WIS 3402L Wildlife of Florida - Spring 2009
Reptile and Amphibian Identification Laboratory
Purpose
Just as with birds, the ability to identify a wide variety of amphibians and reptiles will help you in your future research and employment. Herpetology is the study of two main taxonomic groups: the amphibians and reptiles. As with birds, there is no way to squeeze all of this biodiversity into a few lab sessions, so we have chosen species that are common, endemic, endangered, or otherwise of importance in Florida for you to learn. You are strongly encouraged to learn species and natural history information well beyond the scope of this lab, and we hope that this lab will inspire you to do so.
Lab Work
Just as with the bird section you will be given handouts to fill in during your scheduled lab time. You will receive a “master list” with all species, specimens, and vocalizations listed, and two “identification lists” to fill in. These lists are meant to help you learn the following:
- Taxonomic information (Order, Suborder, Family, Scientific Name, Common Name).
- Appearance and distinguishing characteristics of each species.
- Vocalization identification.
- Natural History material may be a part of bonus exam questions.
Vocalizations
Identification of vocalizations is incredibly important to many amphibian studies. As with birds, the vocalizations will be played for you in lab and copied onto the website for you to study on your own.
Frog Sounds
- A_gryllus.mp3
- B_quercicus.mp3
- B_terrestris.mp3
- G_carolinensis.mp3
- H_cinerea.mp3
- H_femoralis.mp3
- H_gratiosa.mp3
- H_squirella.mp3
- O_septentrionalis.mp3
- P_crucifer.mp3
- R_capito.mp3
- R_catesbeiana.mp3
- R_grylio.mp3
- R_sphenocephala.mp3
- S_holbrookii.mp3
- P_ocularis.mp3
Downloads
2009
2008
- Amphibian list.pdf
- Amphibian worksheet.xls
- Amphibians.ppt
- Reptile_list.pdf
- Reptile_worksheet.pdf
- Reptiles.ppt
Books
The Peterson’s Field Guide entitled Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern/Central North America is the text that you need for this section of the class (the 1998 edition is the most current, and is authored by Conant and Collins). You should bring this text to every lab.
Specimens
Specimens for this lab have been obtained from the WEC collections or the collections of the Florida Museum of Natural History. They are preserved in various solutions (usually isopropyl or ethanol) and will be messier to handle than the bird specimens. We will provide gloves for those who do not wish to directly handle them.
*SPECIMENS NOT IN USE MUST BE COVERED BY DAMP TOWELS AT ALL TIMES*
This is to prevent drying, and is essentially important. Some of the smaller specimens are very delicate, so please be very careful when you handle them!
