Standard Common and Current Scientific Names
for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians (Fifth Edition 2002)

Introduction

The following checklist of amphibians, turtles, reptiles, and crocodilians native to North American (north of Mexico) is that of Collins & 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.), and forms the basis for the future sixth edition. This list is updated daily as new discoveries are reported in the literature, and the updates will be compiled and evaluated by wide array of systematists for the next edition. This process can be greatly enhanced if users will keep CNAH aware of any published proposed changes in the taxonomy of these creatures (other than those appearing in the Journal of Herpetology, Herpetological Review, Herpetologica, Copeia, Southwestern Naturalist, and Contemporary Herpetology).

As a further service to the herpetological community, citations and explanatory notes about changes between the fourth edition (Collins 1997) and fifth edition (Collins & Taggart 2002) of Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians are inserted.

These services to all herpetologists are provided gratis by The Center for North American Herpetology, a non-profit 501c3 foundation, established to benefit the salamanders, frogs and toads, turtles, amphisbaenians, lizards, snakes and crocodilians of the United States and Canada, and the scientists that study them.

All common names appearing on the web site of The Center for North American Herpetology are those standardized for the United States and Canada by Collins et al. (1978, 1982), Collins (1991, 1997) and Collins & Taggart (2002 et sequentia); the CNAH web site will continue to use these standard common names as they appear in future editions of the latter list. Most of the common names in this list are those which were established for use by the North American herpetological community nearly half a century ago (Conant et al. 1956, Common Names for North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Copeia 1956(3): 172-185).

The red number to the left of each category indicates the number of species in North America (north of Mexico) recognized in this list.