Minnesota Herpetological Society November 2012 Volume 32 the newsletter of the Number 11 Contents Speaker: Glenn “Jake” Jacobson on his trip to the Galapagos October Speaker Recap: Amphibians and Reptiles Native to Minnesota Board Elections are Here!
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MinnesotaHerpetologicalSociety
November 2012 Volume 32
the newsletter of the
Number 11
C o n t e n t s
Speaker: Glenn “Jake” Jacobson on his trip to the GalapagosOctober Speaker Recap: Amphibians and Reptiles Native to Minnesota
THE PURPOSE OF THE MINNESOTA HERPETOLOGICAL SOCIETY IS TO
• Further the education of the membership and the general public in care and captive propagation of reptiles and amphibians;
• Educate the members and the general public in the ecological role of reptiles and amphibians;
• Promote the study and conservation of reptiles and amphibians.
TheMinnesotaHerpetologicalSocietyisanon-profit,tax-exemptorganiza-tion. Membership is open to all individuals with an interest in amphibians and reptiles. The Minnesota Herpetological Society Newsletter is published monthly to provide its members with information concerning the society’s activitiesandamediaforexchanginginformation,opinionsandresources.
GeneralMeetingsareheldatBorlaugHall,Room335ontheSt.PaulCam-pusoftheUniversityofMinnesota,onthefirstFridayofeachmonth(unlessthereisaholidayconflict).Themeetingstartsat7:00pmandlastsaboutthree hours. Please check the MHS Voice mail for changes in schedules or cancellations.
SUBMISSIONS TO THE NEWSLETTER
Ads or Notices must be submitted no later than the night of the General Meetingtobeincludedinthenextissue.Longerarticleswillbeprintedastimeandspaceallowsandshouldbeinelec-tronicfileformatifpossible.See inside back cover for ad rates. Submissions may be sent to:
The Minnesota Herpetological Society -or- [email protected]: Newsletter EditorC/OBellMuseumofNaturalHistory10ChurchStSEMinneapolis,MN55455-0104
Stay informed! Join us on our forums!And,youcanstillleaveusaVoice Mail:612.326.6516
Amphibians and Reptiles Native to MinnesotaBy Ellen Heck
ThespeakerforOctoberwasJohnMoriarty,along-timeMHSmember.In1994,alongwithBar-neyOldfield(aformerMHSmember)Johnpub-lishedthebookAmphibiansandReptilesNativetoMinnesota.Itwas,asthetitleimplies,devotedtothe reptiles and amphibians found in Minnesota. However,sinceitwaspublished,datahasbeenupdated and new species discovered. For the last severalyearsJohnhasbeenworkingwithCarolHalloftheDepartmentofNaturalResourcesonanupdatedversion.Thisbook,tobecalledAmphib-iansandReptilesinMinnesota,isscheduledtobepublishedinthespringof2014.
Sincethepublicationoftheoriginalbook,severalnew species have been discovered. These include thefour-toedsalamander,whichwasdiscoveredinItascaCountythesamemonththebookwaspub-lished. The spotted salamander was discovered a few years later. The common musk turtle has also beenaddedaswellasthepondslider(akared-earedslider)althoughneitheroftheseisconsid-erednative.Theyarepetreleases,buttheslideratleasthasestablishedpopulationsinMinnesota,although it remains to be seen if they can breed effectively this far north.
Another reason for updating the book is that so manyspecieshavebeenrenamedand/orre-clas-sified.There-classificationisdueinlargeparttoDNAtesting,re-establishinglinksbetweenspeciesgenetically instead of empirically. There is also a trend towards abolishing sub-species. Animals are
eitherconsideredonespecies,iftheyaresimilarenough,orbrokenoutastheirownspeciesiftheyare not. It has also been determined that the spe-cies and sub-species cannot have the same name; hence a lot of name changes.
ExamplesofthisarewhatisnowknownastheBlanchard’scricketfrog,theplainshognoseandthesnappingturtle,nolonger“common”.The“common map turtle” is now the northern map turtle,asfurthersouththesouthernmapturtleismorecommon.Amajorchangeisthere-classifi-cation of ratsnakes. As they are found all over the world,inNorthandCentralAmericanelaphehasbeen renamed pantherophis.
Thedistributionchartsarealsobeingupdated,doing away with old records and incorporat-ingnewerones.Forchartingrecords,thelargernorthern counties have been sub-divided to put their area on par with the smaller southern coun-ties.Identificationchartshavebeenexpandedandmanynewphotoshavebeenadded,showingnotjustadultspecimensbutjuvenilesaswellastheirhabitat.
Morehistoryhasbeenincluded.InthefirstbookJohn and Barry started in the in early 1930’s. However,turtleandrattlesnakedepictionsarefound in Minnesota petroglyphs and evidence of turtle shells found in graves dating back 8000 years or more. There is also more information relatedtotheearlyexplorersoftheeighteenthandnineteenth centuries.
The Newsletter of the Minnesota Herpetological Society November 2012 Volume 32 Number 11
4
October Adoption ReportPostedbyBethGirard,WrittenbyChrisRueber
Returning from foster care:2CommonBoas(apx6-7’),2CornSnakes,1BallPy-
thon,2GreenIguanas
Webmaster Needed!
The MHS is seeking 1-2 people familiar with website maintenance. People should havesomehtmlexperience.ExperienceusingDrupalisaplus!Pleasee-mailChriswithquestions.
Library Help Needed!
Wearealsolookingforhelpwith the library during the monthly meeting.
Please enclose the proper payment with your application. Make checks payable to MINNESOTA HERPETOLOGICAL SOCIETY.Membership is for 12 months from the date of approval. A receipt will be sent only upon request.Mail To: Minnesota Herpetological Society, C/OBELLMUSEUMOFNATURALHISTORY,10ChurchSt.SE,Minneapolis,MN55455Please allow 6-8 weeks for processing.
MHS Ad Policy:TheMHSassumesNORESPON-SIBILITYregardingthehealthorlegalityofanyanimal,orthequalityorlegalityofanyproductorservice advertised in the MHS Newsletter. Any ad mayberejectedatthediscretionoftheNewsletterEditor.Duetospacelimitations,unpaidandcom-plimentaryadvertisementsaresubjecttooccasionalomission.
Classified Ads: All active members are allowed a classifiedad,runfreeofchargeasspacepermits.Adsmayberunthree(3)consecutivemonths,afterwhich time they may be resubmitted.
Submissions: All advertisements should be submitted to the MHS Membership Secretary at the general meeting or mailed to: Minnesota Herpetological Society, C/O Bell Museum of Natural History. 10 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455. Deadline is the night of the General Meeting for inclusion in thenextnewsletter.Makecheckspayableto:Min-nesota Herpetological Society.