Herpetology
Herpetology is the branch of zoology that studies reptiles and amphibians, including their biology, behavior, classification, and conservation.
Reptile: A vertebrate animal in the reptile lineage, including turtles, crocodilians, lizards, snakes, and tuatara. Reptiles are one of herpetology’s two principal study groups.
Amphibian chytridiomycosis: An infectious disease of amphibians caused by chytrid fungi, including Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Disease surveillance helps explain and respond to amphibian declines.
Carl Linnaeus: A Swedish naturalist who developed the binomial system of naming species and a influential framework for biological classification. His naming system underlies the scientific identification of reptile and amphibian species.
Ichthyology: The branch of zoology concerned with fishes. It studies another major vertebrate group rather than reptiles and amphibians.
Amphibian: A vertebrate in the amphibian group, typically associated with aquatic larvae and permeable skin. Amphibians form the other principal study group alongside reptiles.
Environmental DNA: Genetic material shed by organisms into their surroundings and sampled to detect their presence. Water samples can reveal elusive amphibians and reptiles without capturing them.
André Marie Constant Duméril: A French zoologist known for extensive work on reptiles and amphibians at the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle. His collections and classifications helped establish herpetology as a systematic discipline.
Ornithology: The branch of zoology concerned with birds. Birds are reptiles in modern evolutionary classification, yet ornithology remains a separate research tradition.
Ectothermy: A mode of thermoregulation in which an animal’s body temperature depends largely on external heat sources. Many reptiles and amphibians regulate body temperature through environmental heat.
Mark–recapture: A method that estimates animal population size by marking individuals and later sampling them again. Herpetologists use it to estimate population size, survival, and movement.