It is my great honor to introduce the third edition of House of Herps, the blog carnival dedicated to amphibians and reptiles.  This is an exciting time for herpetology, as scientists wrangle over how best to categorize this fascinating group of animals. According to The Center for North American Herpetology (CNAH),

The discovery that birds (Class Aves) are the closest modern relative to the crocodilians, or the sister clade to crocodilians and turtles, renders the Class Reptilia as an unnatural grouping.¹

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) refers to herps in the traditional groupings of Amphibians and Reptiles. The IUCN offers their taxonomic standards and sourcing as follows:²

Reptiles

Turtles and tortoises generally follow Iverson (1992) (see http://emys.geo.orst.edu/); crocodilians follow King and Burke (1989) (see http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herpetology/turtcroclist/); and tuatara systematics are after Daugherty et al. (1990). Names in common use, including those used by Specialist Groups or in national sources, have been employed for other groups of reptiles. Increasing use is being made of the TIGR Reptile Database compiled by Peter Uetz and made available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.reptile-database.org/.

Amphibians

Nomenclature generally follows Frost (1985) as updated by Duellman (1993). The Amphibian Species of the World Database is now available on the World Wide Web and is updated regularly, so this has become the source for any recent changes: http://research.amnh.org/cgi-bin/herpetology/amphibia. Another important web site for documentation on amphibian species, especially those in decline is the Amphibia Web Database. The Fact Sheets for all amphibian species on the Red List include deep links to the relevant species pages on both the sites described above.

However we describe this diverse group of creatures, one thing is sure: there can be no more eloquent a spokesman for amphibians and reptiles,  than our own Jason Hogle. Those of you who have followed other blog carnivals, have no doubt become familiar with Jason’s name and singular style. Fans of his blog dine regularly on the feast of words that is xenogere.com. Please join me at xenogere.com for House of Herps #3, to relish Jason’s presentation of the best herp-blogging on the internet.

Call for Hosts!

The winter months (in North America) are challenging months for herpetophiles, but Spring is on the way. The next edition of HoH, #4, will be published mid-March – and we need a host! As the weather warms, I anticipate an influx of bloggers wanting to take their turn at the wheel, so don’t wait!  Please contact us at [hosting@houseofherps.com], or use the contact form on our Contact page if you would like to host an upcoming edition.