderson. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies: Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History. Univ. Florida Press, Gainesville. xvi + 720 pp.

Schwartz, A., and R. Thomas. 1975. A check-list of West Indian amphibians and reptiles. Carnegie Mus. Nat. Hist. Spec. Publ. (1):1–216.

Skaggs, J. M. 1994. The Great Guano Rush: Entrepreneurs and American Overseas Expansion. New York.

Stayman, A. P. and D. S. North. 1998. Navassa survey discovers a biological treasure. People, Land & Water 5(7):30.

Steiner, W. E., Jr. and O. S. Flint, Jr. 1999. Dragonflies on Navassa Island. Argia 11:19–21.

Steiner, W. E., Jr. and J. Swearingen. 1998. Entomology on Navassa Island. The Ent. News (Dept. Entomol. Newsl., Mus. Nat. Hist., Smithson.
Inst.) 12(9):3–4.

Stejneger, L. 1917. Cuban amphibians and reptiles collected for the United States National Museum from 1899 to 1902. Proc. U.S. Natl. Mus. 53:259–291.

Stull, O. G. 1928. A revision of the genus Tropidophis. Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan (195):1–49 + 3 pl.

Swartz, O. 1788. Nova genera et species seu prodromus descriptionum vegetabilium, maximam partem incognitorum quae sub itinere in Indiam
Occidentalem annis 1783–87. Vol. 1–3. Holmiae.

Swartz, O. 1797–1806. Flora Indiae Occidentalis aucta atque illustrata; sive, descriptiones plantarum in prodromo recensitarum. Vol. 1–3.
Erlangae.

Swearingen, J. 1999. Natural history on a little-known island: cracking Navassa’s oyster. Park Sci. 19(2):5–7.

Thomas, R. 1966. A reassessment of the herpetofauna of Navassa Island. J. Ohio Herpetol. Soc. 5:73–89.

Thomas, R., and R. Powell. 1994. Typhlops sulcatus. Cat. Amer. Amphib. Rept. (597):1–2.

Tryon, G. W. 1866. On the terrestrial Mollusca of the guano island of Navassa. Amer. J. Conchol. 2:304–305.

Turner, R. D. 1960. Land shells of Navassa Island, West Indies. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 122:233–244 + 7 pls.

Westermann, J. H. 1953. Nature preservation in the Caribbean. A review of the literature on the destruction and preservation of flora and fauna in
the Caribbean area. Publ. Found. Sci. Res. Surinam, Netherlands Antilles (9):1–107.

Williams, E. E. 1972. The origin of faunas. Evolution of lizard congeners in a complex island fauna: a trial analysis. Evol. Biol. 6:47–89.

Zanoni, T. A. and W. R. Buck. 1999. Navassa Island and its flora. 2. Checklist of the vascular plants. Brittonia 51:389–394.

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MUSEUM COLLECTIONS WITH HERPETOLOGICAL SPECIMENS FROM NAVASSA ISLAND

Following is a list of specimens reliably attributed to Navassa Island. Records determined by Thomas (1966. A reassessment of the herpetofauna of Navassa Island. J. Ohio Herpetol. Soc. 5: 73–89) to have originated elsewhere are not included.

Specimens are listed in the order in which they appeared or would have appeared with current taxonomy in Powell et al. (1996. An annotated checklist of West Indian Amphibians and Reptiles, pp. 51–93, pls. 1–8. In R. Powell and R. W. Henderson (eds.), Contributions to West Indian Herpetology: A Tribute to Albert Schwartz. Soc. Study Amphib. Rept. Contrib. Herpetol. Vol. 12. Ithaca, New York). Acronyms are as follows: AMNH (American Museum of Natural History), ANSP (Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia), BWMC (Bobby Witcher Memorial Collection, Avila University), KU (University of Kansas Natural History Museum), MCZ (Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University), MPM (Milwaukee Public Museum), UF (University of Florida Museum of Natural History), UMMZ (University of Michigan Museum of Zoology), USNM (National Museum of Natural History).

Celestus badius (Anguidae)

AMNH 17079, 120486–7; BWMC 06190, 06197, 06222, 06224–6, 06229, 06231–6; KU 225037–72; MCZ 16793, 17671–2, 55718–23 (55722 skeletonized); UF 21853–4, 80108; USNM 25817–8 (syntypes), 157378 (removed from stomach of syntype of Tropidophis bucculentus, USNM 12377).

Aristelliger cochranae (Gekkonidae)

AMNH 75975, 120481; BWMC 06160–1, 06178–89, 06195, 06199–06220, 06230; KU 228580–605; MCZ 29070–5 (paratypes), 34641–7, 141564–72, 145595; UF 21857–9; UMMZ 73630 (holotype), 73631 (n=3, paratopotypes) (Peters [1952], in his UMMZ type lists, erroneously listed the type series as 73760–1, and that error has been promulgated repeatedly in the literature); USNM 84297.

Sphaerodactylus becki (Gekkonidae)

AMNH 12595 (holotype), 120482; BWMC 06158–9, 06191–2, 06223, 06227–8, 06237–8; KU 237211–40; MCZ 29076–7, 34401–2, 55727–30; UF 21855–6; UMMZ 73632.

Cyclura onchiopsis (Iguanidae)

MCZ 4717 (cotype); USNM 9974 (holotype of C. nigerrima), 9977 (holotype of C. onchiopsis), 9978 (paratype), 12239 (paratype).

Anolis longiceps (Polychrotidae)

AMNH 12597 (holotype), 120483–5; BWMC 06162–77, 06193–4, 06196, 06198, 06221; KU 259923–49; MCZ 16187–94, 16196–7, 16794–813, 16815–32, 29061–6 (29065–6 skeletonized), 34833–8, 55724–6, 145590–4, 29067–9; UF 21860–4, 116080–1; UMMZ 56983, 57421 (n=6), 73655, 148907–8 (skulls recatalogued from UMMZ 57421); USNM 65495–6, 80889–91.

Leiocephalus eremitus (Tropiduridae)

USNM 12016 (holotype).

Tropidophis bucculentus (Tropidophiidae)

ANSP 10281 (syntype); USNM 12370 (egg, rotted and destroyed), 12377 (3 syntypes).

Typhlops sulcatus (Typhlopidae)

USNM 12371 (holotype).

David L. Auth, Florida Museum of Natural History, Ronald I. Crombie, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Ted Daeschler, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Linda S. Ford, American Museum of Natural History, José A. Rosado, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Gregory E. Schneider, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, and John S. Simmons, University of Kansas Natural History Museum, provided information about Navassan specimens in their care.

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COMMENTARY ON NAVASSA ISLAND

The following is an editorial by Ted Widmer that was published in The New York Times on 30 June 2007. Although I can related to his suggestions, I strongly believe that keeping Navassa Island in the National Wildlife Refuge system is best for the natural resources found on the island.

"Little America"

If you sail due south from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, you will eventually come to a tiny tear-shaped island with no beaches, no water and no human beings. Navassa, its enormous limestone cliffs rising straight out of the sea, is the oldest continuous overseas possession of the United States, older than Guantánamo, the Virgin Islands, Hawaii, and Alaska. Older than all of them, Navassa contains American history in microcosm.

Although it came into American possession only 150 years ago, Navassa was first sighted, according to legend, during the second voyage of Columbus in 1493. Thirty miles west of Hispaniola, it was close enough to be noticed but far enough away that its existence was always a bit in doubt. From the beginning it appeared indistinct on maps, a tiny smudge not much bigger than a ladybug on a windshield, in the windward passage between Haiti and Jamaica.

But still, it was there on the first maps when so much of what we now know was not. Around 1507, the year “America” became a word applied to the New World, maps began to show a small island in that spot. And so the cartographers — the first of a long chain of courtiers and empire-builders who, by naming places, pretended to own them — claimed Navassa.

After bursting onto the page of history, Navassa sat quietly for a very long time. During all the wars fought along the Spanish Main, it remained uninhabited except for the occasional pirate crew. After coming into sight, Navassa seems to have become invisible all over again. No one knew or cared where it was until 1857, 364 years after its fabled discovery.

On July 1 that year, an American sea captain happened upon the island and claimed it on the ground that it contained a valuable mineral, known as “white gold.” For millennia, boobies and other seabirds had landed on Navassa, knowing that its sheer cliffs and lack of fresh water made it inhospitable to humans, and therefore pleasant. Navassa became one of the world's most ample sources of guano — bird excrement — a substance prized for phosphate and its regenerative effects on tired crops.

The island is more or less made of guano. Navassa is a spectacular monument to avian achievement.

The United States Congress quickly placed the island under American jurisdiction based on the Guano Islands Act of 1856. The act, one of history's more accurately named pieces of legislation, gave permission to the United States, from the United States, to claim any island in the world rich in bird droppings. Consequently, Navassa became an American “appurtenance” — not quite a territory but still indisputably American.

Except the declaration was disputed by the island's nearest neighbor, Haiti, which has claimed Navassa since its independence in 1804. Haiti bases its rights on Columbus and on early treaties between France and Spain. But few paid attention, in part because Haiti itself was not recognized by the United States at the time since it was governed by people of African descent.

After the Civil War, American business began to cultivate Navassa's rich bounty. Like most treasure, guano demanded a high price for its extraction. African-American laborers were sent there to dig, under oppressive conditions. Punishments verged on torture, like the policy of “tricing” — hanging laborers by their arms, their feet just touching the ground. In 1889, the workers rebelled, killing five whites.

In 1898, as the United States busily acquired new possessions elsewhere, it lost interest in Navassa. The last Americans were removed from the island in 1901, and it was claimed by the same residents that live there today: rats, birds, scorpions, wild goats and feral dogs.

Humans come back to Navassa now and then. In 1917, a 162-foot lighthouse was built there, in part to light the approach to Panama and the new canal. A lighthouse keeper lived there until 1929, when an automatic beacon was installed. During World War II, an observation post was erected by the Navy. No Nazis were ever sighted.

Responsibility for Navassa has shifted from one government agency to another, each uncertain of who should be in charge of our giant guano lump. For a while Navassa was considered part of the Guantánamo naval base. Then it was part of the Coast Guard. Since 1976, it has been lodged in the Department of the Interior, an unlikely destination for an island that could not be less internal.

There the story would appear to end, the forlorn tale of the little island that couldn't. But just as Navassa survived war, piracy and the rise and fall of empires, so it appears perfectly able to survive bureaucracy. Now new explorers are visiting. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has undertaken a “remote sensing experiment” to create a detailed topographical map of Navassa that will help monitor the island's reaction to climate change, hurricanes and the rise of water levels around the world. This seems a fitting result for a place that was never all that comfortably on the map in the first place.

This island, so inhospitable to humans, is in its own way a natural paradise. Navassa may offer the most pristine Caribbean environment left, and in 1999 it was declared a National Wildlife Refuge. A huge number of plant and animal species can be found within its three square miles. Recent investigations have shown the number of known species, once thought to be 150, is closer to 650. Many of these species — lizards, insects and trees — exist nowhere else. One solitary palm, thought to have disappeared in 1928, appears to be the last of its kind. A lonely predicament; but like Navassa, it survives.

These efforts to learn more about Navassa's environment are not universally appreciated. Many Haitians, resentful of the American interest in Navassa, believe that the science is simply a cover for the same old greed. A lively topic of conversation in Haiti is that the United States has discovered gold on Navassa, or perhaps uranium, or even the gateway to Atlantis, the legendary lost civilization. In 1989, some Haitians occupied Navassa, albeit very briefly. After a couple of hours, they left it to the lizards.

What lies ahead for this remote outpost of American sovereignty? On the 150th anniversary of the year Navassa came into American possession, it feels a bit unseemly to see the world's richest nation entangled in a dispute with the poorest nation in our hemisphere over a remote rock that no one can live on.

All that Navassa holds for us is the right — or more specifically, the power — of its possession. Perhaps we should celebrate the sesquicentennial by just giving it back — to Haiti, or an international trust or the state of nature itself. It would be a sublime gesture on behalf of freedom in its simplest state.

Would it not confound our critics to witness an American act of pure altruism? Would it not confound them even more if our oldest possession, the birthplace of American imperialism, became the birthplace of a better way of thinking about the way nations interact?

To admit that Navassa does not belong to us, or to anyone, would recognize an earlier condition, more pristine, before the rise of nations and the conflicts that define them. In so doing, we would take a small step toward an ancient and very American aspiration: to make the world new again.

LINKS TO RELATED SITES

• The Center for Marine Conservation organized a 1998 expedition to Navassa Island. This site also provides links to other sites of interest, including many dealing with marine resources.
• For an overview of the history of the island and a photographic tour, check out this site.
• A site featuring recent research in remote sensing provides satellite views and analyses.
• The New York Botanical Garden provides an overview of the island's flora.
• The Caribbean Journal of Science accessible at this site includes an electronic version of my 1999 manuscript on Navassan reptiles.

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Copyright © 2003 by Robert Powell.

Last revised: July 9, 2007