New Additions in 2008

The following links lead to pages which include some of the new pictures and other content I have added to the site in 2008 (not the actual new pictures - you need to search the page to find them.) The most recent additions are on top of the list. The list of additions to the site in 2007 is here.



May


Pamela Greer sent me a picture of a Valley Gartersnake eating a California Toad.
Alan Barron sent in pictures of a rare sighting of a Northwestern Pond Turtle in Del Norte County.
Patrick Briggs contributed pictures of Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes, Pacific Gophersnake, Diablo Gartersnake.
I have added a movie of a male fence lizard chasing a female and posturing and included it on a new page linking to all of the movies available on the site. So far, there are not many movies, but I plan to continue to add more.


April


A recent Rosy Boa study recognizes two species. The ranges of these species are summarized on the Rosy Boa pages.

A gorgeous bright orange Ground Snake from the Mojave, courtesy of Jeremiah Easter along with two Side-blotched lizards mating, a sure sign of spring.

I've added some new recordings I made in March - California Red-legged frogs from Contra Costa County, and underwater recordings of the Northern Red-legged frogs that Maureen Krinsky helped me to get at her artificial pond in Humboldt County.

Donald Schultz donated a series of pictures of a San Diego Ring-necked Snake regurgitating a large California Legless Lizard.
A huge San Diego Alligator lizard from the backyard of Steve Heimwetz.
A juvenile Coast Horned Lizard found in the same spot where two adults were found breeding a year earlier, from Becky Trask.
A San Diego Gopher Snake eating a huge rat, from Matt Maxon and Johanna Turner.

A number of nice pictures from Michael Clarkson, including
Desert Rosy Boa
Baja California Lyre Snake
Red Diamond Rattlesnake
Southern Pacific Rattlesnake
Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake
Great Basin Gophersnake
Legless Lizard


March


A Desert Iguana feasting on spring flowers from Bruce Montgomery

Sierra Night Lizard and a
California Legless Lizard from Kern County from Jackson Shedd


March is salamander and frog month in NorCal...

Dunn's Salamander
Scott Bar Salamander
California Newts - lots of new pictures of breeding activity
Rough-skinned Newts
Sierra Newt
Red-bellied Newts in breeding habitat
Painted Ensatina - an adult and juvenile together
Coastal Giant Salamander, adult and larva
Clouded Salamander from Del Norte County
Wandering Salamander - including a comparison with a Black Salamader
Arboreal Salamander
Del Norte Salamander - including an adult and juvenile combo and a red-striped adult from Humboldt county
Southern Torrent Salamanders - male, female, and larva underwater
Yellow-eyed Ensatina
Speckled Black Salamander - adult and juvenile comparison shots of large-spotted and frosted forms
California Slender Salamander

Western Spadefoot sounds recorded in Butte County

Tailed Frog
Northern Red-legged Frogs - including a foggy pic of a male calling underwater and pics of him out of the water
Pacific Treefrogs and eggs

Northwestern Garter Snake from Del Norte County
Sharp-tailed Snakes, adult and juv. from Butte County

An orange Sharp-tailed Snake from Jackson Shedd, described as "hypoalbanistic." Whatever it is, it's a weird one.

Valley Gartersnake eating an introduced leopard frog from Fresno County, sent by Matt Mastriano

Foothill Yellow-legged Frogs from Shasta County sent by Michael A. Peters



February

I've added some new underwater recordings of Rana aurora - Northern Red-legged Frogs. Spring is (sort of) here!

I have finally finished the Turtles Identification section. Kind of a joke for California, since we have so few turtles, but I did what I could to make it interesting, including adding a key to sea turtles. Some day I gotta get better pictures of turtles....

The Fishing regulations arrived early this year. I have revised the Regulations page to reflect this year's manual. Once again, there were no changes in what you can collect or in the sometimes outdated taxonomy used on the list.



January

A Speckled Black Salamander from Tehama County near Red Bluff photographed by Ryan Henson.

A large neotenic Coastal Giant Salamander, found and photographed by Molly Rinaldi.

Conservation listings as they are tracked by the CA Dept. of Fish and Game have been added to the page for each California animal to better illustrate the health of wild populations of California's Herps. I am following the Fish and Game list because it is a good condensed source of the listings of many organizations and I do not have the time or resources to track each organization's listings.

I have followed or noted the new nomenclature used by the Sixth edition of the SSAR Common and Scientific Names list published January 2008. I have not changed all of my names or lists to conform to the SSAR list because I want to wait to see if many of the changes are accepted and used in upcoming publications. There has been much protest about some of the changes such as the new amphibian classification and the change from Masticophis to Coluber. I have also decided not to follow their Sceloporus magister taxonomy because a later study with a larger sample size pretty much contradicts it.

I know this makes many of the names ridiculously cluttered and confusing, but without accepting or ignoring all of the changes, I don't know what else to do. Also, changing all of my names has taken an incredible amount of my time, so I plead with the SSAR and all herp researchers trying to maintain their tenure to stop studying the evolutionary history of California's herps and go get a real job! I hear that there are some good opportunities in nursing or in long-distance trucking.

In making all the above changes I have also gone throught the site and removed a lot of dead links. It is impossible for me to keep up with all of the link changes (thanks a lot CA Dept. of Fish and Game, the USGS, Amphibiaweb, and many other organizations for changing all of your links) so I have either completely removed them or replaced them with what I hope will remain at least a more reliable generic link.