"I'm still confused, since I keep on getting different answers to this question."



and you should be. the problem you're running into is basically like comparing two different languages -- one is latin and part of an attempt to classify organisms in way that resembles "nature" and true evolutionary relationships, the other is derived from common english language (with some input from other languages, e.g. massasauga). you're likely to encounter many different common names for the same organism, but "we" all pretty much agree on the latin or scientific names.



that said, i would tend to agree with the information you got from the milk snake folk. i think fewer people would call all members of the same genus by the same common name. but there are those who would do this. go looking for rattlesnakes in oregon and the locals will tell you about all the timbers, diamondbacks, and sidewinders they've seen. but to a herpetologist, these are very different at the species level. a herpetologist would not tell you about the cribos native to florida, or the scarlet kings or coral kings in the sierra.



i think most people would look at you with a funny look on their face if you said, "nice milk snake" and they were holding a striped cal king.



cetainly not always, but common names tend to follow species designations.



my $0.02



matt

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