Herpetology B/C

[matematika]

Plus, what's the difference between cooters and redbellies? There are red-bellied cooters, so.... Do we have to identify between coachwhips and whipsnakes? There is only one coachwhip species in the Masticophis genus. In Tantilla, there are crowned, centipede, and blackhead snakes, and they only mention crowned and blackhead snakes. Should I still work on centipede snakes?

Cooters are usually larger than sliders, and the carapace pattern is more complex. I would recommend knowing the difference between the centipede snake and the other snakes, and if you have time, do something on them if you are not sure, but if you dont have enough time, dont work on them as much because they dont mention them. I am not sure about the coachwhips and the whipsnakes.

Thank you. Coachwhips and whipsnakes?

This may sound like a repeating question, but here. So I was looking at the Peterson field guides, and they collect all the turtle pictures at the beginning of each section, with female/male/young. If, say, for the GENUS of map turtles, one species has a female with a tail more obvious than a male's, and another has a female with a more obvious pattern, then would they ask specifically? Some tests have these questions, but the rules sheet says up to the genus specified. The book also specifies patterns on different map turtle (well, not only map turtles, but just an example) heads. Do I need to know this?

[Froggie]

Plus, what's the difference between cooters and redbellies? There are red-bellied cooters, so.... Do we have to identify between coachwhips and whipsnakes? There is only one coachwhip species in the Masticophis genus. In Tantilla, there are crowned, centipede, and blackhead snakes, and they only mention crowned and blackhead snakes. Should I still work on centipede snakes?

Coachwhips and whipsnakes are the same thing:

Masticophis flagellum is a species of nonvenomous colubrid snake, commonly referred to as the coachwhip or the whip snake, which is endemic to the United States and Mexico. Seven subspecies are recognized, including the nominotypical subspecies.

[matematika]

Thanks. For sea snakes, are they going to give you a picture of it in the water? Or not? If they aren't, it's going to be hard.... They're probably not going to test it, but who knows.

[Froggie]

Thanks. For sea snakes, are they going to give you a picture of it in the water? Or not? If they aren't, it's going to be hard.... They're probably not going to test it, but who knows.

They'll probably have the snake in water, because the first couple lines of Google Images show sea snakes in water. But, if for some reason the snake is out of water, sea snakes have either strips (usually black and white) or yellow bellies with a greyish back.

[matematika]

Where do they get the pictures from? Google Images, as you said? Do they have like a single source for information or multiple sites? Should I list all the species for each genus?

[Froggie]

Where do they get the pictures from? Google Images, as you said? Do they have like a single source for information or multiple sites? Should I list all the species for each genus?

1-3. It really depends on the person who writes the test.
4. You shouldn't have to.

[matematika]

Again, any tips for musk vs. mud and rosy vs. rubber? Painted vs. sliders? Cottonmouths vs. copperheads...sometimes the patterns look similar, other times different...

[rc2000]

Again, any tips for musk vs. mud and rosy vs. rubber? Painted vs. sliders? Cottonmouths vs. copperheads...sometimes the patterns look similar, other times different...

I had a lot of trouble with these, but this is what I've managed to narrow it down to:

Musk vs. Mud
Musk turtles have more of their hind legs exposed given that their plastron (bottom of shell) is smaller, whereas Mud Turtles have a more covering one. Mud Turtles have a more domed shell, and the bottom of their shell has overall bigger segments in general.

Rosy vs Rubber
Rosy boas have stripes that run down their body laterally, whereas rubber boas are always one color w/ a cream colored belly. Rubber Boas are a bit chunkier too.

Painted vs. Slider
This is the one that still throws me off a bit. What I've narrowed it down to is that sliders have a more modest coloration compared to the vibrant red seen on painted turtles. I've had painted appear on many of the tests Ive taken/ practiced with, and normally you are able to see the red on its plastron and neck area. Sliders only have the red behind their eye. Sliders also have black markings on Plastron.

Cottonmouth vs. Copperhead
The biggest giveaway is generally the way the pattern is. Copperheads generally have solid bands on darker brown (or in the case of the Trans Pecos Copperhead, a silvery band), which most of the time looks like a sort of "hershey kiss" shape. Copperheads also have a flatter head which is normally one or two solid colors. They look a lot "angrier" than Cottonmouths. Cottonmouths have scales that keel alot more, so you would notice a very pronounced ridge on the middle of their scale running laterally. Cottonmouths are also very dark in coloration.

Hope this helped!

[rc2000]

Would anyone mind sharing any C level tests? I can see if I can try to get my hands on some by next week to share.

[matematika]

Again, any tips for musk vs. mud and rosy vs. rubber? Painted vs. sliders? Cottonmouths vs. copperheads...sometimes the patterns look similar, other times different...

I had a lot of trouble with these, but this is what I've managed to narrow it down to:

Musk vs. Mud
Musk turtles have more of their hind legs exposed given that their plastron (bottom of shell) is smaller, whereas Mud Turtles have a more covering one. Mud Turtles have a more domed shell, and the bottom of their shell has overall bigger segments in general.

Rosy vs Rubber
Rosy boas have stripes that run down their body laterally, whereas rubber boas are always one color w/ a cream colored belly. Rubber Boas are a bit chunkier too.

Painted vs. Slider
This is the one that still throws me off a bit. What I've narrowed it down to is that sliders have a more modest coloration compared to the vibrant red seen on painted turtles. I've had painted appear on many of the tests Ive taken/ practiced with, and normally you are able to see the red on its plastron and neck area. Sliders only have the red behind their eye. Sliders also have black markings on Plastron.

Cottonmouth vs. Copperhead
The biggest giveaway is generally the way the pattern is. Copperheads generally have solid bands on darker brown (or in the case of the Trans Pecos Copperhead, a silvery band), which most of the time looks like a sort of "hershey kiss" shape. Copperheads also have a flatter head which is normally one or two solid colors. They look a lot "angrier" than Cottonmouths. Cottonmouths have scales that keel alot more, so you would notice a very pronounced ridge on the middle of their scale running laterally. Cottonmouths are also very dark in coloration.

Hope this helped!

Thank you so much - that's amazing! Unfortunately, it was a trial event last year (there are only a few invitationals online) and the last true event was in 2009 (there are a few, but not up to date).

For spadefoots (Anura), how different are Scaphiopus or Spea? There are just Northern and Western, I think. Can we just combine them into one fact sheet?

Also, the list hs Cryptobranchidae as Hellbenders, but they are really giant salamanders. Only one species of the genus Cryptobranchus (C. alleganiensis) is the actual Hellbender...so...?