Highschool herper and noob photographer; snakes are my passion and I'm getting interested in salamanders, but a herp is a herp and all are interesting. Especially interested in kings, indigos, taxonomy (and thus especially interested with the issue of Lampropeltis getulus complex taxonomy, and with the Gulf Coast "kolpobasileus" lineage of Drymarchon couperi). I'm always trying to learn more about taxonomy, if I make a mistake please politely let me know lol. I'm trying to knock out as many Florida lifers as possible, especially in SFL. I'm currently the top snake observer in Collier County with the second highest species count, top identifier of snakes in Florida, and top observer of snakes in Florida for this year. Tag me if you need help ID’ing snakes in Florida or the Southeast; I'm trying to improve with ID'ing in other areas (and iNat has been invaluable in doing so); in the US I'm decent at ID'ing most species except for Pacific Thamnophis.
Peace

My favorite finds of 2024:

1. Lifer Mudsnake
2. My first Queensnake from FL- only the seventh recorded on iNat from the state
3. Lifer Apalachicola Waterdog, unfortunately being killed by a banded watersnake
4. Lifer Scarletsnake
5. Second-ever live EDB
6. Lifer Southern Copperhead and first copper from FL
7. Lifer Burmese Python
8. First Rough Greensnake from FL
9. Lifer Greater Siren
10. Red/gold and silver phase of Mangrove Saltmarsh Snake

2024 Year In Review

My HerpMapper account:
https://herpmapper.org/profile/29243-eoghan_irwin

NOTE: I always try to ID to the subspecies so long as there isn't a clear possibility that the subspecies in that instance doesn't warrant recognition (especially Diadophis punctatus complex, Coluber constrictor complex, and Thamnophis sirtalis complex). WHEN SUBSPECIES ARE NOT CONTENDED PLEASE USE THEM. For example it's much more scientific and descriptive to ID a Western Mudsnake to the subspecies since it has distinctively different morphology and phenotype from the Eastern Mudsnake.

There are two main arguments against subspecies, the first being that they are only distinguished by color/pattern. According to the currently widely accepted theory of evolution based on Darwinian Evolution and 'survival of the fittest' random mutations should only persist and/or become dominant if there is pressure in the environment that supports that mutation over another. Thus phenotype does does not randomly evolve but is the result of a driving force in the environment and therefore can often be proof for genetic divergence. What often happens is that anti-subspecies taxonomists see the evidence for divergence as sufficient cause to delimit as species; however, species must not only be divergent in genotype or phenotype but also in time and space, i.e. must be able to maintain their integrity from each other at points of contact and they must be on separate evolutionary trajectories. If a population is genetically distinctive (and it can be reasonably assumed in many cases that have not yet been extensively studied genetically that genetic patterns can be inferred to some extent from phenotypic patterns in range) in portions of its range where it does not come into contact with other related populations, but merges smoothly with another population where it does come into contact (the two populations forming a continuum) then it clearly does not warrant recognition as a distinct species because it's not distinct, but at the same time warrants some recognition, hence the utility of subspecies.

The second argument is that they have been used inconsistently and have been applied across very different circumstances, but the same can be said, possibly to a greater extent, about species, and every taxonomic rank. The answer to this problem is not to discard the usage of subspecies completely, but to clarify the definition of subspecies vs. species and where to apply them.

2024 iNat goals:
-Attempt to have at least one verifiable observation per day

-To reach 1100 observations ✅

-To reach 30 snake species on iNat life list (not necessarily lifers, just firsts for me on iNat), add at least 15 new-for-me-on-iNat herps, and add at least five lifer herps

-To better document more common species (my goal is 50 observations each of tropical house geckos✓, cuban treefrogs, greenhouse frogs, brown anoles✓, and racers✓)

טקסונים מועדפים

צפייה בהכל