CNAH COMMON NAMES LIST SIXTH EDITION SCHEDULED

The Center for North American Herpetology is pleased to announce that, through the generosity of Touchstone Energy, Washington, D. C., funding for the sixth edition of "Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians" by Joseph T. Collins and Travis W. Taggart has been secured in full. We anticipate that the sixth edition will appear in early 2009.

Copies of the current fifth edition, which appeared in 2002, are still available in very limited numbers (and also can be downloaded gratis from the CNAH PDF Library). The new sixth edition is planned both because of the large number of taxonomic changes that have occurred since September 2002 and because of those that will occur in the coming months.

Users of the CNAH list should continue to monitor the foundation's web site, in order to be kept abreast daily of the proposed taxonomic changes to the North American herpetofauna. This service is available for North America only on the CNAH web site.

Individuals wishing to download and/or print a copy of the fifth edition should go to

http://www.cnah.org/pdf_files/233.pdf

CNAH is the most accessed academic herpetological web site on the internet.

NEWS RELEASE
The Center for North American Herpetology
Lawrence, Kansas
http://www.cnah.org
21 December 2007

CNAH REACHES 600 THOUSAND

The Center for North American Herpetology, the most frequently accessed academic herpetological web site on the internet worldwide, recorded user 600,000 on 20 December 2007. The number of visitors that then went on to access the various pages and gratis services provided within the CNAH web site numbered in the millions. The CNAH web site went online on 1 January 1998.

Why do herpetologists visit the CNAH web site?

Access the CNAH PDF Library. Download over 750 herpetological articles gratis. PDF articles are the future (and will eventually replace print journals). Why? No dues, no trees chopped down, and, above all, fast and free distribution of research and knowledge about amphibians, turtles, reptiles, and crocodilians to any interested biologist.

Access the CNAH Directory of Herpetologists and be sure to add your name to it. With over 1,420 herpetologists registered, it is the largest such internet directory in the world.

Access the CNAH Standard Common and Current Scientific Names List. It is the only such list on the internet that is updated daily (by our diligent foundation staff), thus ensuring that users of the web site have instant access to any proposed taxonomic changes involving the North American (north of Mexico) herpetofauna. Also, the CNAH list keeps North American herpetologists apprised of the common names and taxonomy that will appear in the next (fourth) edition of the "Peterson Field Guide to Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians of Eastern and Central North America."

Access the CNAH Standard Common and Current Scientific Names List and view over 1,200 professional color images of these creatures.

Access the CNAH list of jobs/positions for herpetologists. There aren't that many jobs in our profession, so keep abreast of those offered.

Access our link sites; we have 285 links to North American herpetological web sites, the largest such academic assemblage on the internet.

These are but a few of the many gratis services provided on the CNAH web site.

To the many of you who have contributed financially to our foundation, we express our sincere thanks and gratitude. Your generosity ensured long ago that The Center for North American Herpetology would be permanently endowed, and because of that, we will continue to operate as a constant and reliable source of information through the next millennium.

NEWS RELEASE
The Center for North American Herpetology
Lawrence, Kansas
http://www.cnah.org
25 December 2006

CNAH REACHES THE HALF MILLION VISITOR MARK

The Center for North American Herpetology, the most frequently accessed academic herpetological web site on the internet worldwide, recorded user 500,000 on 24 December 2006. The number of visitors that then went on to access the various pages and gratis services provided within the CNAH web site numbered in the millions. The CNAH web site went online on 1 January 1998.

Why do herpetologists visit the CNAH web site?

Access the CNAH PDF Library. Download 540 herpetological articles gratis. PDF articles are the future (and will eventually replace print journals). Why? No dues, no trees chopped down, and, above all, fast and free distribution of research and knowledge about amphibians, turtles, reptiles, and crocodilians to any interested biologist. Access the CNAH Directory of Herpetologists and be sure to add your name to it. With about 1,300 herpetologists registered, it is the largest such internet directory in the world.

Access the CNAH Standard Common and Current Scientific Names List. It is the only such list on the internet that is updated daily (by our diligent foundation staff), thus ensuring that users of the web site have instant access to any proposed taxonomic changes involving the North American (north of Mexico) herpetofauna. Also, the CNAH list keeps North American herpetologists apprised of the common names and taxonomy that will appear in the next (fourth) edition of the "Peterson Field Guide to Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians of Eastern and Central North America."

Access the CNAH Standard Common and Current Scientific Names List and view over 825 professional color images of these creatures.

Access the CNAH list of jobs/positions for herpetologists. There aren't that many jobs in our profession, so keep abreast of those offered.

Access our link sites; we have 275 links to North American herpetological web sites, the largest such academic assemblage on the internet.

These are but a few of the many gratis services provided on the CNAH web site. To the many of you who have contributed financially to our foundation, we express our sincere thanks and gratitude. Your generosity ensured long ago that The Center for North American Herpetology would be permanently endowed, and because of that, we will continue to operate as a constant and reliable source of information through the next millennium.

The Slowinski Award Panel for 2008

The CNAH Board of Directors is pleased to announce the re-appointment of a panel of three distinguished herpetologists who will select the recipient of The Joseph B. Slowinski Award for Excellence in Snake Systematics. Dr. Christopher L. Parkinson (University of Central Florida, Orlando), Dr. Simon Creer (University of Wales, Bangor), and Dr. Hussam Zaher (Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brasil) will serve and choose the sixth recipient of The Slowinski Award based on research published worldwide during calendar 2007. The award, $500.00 and a stylish memento, will be given by CNAH on an appropriate date in September 2008.

For more information about The Slowinski Award, visit

http://www.cnah.org/awards.asp

CNAH Featured in Science Magazine Net Watch

The Center for North American Herpetology (CNAH) has been featured in Science magazine's Net Watch, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The AAAS is the largest scientific organization in the world and Science magazine has the broadest distribution of any scientific periodical published.

CNAH is a non-profit 501c3 foundation established in 1994 and currently headquartered in Lawrence, Kansas. The foundation is devoted to furthering research on and conservation of the amphibians, turtles, reptiles, and crocodilians of the United States and Canada. In addition to its extensive library of professional color images (all by Suzanne L. Collins), the foundation makes two awards each year, one of which is the largest herpetological award given annually worldwide. CNAH also operates the largest academic herpetological email contact list in the nation.

CNAH maintains the only online list of current scientific and standard common names for the North American herpetofauna; the list is updated daily. During calendar 2004, the CNAH web site recorded nearly 850,000 hits.

The Science article about CNAH can be viewed in the CNAH PDF Library at

http://www.cnah.org/cnah_pdf.asp

under the journal Science or by searching the editors name, Mitch Leslie.

NEWS RELEASE
The Center for North American Herpetology
11 May 2004
www.cnah.org

CNAH PDF Library Online

The Center for North American Herpetology is pleased to announce that 127 titles from 55 journals/periodicals are now available as gratis downloads from the CNAH PDF Library. The list is searchable by author, year date, journal, and subject. Users can read a title using Adobe Acrobat Reader or download it for printing using Adobe Acrobat. This permits herpetologists to download and print only those titles of specific interest to them. We continue to encourage authors to add titles that deal with the North American (north of Mexico) herpetofauna; any appropriate titles dealing with higher level are also acceptable regardless of geographic coverage. CNAH continues to make available this academic service to herpetologists for the first time in the history of our profession.

The CNAH PDF Library can be accessed at

http://www.cnah.org/cnah_pdf.asp

For more information, contact:

Joseph T. Collins
Director, CNAH
jcollins@ku.edu

NEWS RELEASE
The Center for North American Herpetology
Lawrence, Kansas
18 March 2004

CNAH Reaches the Quarter Million Visitor Mark

The Center for North American Herpetology, the most frequently accessed academic herpetological web site on the internet worldwide, recorded user 250,000 on 18 March 2004. The number of visitors that then went on to access the various pages and gratis services provided within the CNAH web site numbered in the millions. The CNAH web site went online on 1 January 1998.

Why do herpetologists visit the CNAH web site?

Access the CNAH PDF Library. Download 110 herpetological articles gratis. PDF articles are the future (and will eventually replace print journals). Why? No dues, no trees chopped down, and, above all, fast and free distribution of research and knowledge about amphibians, turtles, reptiles, and crocodilians to any interested biologist. Access the CNAH Directory of Herpetologists and be sure to add your name to it. With 948 herpetologists registered, it is the largest such internet directory in the world. Note: If you are already in the directory, be sure and update your information if you haven't done so recently. (Can't remember your password? Contact Joe Collins at jcollins@ku.edu).

Access the CNAH Standard Common and Current Scientific Names List. It is the only such list on the internet that is updated daily (by our diligent foundation staff), thus ensuring that users of the web site have instant access to any proposed taxonomic changes involving the North American (north of Mexico) herpetofauna. Also, the CNAH list keeps North American herpetologists apprised of the common names and taxonomy that will appear in the next (fourth) edition of the "Peterson Field Guide to Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians of Eastern and Central North America."

Access the CNAH list of online herpetological collections of preserved specimens. Its still the only centralized location where you can access those collections that actually give you real locality data.

Access the CNAH list of jobs/positions for herpetologists. There aren't that many jobs in our profession, so keep abreast of the few offered.

Access our link sites; we have 500 links to North American herpetological web sites, the largest such assemblage on the internet.

These are but a few of the many gratis services provided on the CNAH web site. To the many of you who have contributed financially to our foundation, we express our sincere thanks and gratitude. Your generosity has ensured that The Center for North American Herpetology is now permanently endowed, and will be operating through the next millennium.

News Release
The Center for North American Herpetology
Lawrence, Kansas

PENNSYLVANIA SCIENTIST ON CNAH BOARD

Walter E. Meshaka, Jr., Senior Curator, Section of Zoology and Botany, and State Herpetologist, Pennsylvania State Museum of Natural History, Harrisburg, was recently elected to the Board of Directors of The Center for North American Herpetology, Lawrence, Kansas. Dr. Meshaka becomes the seventh member of the CNAH Board, which operates the most frequently accessed academic herpetological web site on the internet.

Dr. Meshaka received his Bachelor of Science in Zoology from the University of South Florida in 1985, his Master's Degree in Biology from Arkansas State University in 1988, and his Doctorate from Florida International University in 1994. From January to April 1995 he held a post-doctoral position at the Archbold Biological Station, Lake Placid, Florida, and from April 1995 to May 2000 he was curator at the Everglades National Park. He is the author of three books and over 70 papers on amphibians, turtles, reptiles, and crocodilians.
For more information, contact

Joseph T. Collins
Director, CNAH
(785) 749-3467
jcollins@ku.edu

CNAH is the largest academic herpetological foundation in the world, and currently makes two prestigious awards annually to scientists that publish outstanding research on amphibians, turtles, reptiles or crocodilians.

Other members of the CNAH Board of Directors are Joseph T. Collins (Lawrence, Kansas), Suzanne L. Collins (Lawrence, Kansas), Kelly J. Irwin (Benton, Arkansas), James L. Knight (Columbia, South Carolina), Robert Powell (Kansas City, Missouri), and Travis W. Taggart (Hays, Kansas).

The Center for North American Herpetology announces the 9 September 2002 publication of the first printing of the long-awaited fifth edition of

Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians

by Joseph T. Collins and Travis W. Taggart

The first edition of this compilation, published in 1978, listed 454 species (or kinds) of amphibians, turtles, reptiles, and crocodilians, and was quickly adopted nationwide as a source for common names for these North American (north of Mexico) animals that could be consistently used worldwide to avoid confusion, both in spelling and during conversation.

The new fifth edition lists 590 kinds of amphibians, turtles, reptiles, and crocodilians in the United States and Canada, an increase of 136 species (30%) since 1978, which demonstrates clearly how much the diversity of these animals was previously underestimated.

Also of interest in this fifth edition is the updated section on alien species, those creatures that are not native, have escaped or been released in North America, and have become established in the United State or Canada. Most significant of these is the large Indian Python, which is now a breeding resident of south Florida. This constricting serpent reaches a length in excess of fifteen feet, and can have a serious impact on native wildlife, as well as small livestock and neighborhood pets.

The standard common names in the fourth edition (1997) of this list were used exclusively in the well-known Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America (third edition expanded, 1998, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston). The forthcoming fourth edition of the Peterson Field Guide, which has the widest distribution of any book ever written about these creatures worldwide, will adopt the standard common names of Collins and Taggart (2002). Use of standardized common names achieves stability, comprehension, and ease of use throughout the United States and Canada, and thus has the potential to create closer cooperation among biologists across the nation, so that they may work together in the common cause of conserving and protecting these often maligned creatures.

The web site of The Center for North American Herpetology, which is the largest academic herpetological web site in the world, has adopted the common and scientific names in the fifth edition.

Single copies of the fifth edition of Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians, are available free by simply sending a self-addressed 7 x 10 inch manila envelope with first class postage affixed for ca. 4 ounces ($1.29) to CNAH, 1502 Medinah Circle, Lawrence, Kansas 66047.

CNAH Note: The first printing of the fifth edition contained several typographical errors and a single incorrect subspecific common name. Due to the great demand for this list, the first printing (a very small number of copies were printed) is exhausted, and the second printing (a much larger number of copies) is a corrected version that will be sent out nationwide. The authors apologize for these errors, and recipients of the first printing of this list wishing a copy of the second printing can obtain same by following the instructions in the preceding paragraph.

Authoritative standardized lists are available for all eleven vertebrate Classes in the U.S. and Canada. Note that all have been through multiple editions, and are the most widely used source for scientific and common names in North America (north of Mexico). They are:

Hagfishes (Class Myxini)
Chimaeras (Class Holocephali)
Ray-finned Fishes (Class Actinopterygii)
Sharks and Rays (Class Elasmobranchii)
Lampreys (Class Cephalospidomorphi)
Robins, C. Richard, Reeve M. Bailey, Carl E. Bond, James R. Brooker, Ernest A. Lachner, Robert N. Lea & W. B. Scott.
1991. A List of Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from the United States and Canada. Fifth Edition.
American Fisheries Society Special Publication 20: 1-183.

Amphibians (Class Amphibia)
Turtles (Class Chelonia)
Reptiles (Class Reptilia)
Crocodilians (Class Crocodylia)
Collins, Joseph T. & Travis W. Taggart
2002. Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians. Fifth Edition.
Publication of The Center for North American Herpetology, Lawrence, Kansas. iv + 44 pp.

Mammals (Class Mammalia)
Jones, Clyde, Robert S. Hoffmann, Dale W. Rice, Mark D. Engstrom, Robert D. Bradley, David J. Schmidly, Cheri A. Jones, & Robert J. Baker.
1997. Revised Checklist of North American Mammals North of Mexico, 1997.
Occasional Papers of the Museum, Texas Technological University 173: 1-19.

Birds (Class Aves)
American Ornithologists Union.
1998. Check-list of North American Birds. Seventh Edition. liv + 829 pp.
American Ornithologists Union, Washington, D. C.

Virtually the entire scientific community of biologists worldwide uses the common names in these lists exclusively, in order to promote stability and ease of communication, particularly with non-biologists.

The Joseph B. Slowinski Award for Excellence in Snake Systematics has been established by the Board of Directors of The Center for North American Herpetology (CNAH) as a trust in perpetuity in recognition of the scientific achievements of the late Joseph B. Slowinski. Donations by check should be made out to CNAH and sent to:

The Slowinski Award
The Center for North American Herpetology
1502 Medinah Circle
Lawrence, Kansas 66047

Or you may securely make a donation through PayPal by clicking on the button below. All donations are tax-deductible.

Additional information about THE SLOWINSKI AWARD is posted under the CNAH Awards link on the main page.

The Center for North American Herpetology, the leading herpetological web site worldwide, recorded user 100,000 on 14 September 2001.

The Center for North American Amphibians and Reptiles (CNAAR) has formally amended it's name to The Center for North American Herpetology (CNAH). The change was made to eliminate dependence on a particular taxonomic arrangement, and thus maintain stability through time.

A Key to Amphibians and Reptiles of the Continental United States and Canada, sponsored by The Center for North American Herpetology, was published by the University Press of Kansas, Lawrence. Co-authored by Robert Powell (Professor of Biology at Avila College, Kansas City, Missouri), Joseph T. Collins (Herpetologist Emeritus at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, Lawrence), and Errol D. Hooper, Jr. (Research Associate at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, Lawrence), this long-awaited identification manual incorporates the wealth of scientific findings generated over the last two decades by molecular systematics. Further, in order to increase the precision of this key, geographic origin of the specimen to be identified is required. In addition to 257 exquisite drawings, this key features for the first time cross-references to the range maps and other illustrations in both the Eastern and Central Peterson Field Guide (Conant & Collins, 1998) and Western Peterson Field Guide (Stebbins, 1985), as well as accounts in the Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR). The key is designed for use in college-level herpetology and vertebrate biology courses, and will be especially useful as an effective tool for teaching modern principles of taxonomy and to introduce students to the systematics of reptiles and amphibians.

Taxonomy in this key follows exactly that used in Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians and Reptiles, Fourth Edition (1997) by Joseph T. Collins; future editions of this key will follow the taxonomy utilized by Collins in future editions of his list.

Published: November 1998 140 pages, 257 illustrations ISBN: 0-7006-0929-6 Cost: $17.95 Available from your local university bookstore, or order by calling 1-785-864-4155

The expanded third edition of the Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, the greatest selling book on amphibians and reptiles ever written, was released on 28 April 1998 by the publisher, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. Co-authored by Roger Conant (Adjunct Professor in the Biology Department at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque) and Joseph T. Collins (Herpetologist Emeritus at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, Lawrence), this expanded version of the traditional third edition (published in 1991) features over 100 stunning color photographs, the majority by noted amphibian and reptile photographer Suzanne L. Collins (The Center for North American Herpetology, Lawrence), and new color range maps that now are placed near the appropriate species account in the text, instead of being gathered in the rear of the book, as in the 1991 version. This expanded edition continues to display the exquisite color artwork of Tom R. Johnson (Missouri Department of Conservation, Jefferson City) and the late Isabelle Hunt Conant. The text remains unchanged from the 1991 version, but pagination is completely different due to the insertion of color photographs and range maps throughout the book.

Common names in this book follow exactly that used in Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians and Reptiles, Third Edition (1991) by Joseph T. Collins; the upcoming fourth edition of the Peterson Field Guide will follow both the common names and the taxonomy utilized by Collins in future editions of his list.

This book continues to be the number one best-selling book on amphibians and reptiles listed on amazon.com, according to their own ranking system.

Published: April 1998
616 pages, 656 color illustrations, 384 black-and-white drawings, 333 range maps
ISBN: 0-395-90452-8
Cost: $20.00
Available from your local bookstore, or order by calling toll free at 1-800-225-3362