Poison Dart Frog literature

[Voodoo]

Well, scientific names can be tricky. I was researching Blood Pythons. Here's what I discovered.

They usta be all called python curtus curtus/brietensteini/brongersmai.

WELL, now they're all different SPECIES. Python brongersmai = Blood Python. Python breitensteini = Borneo Short-tail Python, and Python curtus = Sumatran Short-tail Python.

Head scale differences.

So, now P. curtus only means Sumatran Short-tail Pythons, instead of everything that usta be known at Blood Pythons.

Joy.
[addsig]

[telefrag]

>>Well, scientific names can be tricky. I was researching Blood Pythons. Here's what I discovered.
>>
>>They usta be all called python curtus curtus/brietensteini/brongersmai.
>>
>>WELL, now they're all different SPECIES. Python brongersmai = Blood Python. Python breitensteini = Borneo Short-tail Python, and Python curtus = Sumatran Short-tail Python.
>>
>>Head scale differences.
>>
>>So, now P. curtus only means Sumatran Short-tail Pythons, instead of everything that usta be known at Blood Pythons.
>>
>>Joy.


thats a good point, but its also an example of a lateral name change.
Instead of breaking them up by ssp, they are now distinct species.

Its not like moving Elaphe flavolineata to Colegnathus flavolineata
or Lampropeltis doliata becoming lampropeltis triangulum.
Sometimes just the species/subspecies assignments change, others it just a genus reassignment.

anyway, im straying off topic, just adding my input.

I still rarely bother with common names, and will always continue to do so.

[addsig]

[JuliusSqueezer]

There are good arguments for both sides. I tend to stick to common names with common snakes that aren't likely to change or be confused....a ball python is always going to be a ball python...even those that call them royals are confusing noone. Many common snakes are better described by their particular morph such as cornsnakes. Cornsnake in itsself, tells you little about the animal enough to draw a mental image of what is being discussed. Nor would elaphe guttata. But creamsicle corn or butternutfudgepopcorn or whatever might give more info and a mental picture to anyone interested. Snakes like many of the rattlesnakes found across the country that are different yet not by much will often be confused and/or lumped together into a single common name by the locals or whomever....but in the cases of these and many others, the scientific names help to sort them out. Corallus caninus aka emerald tree boa describes 2 very distinct subspecies of tree boas recognized or not. They are different in many ways that are painfully obvious yet they share a single scientific name. SO amongst the corallus nuts, you will almost always hear them refered to as northern emeralds or basin emeralds, and lately the poorly described New Locale emerald...although that will likely one day be proven to be nothing more than a color/pattern phase of high white northerns.
[addsig]

	Morph A morph is a color or pattern variation that is proven to be genetic. Common morphs include albino, anerythristic, gentically striped, Hypomelanistic, and many others. Morphs also include combinations of simple traits such as "Sunglow" which is Albino and Hypomelanistic. These traits may be recessive traits, co-dominant traits, dominant traits, or created through selective breeding (ie Pastel).