Herpetology is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians and reptiles. Birds, which are cladistically included within Reptilia, are traditionally excluded here; the scientific study of birds is the subject of ornithology.
The Mexican blind lizard is a species of legless lizard in the family Dibamidae, and the only species in the genus Anelytropsis. It is endemic to Mexico. They look like Amphisbaenia, but are in fact, only distantly related.
Indotyphlops braminus, commonly known as the brahminy blind snake and other names, is a non-venomous blind snake species found mostly in Africa and Asia, but has been introduced in many other parts of the world. They are completely fossorial animals, with habits and appearance similar to earthworms, for which they are often mistaken, although close examination reveals tiny scales rather than the annular segments characteristic of true earthworms. The species is parthenogenetic and all known specimens have been female. The specific name is a Latinized form of the word Brahmin. No subspecies are currently recognized.
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.
Ichthyology & Herpetology is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research in ichthyology and herpetology that was originally named after Edward Drinker Cope, a prominent American researcher in these fields. It is the official journal of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. According to the Journal Citation Reports, Copeia has a 2021 impact factor of 1.857, ranking it 65th out of 176 journals in the category "Zoology".
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.
Raymond Terrence Hoser is an Australian snake-catcher and author. Since 1976, he has written books and articles about official corruption in Australia. He has also written works on Australian frogs and reptiles. Hoser's work on herpetology is controversial, including his advocacy of the surgical alteration of captive snakes to remove their venom glands and his self-published herpetological taxonomy, which has been described as "taxonomic vandalism".
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.
Olive Griffith Stull (Davis) (February 10, 1905 – June 15, 1969) was an American herpetologist.
Peter Brazaitis is an American herpetologist and forensic specialist in herpetology and worked for the Wildlife Conservation Society from 1954 to 1998. He began as a reptile keeper at the Bronx Zoo, became Senior Keeper in 1967, Assistant Animal Manager in 1970, and Superintendent of Reptiles in 1972. In 1988, he transferred to the Central Park Wildlife Center as Assistant Curator of Animals and became Curator of Animals in 1990, a position he held until his retirement in 1998.
Richard Bruce Bury, a pioneer in the study of herpetofauna, is an American conservationist, herpetologist, and natural historian and Scientist Emeritus of the United States Geological Survey. Bury, C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr. and Gary Fellers were the first to suggest widespread amphibian declines were progressing. In 1972, Bury became the first person hired by the United States Department of the Interior under the specific title of Herpetologist. In 2009, the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH) made Bury the 11th herpetologist awarded the annual Henry S. Fitch Award for Excellence in Herpetology. Bury is a founding governing board member and executive editor of the journal Herpetological Conservation and Biology. For more than 30 years, Bury has studied herpetofauna ecology and conservation, including the effects of invasive species and wildfire on populations. Thanks in part to his efforts, herpetofauna are recognized as important indicators of ecosystem health.
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," claimed Joe Collins
Mary Cynthia Dickerson was an American herpetologist and the first curator of herpetology at the American Museum of Natural History, as well as the first curator in the now defunct department of Woods and Forestry. For ten years she was the editor of The American Museum Journal, which was renamed Natural History during her editorship. She published two books: Moths and Butterflies (1901) and The Frog Book (1906) as well as numerous popular and scientific articles. She described over 20 species of reptiles and is commemorated in the scientific names of four lizards.
William Roy "Bill" Branch was a British-South-African herpetologist.
Donald George Broadley (1932–2016) was an African herpetologist. He described as new to science 115 species and subspecies, and 8 genera and subgenera of reptiles. He was one of the founders of the Herpetological Association of Africa. He earned his doctorate at the University of Natal in 1966. His widow, Sheila Broadley, is also a 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.
The British Herpetological Society (BHS) is an international herpetological society based in the United Kingdom. The BHS is a non-profit organization with goals to support the conservation, education and captive care of reptiles and amphibians. The society regularly publishes the Herpetological Journal and Herpetological Bulletin on a quarterly basis. It is one of the oldest international herpetological societies and is recognized worldwide for its support in conservation, research and other relevant activities.
Richard Walter Wells is an Australian herpetologist. He is known for editing the Australian Journal of Herpetology in the 1980s, in which he and C. Ross Wellington wrote and published three papers without academic peer review that proposed significant changes to the taxonomy and nomenclature of Australian reptiles and amphibians. In the 2000s, Wells self-published herpetological research in the Australian Biodiversity Record. The scientific names he proposed therein are the subject of a boycott begun in 2013 by some members of the herpetological community.
