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Avalanche wrote:Quick question about salamanders, I noticed a comment about mudpuppies and sirens.

Are the legs in either of these genera vestigial structures, or are they used?

Both are used to some degree. Mudpuppies rely significantly more upon their limbs for motion when compared to Sirens. Siren limbs are made of cartilage which makes them not quite as efficient for motion when compared to the bony limbs found in mudpuppies. But a Siren's limbs do play a key role as they are used for crossing land when the Siren's chooses to do so.

thanks, and another question.

Are there any species besides species from the genus ophisaurus (glass lizards), that are legless.

There is a genus, anniella, in the family anniellidae, but this doesn't seem to be on the Official List, so will this not be on the test?

How to ID these salamanders? Esp. ensatina, dusky, mudpuppies, etc.

Avalanche wrote:thanks, and another question.

Are there any species besides species from the genus ophisaurus (glass lizards), that are legless.

There is a genus, anniella, in the family anniellidae, but this doesn't seem to be on the Official List, so will this not be on the test?

There are no legless specimens I can think of if you arent counting snakes of course. You will only be tested on specimens that are listed on the official list so you will not see any annielidae specimens.

matematika wrote:How to ID these salamanders? Esp. ensatina, dusky, mudpuppies, etc.

Look at lots of pictures and then deduce which aspects are different between each group. For me it is a combination of eyes, colors, leg size, body width, mouth, tail etc.

Can proctors ask about any other genuses (? what is the plural) in Scincidae besides Eumeces? Would we need to study all the others in Scincidae if not?

memeus wrote:Can proctors ask about any other genuses (? what is the plural) in Scincidae besides Eumeces? Would we need to study all the others in Scincidae if not?

Proctors can only ask about specimens listed on the Official List.

Kyanite wrote:

memeus wrote:Can proctors ask about any other genuses (? what is the plural) in Scincidae besides Eumeces? Would we need to study all the others in Scincidae if not?

Proctors can only ask about specimens listed on the Official List.

So the family of Scincidae is only open to questioning about the genus Eumeces then. Thanks!

Kyanite wrote:

Avalanche wrote:thanks, and another question.

Are there any species besides species from the genus ophisaurus (glass lizards), that are legless.

There is a genus, anniella, in the family anniellidae, but this doesn't seem to be on the Official List, so will this not be on the test?

There are no legless specimens I can think of if you arent counting snakes of course. You will only be tested on specimens that are listed on the official list so you will not see any annielidae specimens.

Thanks for the help!!

Anyone have a list of vocabulary terms? It's hard to scourge all the pages in my binder and only find about 1/4 of the terms I need.