Herpetological society is a commonly used term for a club or organized group of reptile and amphibian enthusiasts. The term is derived from herpetology - the branch of zoology dealing with the study of those organisms.
Herpetological societies are typically non-profit, private organizations in which members pay dues for the benefit of the group. In general they are geographically focused around a specific state, province, or region, but most groups accept members from anywhere in the world.
A few groups devote their endeavors to the most technical and scientific aspects of herpetology as a science, and therefore require academic or professional credentials of their members. However, most clubs are open to the public, having been founded by hobbyists and non-professionals to promote education and conservation while often sharing knowledge related to husbandry and breeding.
Herpetology is a branch of zoology that studies amphibians and reptiles. Birds, which are cladistically included within Reptilia, are traditionally excluded here; the separate scientific study of birds is the subject of ornithology.
James Ray Dixon was professor emeritus and curator emeritus of amphibians and reptiles at the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection at Texas A&M University. He lived in El Campo, Texas, throughout most of his childhood. He published prolifically on the subject of herpetology in his distinguished career, authoring and co-authoring several books, book chapters, and numerous peer reviewed notes and articles, describing two new genera, and many new species, earning him a reputation as one of the most prominent herpetologists of his generation. His main research focus was morphology based systematics of amphibians and reptiles worldwide with emphasis on Texas, US, Mexico, Central America, and South America, although bibliographies, conservation, ecology, life history and zoogeography have all been the subjects of his extensive publications.
Mark Timothy O'Shea is an English herpetologist, photographer, author, lecturer, and television personality. He is known internationally as the presenter of the Animal Planet/Discovery Channel series O'Shea's Big Adventure.
The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH) is an international learned society devoted to the scientific studies of ichthyology and herpetology. The primary emphases of the society are to increase knowledge about these organisms, to communicate that knowledge through publications, conferences, and other methods, and to encourage and support young scientists who will make future advances in these fields. The programs of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists are part of a global effort to interpret, understand, and conserve the Earth's natural diversity and to contribute to the wise use of natural resources for the long-term benefit of humankind.
Hobart Muir Smith, born Frederick William Stouffer, was an American herpetologist. He is credited with describing more than 100 new species of American reptiles and amphibians. In addition, he has been honored by having at least six species named after him, including the southwestern blackhead snake, Smith's earth snake, Smith's arboreal alligator lizard, Hobart's anadia, Hobart Smith's anole, and Smith's rose-bellied lizard. At 100 years of age, Smith continued to be an active and productive herpetologist. Although he published on a wide range of herpetological subjects, his main focus throughout his career was on the amphibians and reptiles of Mexico, including taxonomy, bibliographies, and history. Having published more than 1,600 manuscripts, he surpassed all contemporaries and remains the most published herpetologist of all time.
Herping is the act of searching for amphibians or reptiles. The term, often used by professional and amateur herpetologists, comes from the word "herp", which comes from the same Greek root as herpetology, herpet-, meaning "creeping". The term herp is a shorthand used to refer to the two classes of ectothermic tetrapods.
The Bobby Witcher Society (BWS) is registered non-profit reptile and amphibian group in the United States dedicated to the study and appreciation of herpetology. The society funds a scholarship to support student members of the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles who are engaged in herpetological study and research. Member groups exist at Avila University and the University of Missouri.
The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR) is an international herpetological society. It is a non-profit organization supporting education, conservation, and research related to reptiles and amphibians. Regular publications include the Journal of Herpetology and Herpetological Review. It is the largest international herpetological society, and is recognized worldwide for having the most diverse program of publications, meetings, and other activities.
Doris Mable Cochran was an American herpetologist and custodian of the American Natural Collection at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., for many years.
Kenneth Lee Williams was an American herpetologist and author of books on the subject of snake biology and classification. Williams retired from teaching in Northwestern State University's biology department and received emeritus status in 2001. Williams is considered an authority on the milk snake and the herpetology of the Honduran Cloud Forest.
James Arthur Peters was an American herpetologist and zoogeographer.
Alexander Mikhailovich Nikolsky was a Russian and Ukrainian zoologist born in Astrakhan.
Ilya Sergeyevich Darevsky was a Soviet Russian zoologist-herpetologist and a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. During his career he described 34 species of amphibians and reptiles. Darevskia, a genus of Caucasian rock lizards, is named after him.
Martha L. "Marty" Crump is a behavioral ecologist in the Department of Biology and the Ecology Center at Utah State University who studies amphibians and reptiles. Crump was the first individual to perform a long-term ecological study on a community of tropical amphibians, and did pioneering work in the classification of variability in amphibian egg size as a function of habitat predictability. She has co-authoried one of the most popular modern herpetology textbooks, Herpetology (1997–2015) as well as the memoir In Search of the Golden Frog (2000) and a number of other books for both adults and children. In 1997, she received the Distinguished Herpetologist Award from The Herpetologists’ League.
Lee Fitzgerald is Professor of Zoology and Faculty Curator of Amphibians and Reptiles in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences at Texas A&M University. His biological specialty is the evolutionary ecology and conservation biology of amphibians and reptiles (herpetology). Fitzgerald is a former editor of Herpetological Monographs.
Robert ″Bob″ Powell is an American herpetologist. His main research interest is in the herpetofauna of the Caribbean.
Walter E. Meshaka Jr. is an American herpetologist and natural historian. He was the supervisory curator for the four National Parks in southern Florida from 1995 to 2000. In 2000 he became the Senior Curator of Zoology and Botany at the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. His research has been covered by Lawrence Journal-World, among other news outlets.
Joseph Thomas Collins, Jr. was an American herpetologist. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati, Collins authored 27 books and over 300 articles on wildlife, of which about 250 were on amphibians and reptiles. He was the founder of the Center for North American Herpetology (CNAH). He died while studying amphibians and reptiles on St. George Island, Florida on 14 January 2012. "For 60 years I was obsessed with herpetology," Joe Collins claimed.
C. Kenneth Dodd Jr., is an American herpetologist and conservationist. He earned his Ph.D. under Edmund D. Brodie Jr. from Clemson University in 1974. From 1976 to 1984 he worked in the research division of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, then he transferred to the U.S. Geological Survey in 1984, where he remained until his retirement in 2007. He is currently Courtesy Associate Professor in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida and an Affiliate of the Florida Museum of Natural History. He has published over 200 papers, reviews and books. Much of his research focuses on turtle and amphibian ecology/conservation. He, along with R. Bruce Bury and Garry Fellers were the first to suggest widespread amphibian declines were progressing. He is a nationally recognized herpetologist.
The Wells and Wellington affair was a dispute about the publication of three papers in the Australian Journal of Herpetology in 1983 and 1985. The periodical was established in 1981 as a peer-reviewed scientific journal focusing on the study of amphibians and reptiles (herpetology). Its first two issues were published under the editorship of Richard W. Wells, a first-year biology student at Australia's University of New England. Wells then ceased communicating with the journal's editorial board for two years before suddenly publishing three papers without peer review in the journal in 1983 and 1985. Coauthored by himself and high school teacher Cliff Ross Wellington, the papers reorganized the taxonomy of all of Australia's and New Zealand's amphibians and reptiles and proposed over 700 changes to the binomial nomenclature of the region's herpetofauna.
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