Amphibians and Reptiles

[Pleiades]

lol. Do you think they'll let us bring a binder AND a field guide this year?

[gneissisnice]

I hope so. What we did with bugs last year was we used the binder for identification, and on the page there was the page number corresponding to the field guide. We then would use the field guide to answer the questions.

[Pleiades]

The main reason why I made my own binder for amphibians and reptiles was because i didnt like the way the field guide set up the identification part. They only showed 3 species per page so you had to keep flipping through many pages plus the pictures were of poor quality. In my binder i put i think 25 species per page and included all subspecies. I eventually learned how to identify them better seeing them next to many different species rather than just two.

[dickyjones]

That's way too much work, IMO. I just read descriptions while looking at a couple of pictures (sometimes w/ help of MS paint!) and point out the key identification features. Classification systems are used because these specimens have something in common, you just need to find these characteristics (some may be more difficult than others and you can go to identifying species). And when you get a species you've never seen before, you're still able to identify because you know the science behind the classification systems.

[gneissisnice]

The main reason why I made my own binder for amphibians and reptiles was because i didnt like the way the field guide set up the identification part. They only showed 3 species per page so you had to keep flipping through many pages plus the pictures were of poor quality. In my binder i put i think 25 species per page and included all subspecies. I eventually learned how to identify them better seeing them next to many different species rather than just two.

Is that for nats? Cause for states and regionals, I thought we only needed to knowup to genus.

[dickyjones]

No, nat's list is same as regional/state.

[gneissisnice]

I got a question. What did you guys do with Cophosaurus and Holbrookia, and Urosaurus and Uta? They put each pair together on the list. Did you handle them separately?

[sciencechic]

I really hope they go without the binder this year, or the field guide. We used a lot of live creatures and that really helped! I love the mississippi map turtle, he is so cute!

[megmuffinx3]

Everyone's lists on field guides are very helpful!
I want to start my field guide for next year but I'm concerned that it won't be in North America.
Anyone else afraid of this?

[Pleiades]

The list will deff include species from North America. They want us to be able to go outside and see a species of turtle and know what it is. Although i'm not able to do that in my town since I never see any wild animals. They wouldnt make us learn species from South America or Europe since most of us will not have the chance to actually see those animals.