Amphibians and Reptiles

[adam124218]

I'm in Division C (technichally my event is Herpetology) so if I understand correctly then u can have either a binder or a field guide, no? I might actually be able 2 make a binder neway do the guides have everything on the list or r they missing a few things? That may sound like a dumb question but 4 fossils the guides definetly didn't have everything so I just want 2 know

No. As it says in the rules, you may bring one published field guide with notes in it to competition.

Crabnebula, I said this:

For most of my snakes, I've used the Lone Star Snakes of North America, Eastern and Central Regions guide. It is an excellent resource.

earlier in response to your query.

[Flavorflav]

How do u distinguish between brook salamanders and woodland salamanders?
Plus, what does the list mean by "woodland salamanders and kin"?

I don't have a great way to differentiate them other than recognizing the most common species of each, but I can tell you that "and kin" just means that some of the group are not woodland salamanders themselves, but are included in the genus due to their close evolutionary relationship. It's not something you should have to worry about, though.

[crazy77]

I'm in Division C (technichally my event is Herpetology) so if I understand correctly then u can have either a binder or a field guide, no? I might actually be able 2 make a binder neway do the guides have everything on the list or r they missing a few things? That may sound like a dumb question but 4 fossils the guides definetly didn't have everything so I just want 2 know

"No. As it says in the rules, you may bring one published field guide with notes in it to competition."

thanks for clarifying that
we can write tons of info in the guide though right? im actually kinda relieved cuz i was starting 2 make a binder and it was taking a rlly long time plus a lot of the info on the internet is unclear so what field guide would be the best 2 bring? I was thinking Audobon

[scichic34]

Audubon's pretty good. that's what we're using.
petersons is also worth a shot

[crazy77]

the thing i'm worried about with peterson's is that its divided into 2 guides for different regions so neither of them would probably have all of them on the list, right? i think i'm just gonna go ahead and use the audubon
and just 4 curiosity (cuz I didn't do this event at invitationals) do they rlly have some live specimans? cuz that would be rlly cool

[EcoFreak]

Where did you get the idea that you aren't supposed to have snakes in division B? You had them last year (which was the first time this event has run since 2001) because you ARE supposed to.[/quote]
We got an e-mail from the head honcho of our area's compotition saying there would be no snakes. Then the test writers put their part off until (and I mean this literaly) minutes before the competition, and guess what every other question was about. The thing they told us we didn't have to study for. So my coach and I had a concern. We are studying for snakes this time just in case the test writers are lazy again.[/quote]
I don't think laziness has anything to do with it. The mistake was not in having snakes, but telling you that you wouldn't. I can't see any reason why a region would decide not to test on snakes. They are a pretty major group of reptiles, after all.[/quote]
We just did what they told us, and we failed. But that was last year!
This year I took second place, yes, there were snakes, and yes, they told us not to study them again, but I was only beaten by one part of the school that studys SO every day, and I beat there other group. This test was extreemly hard, and it is the test they give the highschoolers. I don't think that's right.

[Pleiades]

and just 4 curiosity (cuz I didn't do this event at invitationals) do they rlly have some live specimans? cuz that would be rlly cool

Depends on what your event supervisors want to do and how much time they are willing to put into it. Last year, all off our stations had live specimen. It was really cool. I'm using peterson for a guide.

[dickyjones]

This is the one event (other than WIDI and maybe fossils) that the rules for division B and C are exactly the same. So it's probably the most fair event to use the same test for both div B and C in. I mean it's knowledge based and research based so the questions don't really have ranges of difficulty (though some information might be more difficult to find)...you either know it/have it in your resources or you don't.

[adam124218]

I have a practice test ready to send out if people are still interested in the test exchange, but I have only gotten one email address. I'm totally prepared to start the test trading if other people promise that they will write tests too. I still need email addresses, though.

[Guy]

Hey guys

I have a few identification questions:
1. Are there any reliable ways to tell the difference between trachemys, pseudemys, and chrysemys?
2. Are there any good ways to tell apart racers, masticophis, elaphe, pituophis, nerodia, and regina?