Kaysie
Site Contributor
So today, I received my complimentary copy of the new field guide: Amphibians and Reptiles of South Dakota, complete with frog and toad call CD. I was rather excited. The photos are nice and large, full color. The information is well laid out. The distribution maps are easy to read. And as I flipped through, I saw pictures taken by none other than Mike Graziano (a tiger sal and a mudpuppy). Evidently he's getting some herping in on the Great Plains.
My only beef is with reclassification. North American Bufo have been hacked from the genus and morphed into Anaxyrus, North American Rana has been turned into Lithobates... will the madness never end? Really though, I understand the meaning behind these two reclassifications. But it's hard for me to keep up. I'm a lumper, not a splitter, so trying to keep up with the up-to-the-second classifications is a big pain in the butt.
My only beef is with reclassification. North American Bufo have been hacked from the genus and morphed into Anaxyrus, North American Rana has been turned into Lithobates... will the madness never end? Really though, I understand the meaning behind these two reclassifications. But it's hard for me to keep up. I'm a lumper, not a splitter, so trying to keep up with the up-to-the-second classifications is a big pain in the butt.
