NATURESERVE
NatureServe reports standard vertebrate and invertebrate names for taxa as defined by
NatureServe zoologists who use a set of major references generally accepted by
researchers working on a given taxonomic group. However, many of these major
references are updated infrequently. Because taxonomy is a dynamic field, NatureServe
zoologists review numerous journals and monographs each year for taxonomic and
nomenclatural changes, and they may accept these changes before the major source(s) for
each group are updated to reflect them. In addition, undescribed taxa of conservation
concern (i.e., taxa for which scientific names have not yet been published) may be tracked
in the NatureServe Central Databases. The process of incorporating taxonomic and
nomenclatural updates from the most recent (e.g., 2009) of these references into
NatureServe’s databases is still ongoing.
Reptileman´s Note 1: NatureServe recognizes the Class Chelonia (turtles) and Class Crocodylia
(crocodilians) as distinct from the Class Reptilia (amphisbaenians, lizards, and snakes).
Reptileman?s Note 2: NatureServe uses the standard common names of Collins and Taggart
(2009).
Search this site for North American herpetofauna.
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Attitude, rather than disposition is more definitive of serpent behavior. From the moment they emerge into this world until they complete their life cycle, their attitude is "Don't tread on me. I am well equipped to defend myself, but content to pass through life unnoticed. I mean no harm to anything or anyone that our creator has not provided as my bill of fare; I am self sustaining and I like it that way, please pass me by." - W.E. Haast
