>>If anyone butted in Terry, it was me! LOL Besides it's an open forum = butting in is open to all. My personal opinion on common names is that we (hobbyists) are creating new ones all the time. Example: meahlly/meahllies = meahllmorum. Maybe not such a good thing in the eyes of some, but easier than typing southwestern rat snake all the time. Speaking of academics and hobbyists, am I correct in my thinking that Klaus-Dieter Schulz is not an academic, yet his monograph is respected by hobbyists and academics alike?

>>

>>-Toby





Good point, Toby, that forum goers are often trying to create common names that are easier to work with or more "catchy". I think KJ was kinda pointing that out too and that he expected a little more from me, though, because I've had more training than most forum goers. In retrospect, if I put myself in the position of writing an academic paper, I probably would have used "Southwestern Ratsnake", because that common name had been used before and was more accepted. However, as a forum goer, I didn't expect to be treated as an authority on the subject.



As for your observations about Mr. Schulz, if you look at the preface of his monograph, affectionately called "The Bible" by some of us ratsnake lovers, you'll see that he has actually gone into some depth on that subject. According to Mr. Schulz, Germans have had a long tradition of academics and amateurs working together. Sometimes hobbyists can add things to the pool of knowledge that academics can't, or go places academics don't have time for, etc. Anyway, he is technically a non-academic, but he is well educated, and has a super excellent background in working with the various ratsnakes, especially some of the exotic Asian ones. He also wrote the monograph with a little help from another writer, some artists, and with scientific consultants, including Notker Helfenberger.



Thanks for the discussion...



- TC

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