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discovered 145 live hatchlings and 36 eggs that were undevelopedor in different stages of decay. Whether the lizards werewaiting for the hatchlings to emerge or digging them from thesand is unknown.To our knowledge, this is the first reported observation of aneotropical lizard preying on hatchling sea turtles. Species ofAmeiva are among the largest terrestrial carnivorous lizards in theLesser Antilles and A. fuscata can reach mean densities of 379individuals/ha on Dominica (Bullock and Evans 1990. J. Zool.Lond. 222:421–443). The consequences of high population densitiesand active foraging behavior of A. fuscata may have significanteffects on hatchling sea turtle survival on Dominica and warrantsfurther study wherever coastal populations of Ameiva aresympatric with nesting sea turtles.We thank Alan Bolten and Karen Bjorndal for confirming theidentification of the sea turtle hatchings and for providing commentson this note. This observation was made while conductingIguana delicatissima research on Dominica, funded through thecenter for Conservation and Research for Endangered Species(CRES) at the Zoological Society of San Diego.Submitted by CHARLES R. KNAPP, Conservation and Researchfor Endangered Species, Zoological Society of San Diego,15600 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, California 92027,USA (e-mail: cknapp@ufl.edu); and LYNDON PRINCE,Salisbury Village, Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies.GOPHERUS AGASSIZII (Desert Tortoise). PREDATION. Predationevents on Gopherus agassizii are rarely observed and documented.Thus, most predators of the Desert Tortoise have beeninferred by the presence of tortoise parts in scats, pellets, and/orcarcasses deposited at nests or denning sites. Boarman (2002. InBoarman and Beaman [eds.], The Sensitive Plant and Animal Speciesof the Western Mojave Desert. U.S. Geological Survey, WesternEcological Research Center, Sacramento, California) recordsseveral native predators that are known to prey on Desert Tortoiseeggs, hatchlings, juveniles, and adults, including Coyotes (Canislatrans), Kit Foxes (Vulpes macrotis), Badgers (Taxidea taxus),Skunks (Spilogale putorius), Common Ravens (Corvus corax),Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), and Gila Monsters (Helodermasuspectum).During a four year study (2003–2006) of Desert Tortoises at asite ca. 40 km NE of Barstow, California, in San Bernardino Co.(Walde et al. 2007. Southwest. Nat. 52:147–149; Walde et al. 2007.West. N. Am. Nat. 67:147–149), we observed many BurrowingOwls (Athene cunicularia). Examination of owl pellets that areejected close to burrows and perches revealed that they often containinsect remains (Lepidoptera and Coleoptera), and less frequentlyremains of small rodents. On 10 May 2006, a BurrowingOwl pellet was found close to a perch that had several parts of abeetle, Cerenopus concolor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) in it, aspecies which frequently comprised 100% of pellets. This particularpellet, however, also contained vertebral and marginal scutematerial and bones of the Desert Tortoise. One vertebral scute wasentirely intact and had growth annuli suggesting that the DesertTortoise was at least one year old. The disarticulated pellet wasdeposited in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County,Los Angeles, California (LACM 168081). To our knowledge, thisis the first documentation of predation by A. cunicularia on theDesert Tortoise.We thank Rolf Aalbu for identification of the Tenebrionidae inthe owl pellet and Rick Feeney of the Natural History Museum ofLos Angeles County for his assistance with the specimen.Submitted by ANDREW D. WALDE, ITS Corporation, 7686SVL Box, Victorville, California 92395, USA (e-mail:awalde@hotmail.com); ANGELA M. WALDE, Walde Research& Environmental Consulting, 12127 Mall Blvd., Suite A156,Victorville, California 92392, USA; and DAVID K. DELANEY,USACERL, P.O. Box 9005, Champaign, Illinois 61826, USA.GOPHERUS POLYPHEMUS (Gopher Tortoise). RECORDSIZE. To our knowledge, the largest Gopherus polyphemus reportedto date had a straight-line carapace length of 38.7 cm(Timmerman and Roberts 1994. Herpetol. Rev. 25:64). Here wereport a specimen that exceeds this size. In March 2007, one of us(AE) received for rehabilitation a large, injured Gopher Tortoise.The cause of injury was unknown, but its wounds, which provedfatal, were consistent with damage from a backhoe shovel. Thetortoise originated from Lee County, Florida, west of InterstateHighway 75, within the city limits of Fort Myers. The exact pointof collection was withheld, due to the potentially illegal actionwhich led to the discovery and death of this tortoise. Ultrasoundevaluation (by O. Diaz, DVM, of Orlando, Florida) revealed testes,showing the tortoise to be male. However, the posterior plastronhas an unpronounced indentation, and the anal scute is single,flat, extends toward the tail, and is not divided or curved as isnormal in male G. polyphemus. Post mortem weight was 12.2 kg.The straight-line carapace length was 41.6 cm, and the plastronlength was 40.6 cm. The specimen is preserved in the ChelonianResearch Institute collection (PCHP 12633).Submitted by RAY E. ASHTON, JR., Ashton BiodiversityResearch and Preservation Institute, Inc., 14260-331 W. NewberryRd., Newberry, Florida 32669, USA (e-mail: Tortfarm2@aol.com);and AMANDA EBENHACK, 2005 NW 392 nd St., Okeechobee,Florida 34972, USA.GRAPTEMYS FLAVIMACULATA (Yellow-blotched MapTurtle). INTERSPECIFIC BASKING SITE COMPETITION.Graptemys flavimaculata is a highly aquatic, riverine turtle endemicto the Pascagoula River and its tributaries of southern Mississippi,USA (Ernst et al. 1994. Turtles of the United States andCanada. Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington, D.C. 578 pp.).It is common to see multiple turtles of different species occupyingthe same snag within the Pascagoula River system, but there havebeen no reports concerning interspecific competition among turtlesfor basking locations in this area. Here we report observations ofinterspecific aggression and competitor avoidance behavior by G.flavimaculata when trying to secure a desired basking location.On 17 April 2007 (1410 h), on the Leaf River (Forrest County,Mississippi), WS observed from a distance of 30 m a small G.flavimaculata female basking partly submerged on a low-angledtree crown snag, while a slightly smaller Apalone mutica was baskingdirectly above her. The female G. flavimaculata extended her214 Herpetological Review 39(2), 2008