herpetology

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Contributions to the study of American reptiles prior to 1800 were made primarily by European travelers. Notable among the earliest contributors were the Englishman Mark Catesby and the Philadelphian William Bartram, who traveled throughout the southeastern United States making natural history observations on many organisms, including the alligator. Some American reptiles were described by Carolus Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae (1758).

In the late 1700s and early 1800s, a number of foreign naturalists and European scientists worked on American reptiles that had been sent to them, thereby adding to the knowledge of existing forms. Additions to the growing list of American reptiles were also made by John Eaton LeConte of the U.S. Army; Thomas Say, who traveled with the Stephen H. Long expedition to the Rocky Mountains (1820); and Richard Harlan, a practicing physician. Harlan attempted to draw together the body of information on American reptiles with his Genera of North American Reptiles and a Synopsis of the Species (1826–27) and American Herpetology (1827), but these contributions only partly alleviated some of the confusion regarding taxonomic matters that had developed by that time.

John Edwards Holbrook, a Charleston, S.C., physician, produced the first major contribution to U.S. knowledge of American reptiles. Holbrook's North American Herpetology (1836, 1842) was a milestone in herpetology. The success and influence of his work probably related to its completeness for the time and to the superb color lithographs drawn from living examples by talented artists. His work caught the attention of European scientists and brought a measure of recognition to the rise of science in America.

In the period immediately after the appearance of Holbrook's North American Herpetology, a number of expeditions sponsored by the U.S. government were organized to explore the American West. Notable among these were Charles Wilkes's expedition to the Pacific Northwest, Howard Stansbury's expedition to the Great Salt Lake, George M. Wheeler's explorations west of the 100th meridian, Maj. William H. Emory's Mexican boundary survey, Capt. Randolph B. Marcy's exploration of the Red River, Capt. Lorenzo Sitgreaves's expedition down the Zuni and Colorado rivers, and the Pacific Railroad surveys. Spencer Fullerton Baird brought back large collections of reptiles to museums, in particular the U.S. National Museum, which he helped establish in 1857. The reptiles collected by the U.S. exploring teams were studied by a number of scientists, including Baird. By 1880 most of the expeditions to the West had been completed and the results published, providing a first glimpse of the diversity and extent of the American reptile fauna.

Several herpetofaunal surveys were published by eastern states, including those by David Humphreys Storer for Massachusetts (1839) and James E. DeKay for New York (1842–1844). Louis Agassiz of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard added much to the knowledge of the embryology of the turtle in his Contributions to the Natural History of the United States of America (1857).

From the 1880s to the early 1900s a number of individuals made important contributions to the study of American reptiles. Samuel Garman of the Museum of Comparative Zoology compiled from scattered reports of various U.S. expeditions an important treatise on American snakes, North American Reptilia, Part I, Ophidia (1883). This work remained of considerable value to scientists until outdated by the appearance of The Crocodilians, Lizards, and Snakes of North America (1900) by Edward Drinker Cope. Leonhard Hess Stejneger of the U.S. National Museum introduced the careful designation of type specimens and type localities into the description of new species, produced an important treatise entitled The Poisonous Snakes of North America (1895), and later wrote with Thomas Barbour five editions of A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles (1917). These checklists provided a concise synopsis of the known species of reptiles and amphibians and reference for other workers. In The Reptiles of Western North America (1922), John Van Denburgh of the California Academy of Sciences described new species of western reptiles and provided information on geographic distributions.

Since the 1920s, scientific investigations, centered in American universities, have been made on every conceivable aspect of the biology of reptiles. Some of the more important contributors have been Frank N. Blanchard, who was a pioneer in field studies of reptiles and developed marking techniques; and Henry Fitch, who subsequently produced some of the most complete field studies of reptiles to date. Clifford H. Pope and Archie Carr greatly expanded the knowledge of North American turtles; Carr later made pioneering contributions on sea turtles and their conservation. Alfred S. Romer contributed to the work on fossil reptiles; his Osteology of the Reptiles (1956) was still the standard reference for that field of research twenty years later. Laurence M. Klauber made many contributions on western reptiles and introduced refined statistical techniques. His book Rattlesnakes (1956) remained the most complete herpetological monograph produced by the mid-1970s. Detailed lizard population studies were published by W. Frank Blair, in The Rusty Lizard (1960).

During the 20th century several scientists produced semipopular works that served to generate wide interest in reptiles. Raymond Lee Ditmars probably did more to stimulate interest in the study of reptiles than any other individual. He routinely lectured to a wide variety of audiences and published many books, but his Reptile Book, first appearing in 1907, was one of the most stimulating to young naturalists. Karl P. Schmidt produced the Field Book of Snakes (1941) in coauthorship with D. Dwight Davis. Roger Conant wrote the first of the newest type of field guides, A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians (1958), that contained range maps, color illustrations, and synoptic information about the organisms. Robert C. Stebbins further improved the field guide format with his Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians (1966). In addition to field guides, herpetofaunal surveys have been written for most of the states and have stimulated interest. Some of the better state surveys are those by Paul Anderson, The Reptiles of Missouri (1965), and Philip W. Smith, The Amphibians and Reptiles of Illinois (1961).

Few American reptiles have attracted more scientific and popular attention than the rattlesnake, a venomous snake of the pit viper family. The rattlesnake emerged as a central revolutionary icon and appeared frequently in patriotic propaganda; a flag featuring a coiled rattlesnake on a yellow background, with the caption "Don't Tread on Me," was presented to the Continental Congress by Col. Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina and unofficially adopted by Capt. Esek Hopkins as a commodore's flag. The rattlesnake holds an important place in American folklore: for example, the legendary virtue of rattlesnake oil for rheumatism; the cleverness of the roadrunner—which really does kill rattlesnakes—in corralling a sleeping rattler with cactus joints and then making him bite himself to death; or the thousands of authentic stories told around camp fires every summer. A few people die from rattlesnake bites annually, but the spread of land developments is steadily diminishing the snake population.

Three major societies sponsor periodicals to handle the great increase in the number of scholarly contributions within the field of herpetology: Copeia (1913–) is published by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Herpetologica (1936–) is published by the Herpetologists' League, and the Journal of Herpetology (1968–) is published by the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.

Bibliography

Adler, Kraig, ed. Contributions to the History of Herpetology. Oxford, Ohio: S.S.A.R., 1989.

Gillespie, Angus K., and Jay Mechling, eds. American Wildlife in Symbol and Story. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1987.

Kessel, E. L. A Century of Progress in the Natural Sciences, 1853–1953. San Francisco: 1955.

• Branches and Disciplines - herpetology: study of reptiles and amphibians

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Herpetology is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and gymnophiona) and reptiles (including snakes, lizards, amphisbaenids, turtles, terrapins, tortoises, crocodilians, and the tuataras). Batrachology is a further subdiscipline of herpetology concerned with the study of amphibians alone.

Herpetology is concerned with poikilothermic, ectothermic tetrapods. Under this definition "herps" (or sometimes "herptiles" or "herpetofauna") exclude fish, but it is not uncommon for herpetological and ichthyological scientific societies to "team up", publishing joint journals and holding conferences in order to foster the exchange of ideas between the fields. One of the most prestigious organizations, the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, is an example of this. Many herpetological societies exist today, having been formed to promote interest in reptiles and amphibians both captive and wild.

Herpetology offers benefits to humanity in the study of the role of amphibians and reptiles in global ecology, especially because amphibians are often very sensitive to environmental changes, offering a visible warning to humans that significant changes are taking place. Some toxins and venoms produced by reptiles and amphibians are useful in human medicine. Currently, some snake venom has been used to create anti-coagulants that work to treat stroke victims and heart attack cases.

The word "herpetology" is from Greek: ἑρπετόν, herpeton, "creeping animal" and -λογία, -logia. People with an avid interest in herpetology and who keep different reptiles or amphibians often refer to themselves as "herpers".^[1]

"Herp" is a vernacular term for reptiles and amphibians. It is derived from the old term "herpetile", with roots back to Linnaeus' classification of animals, in which he grouped reptiles and amphibians together in the same class. There are over 6700 species of amphibians^[2] and over 9000 species of reptiles.^[3] In spite of its modern taxonomic irrelevance, the term has persisted, particularly in the names of herpetology, the scientific study of reptiles and amphibians, and herpetoculture, the captive care and breeding of reptiles and amphibians.

Careers

There are many careers in the field of herpetology. These include, but are not limited to, field research, public and private breeding, zoological staff or curating, museum staff or curating and college teaching.

Those wishing to pursue a career in herpetology must have a strong science and math background. Few universities offer this program, and thus it is a highly competitive field.

In modern academic science, it is rare for individuals to consider themselves a herpetologist first and foremost. Most individuals focus on a particular field such as ecology, evolution, taxonomy, physiology, or molecular biology, and within that field ask questions pertaining to or best answered by examining reptiles and amphibians. For example, an evolutionary biologist who is also a herpetologist may choose to work on how warning coloration evolved in coral snakes.

Many herpetologists write both scientifically and popularly. Modern herpetological writers of note include Mark O'Shea and Philip Purser. Modern herpetological showmen of note include Steve Irwin, popularly known as the "Crocodile Hunter", and the star Austin Stevens, popularly known as 'AustinSnakeman', famous for TV series Austin Stevens: Snakemaster.

See also

• Herping
• List of herpetologists

References

1. ^ http://community.livejournal.com/herpers/profile
2. ^ http://amphibiaweb.org/
3. ^ http://www.reptile-database.org/db-info/SpeciesStat.html

Further reading

• Kraig Adler (1989) Contributions to the History of Herpetology, Society for the study of amphibians and reptiles.

External links

Amphibians and Reptiles portal

• Field Herpetology Guide
• American Society of Icthyologists and Herpetologists
• Herpetological Conservation and Biology
• Societas Europaea Herpetologica Distribution Maps for European Reptiles and Amphibians
• Center for North American Herpetology over 500 species of reptiles and amphibians
• European Field Herping Community
• New Zealand Herpetology
• Bibliomania

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