Anyone who has learned to do their own herp or other animal identification (rather than just posting on the internet with the caption “What’s this?”) knows the importance of location in achieving an accurate identification. The obvious reason for this is that there are more than 12,000 described reptile species and more than 9,000 amphibian species in the world, but there may be only several dozen or so species in your area. Trying to narrow down your options from 100 is significantly easier than narrowing them down from more than 21,000! Another reason is that many species of herps appear quite similar to each other. Visually differentiating these species may involve counting very small scales or other subtle, specific differences.
This lesson is part of Certified Herpetological Guide. Enrollment is self-paced, with no deadline to finish (about 50 hours).
