Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Amphibians and Reptiles

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[edit] Snake confirmation

Speaking of snakes, can anyone confirm by looking whether this is a Dendrelaphis punctulata (green tree snake)? I googled a bit and thought it could also be an Eastern tiger snake. Seen in Baw Baw National Park last week. Its neck was all puffed up (apparently characteristic of green tree snakes) but the eyes seem too small. Not sure what else I can add, it literally crossed our path, stared at us for a bit, then eventually slithered off. Stevage 04:01, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

I'm not that familiar with Australian snakes, but to me this definitely seems more like Notechis scutatus (eastern tiger snake), [1] than Dendrelaphis punctulata.[2] This specimen's neck may looked puffed up, but it may actually be more flattened, which is a typical Notechis threat display. In addition, the geographic range for D. punctulata does not not seem to extend as far south as the state of Victoria, which is where Baw Baw National Park is located. --Jwinius (talk) 14:14, 4 February 2008 (UTC)
Yes, looks like you're right. With a bit more googling, there are certainly references to tiger snakes in the area, but not the green tree snake. Stevage 09:08, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
There's no way you would get a tree snake in Baw Baw, it is far too cold. I'd say it is a tiger, they can withstand the cold a lot better. --liquidGhoul (talk) 00:45, 16 February 2008 (UTC)
I live in Queensland and see a lot of common tree snakes (Dendrelaphis punctulata -- and most are not green), and this picture is definitely NOT one. It looks a bit like a marsh snake and a bit like a spotted black snake, but I don't know Victorian snakes very well. --Zeno Klinker (talk) 10:37, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Marginated tortoise

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[edit] tree frogs

I moved the article on 'tree frogs' to Hylidae. I notice the category:Tree frogs also needs correcting, it seems the Rhacophoridae family, that were complicating the article on Hylidae, have already been moved to their own category:Rhacophoridae. cygnis insignis 15:08, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Rankin's dragon

Pogona henrylawsoni needs an experts touch. Also, redirects need creating --129.215.49.129 (talk) 05:28, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

I've created the necessary redirects, but I'm not really an expert. I'll see what I can do, but I might not get through with it. bibliomaniac15 20:52, 12 March 2008 (UTC)
I can take a crack at that when I finish up the Agamid Adenovirus page I'm working on. TariStar (talk) 00:42, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Agamidae

There seems to be a problem with this category:Agamas, which states: This category contains articles about taxa in the Agamidae family - the agamas. It gives a 'see also' for category:Agamidae and is catgorized in that family, and in cat:Lizards. There is a genus Agama and a subfamily Agaminae, but neither of these articles give an indication that the taxa of those ranks are known as 'Agamas'. I noticed this after copying and pasting from existing articles, so the link to the sankrit word Agamas was appropriate: "that which has come down" (i.e., that which has been handed down to the people of the present from the past). I will attempt a summary of this miasma of taxonomy with these questions:

  1. Is Agamas a synonym for any rank in the order Squamata? (other than genus Agama)
  2. Are there any other cats in this project's scope that use synonymy for categorization?
  3. And does anyone have AWB and want to fix it all?
  • Thanks to all at the wikiproject for improvements to this area. cygnis insignis 14:19, 17 March 2008 (UTC) & refactor 17:18, 17 March 2008 (UTC)
Don't be surprised if some yo-yos show up trying to say agamas are venomous.--Mike - Μολὼν λαβέ 15:47, 17 March 2008 (UTC)
In December I did a lot of category work for the snake articles. Somebody had suggested that it would make more sense to follow the taxonomic hierarchy and I couldn't help but agree. I've now also created parallel categories for common names and synonyms. For an example, see Crotalinae (pitvipers).
If you want to work along these lines, I would suggest creating a new category, Agaminae, and then moving the contents of Agamas to the new category and to Agamidae accordingly. After you make sure nothing else links to it, you can delete the empty category. --Jwinius (talk) 16:25, 17 March 2008 (UTC)
Ta for the reply. My quick search seems to indicate that Agamas is a pluralised forms of Agama. I was aware that agamid is a term for taxa in the Agamidae family. I don't plan to create categories of synonyms or subdivisions of ranks, although various attempts at groupings of things like sea snakes (Elapidae?) might be worthwhile. cygnis insignis 17:18, 17 March 2008 (UTC)
Parallel categories for synonyms and common names are nice, but I'm not saying that they're as important as the main categories. Regarding the sea snakes, they're a special case because they currently do not form a well-defined taxonomic group. Nevertheless, they are different, so for the time being I see no better solution than to maintain a Sea snakes subcategory for them under Elapidae. --Jwinius (talk) 17:55, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Turtle photo

I recently I took photos of a turtle on our pond, some kind of slider, that I think would be good to upload for Wikipedia. Here is an image of the turtle. First, do you know what exact species it is (I live in upstate SC, USA)? I first thought it was a red-eared slider (which are very common in my area), but then realized it didn't have red ears. :) Second, what reptilia article could that photo be best used in (I might have a photo that's a little better than that one; I just grabbed something decent and uploaded it to Flickr). Thanks a lot, JamieS93 14:37, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

Looks like Deirochelys reticularia. Joelito (talk) 17:03, 18 March 2008 (UTC)
Yes, that definitely looks like it. Unless there's any opposition, I'm going to add my image (or a photo very similar, if I have one in better quality) to the article as a "secondary image" (not replacing the one in the infobox). Thanks, Joel! --JamieS93 17:57, 18 March 2008 (UTC)
I can't confirm/deny the ID, but if it is Deirochelys reticularia, then move the current taxobox image to the article body, and use your photo for the taxobox. Your photo shows more features than the current photo (red on carapace, the neck). Crop it a bit though. --liquidGhoul (talk) 21:13, 18 March 2008 (UTC)
Yeah, I neglected to mention that I was going to crop the image before submitting it. I currently have a section at the Reference desk to confirm the idenfitication, just to be sure. Thanks for the assistance, y'all. :) --JamieS93 12:17, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Your turtle is Pseudemys nelsoni, the Florida Redbelly Turtle. The only thing strange is you say the photo was taken in South Carolina? If so, this turtle is an escaped pet. P. nelsoni is not native to SC. MFuture (talk) 21:45, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Amphibian Species of the World, online

I've been using this site quite regularly and found it impressive as a taxonomical reference for amphibian. I therefore considered adding it to Phylogenetic and Paleontological references on the front page of this group, but doing so would clearly not be fair without asking you (especially considering that I'm not even a member of this group...). If some of the more established members feel that it is, I can only recommend that it is added. RN1970 (talk) 03:03, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

I've added it to Secondary References. Should someone feel this is inappropriate, feel free to remove/edit it. RN1970 (talk) 01:54, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Name move proposal

I have proposed Stump-tailed skink be moved to Shingleback skink - discussion at the talk page. Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 20:51, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

How many more common names are there for this species? Why not move it to something more neutral and systematic, like Tiliqua rugosa? Almost all of the skink articles use scientific names for their titles already. --Jwinius (talk) 23:33, 12 April 2008 (UTC)
Hmmm...I hadn't checked that one. Everyone I know calls 'em shinglebacks...Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 23:38, 12 April 2008 (UTC)
Huh? Do you mean a Bobtail? I'm being bold again.cygnis insignis 00:38, 13 April 2008 (UTC)
I prefer Scientific names, myself. Still, I've only ever heard them reffered to as "Shingleback skinks".--Mike - Μολὼν λαβέ 14:01, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Actually, this discussion belongs on the talk page associated with the article. Some folks over there seem not to be aware of what's been said over here (and possibly vice versa). In these cases, it may also be a good idea to make more use of the Move template. --Jwinius (talk) 16:06, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] ID challenge

pic 1
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pic 2

Fancy a challenge (or not)? I saw this gecko on the island of 'Eua, Tonga. It was in my hut, but was much larger than the run of the mill house geckos. I estimated that it was the length of my hand (18 cm, 7 inches). I know the island has some interesting endemic species, so is it one of those or an overgrown introduced house gecko? Sabine's Sunbird talk 02:44, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Aspidoscelis/Cnemidophorus

The species list and the species articles would seem to need updating; e.g. Cnemidophorus dixoni has the 2002 taxon as a synonym. Why Reptile DB does not use Aspidoscelis I don't know, perhaps they have a reason, perhaps they simply have not been updated yet. Dysmorodrepanis (talk) 04:47, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

ITIS also doesn't have Aspidoscelis. I would also think that they weren't updated. bibliomaniac15 Do I have your trust? 04:51, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Amphisbaenians

I think it should be noted here that I've set up a new category for the Amphisbaenians (a suborder under Squamata), and linked some pages. Also, I've redone the page for the family Amphisbaenidae, if only in a small way (previously, it gave Rhineura floridana as the only species, despite the genus Rhineura usually being listed as the only species in Family Rhineuridae.! JamesFox (talk) 10:09, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Reptiles

There is currently an argument at Talk:Tuatara about the use of the word "reptile" to describe the tuatara. Is "reptile" no longer valid? I'm sorry if this topic has already been discussed. Axl (talk) 16:31, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Australian Lizard photo identification

What species is he?
What species is he?

Hi, just wondering if one of you folks could help me out with identifying this lizard/skink?). I'm in Queensland and took a photo of him in the Botanical Gardens on Mt. Coot-tha. I'd like to know which species he is so I can upload a nice closeup of his head for the relevant article. Please let me know on my talk page. Cheers. SMC (talk) 08:38, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Eastern water dragon - Physignathus lesueurii Caissaca (talk) 09:23, 27 April 2008 (UTC)
Thanks. SMC (talk) 10:29, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Testudo atlas

See talk there. This critter has been languishing for a while, and I am unable to resolve the issues with the article. Distribution also needs confirmation... hell, basically everything in that article needs the good old fact-check. Unfortunately, there are very few sources on Google Scholar that seem to be really interesting here. They dig up bits and pieces of this beast in India every few years, but that's not very informative really. Dysmorodrepanis (talk) 15:11, 6 May 2008 (UTC)