Would You Know a Herp if You Met One on the Street? Reptile and Amphibian Characteristics

Posted by Dennis Holley Sep 28, 2009

Imagine this scenario: Your little cousin, Pootsie Wootsie, has brought you a jar with an animal in it that your are unfamiliar with. It has four equal size legs with soft toes but no claws and a long tail. The skin appears very smooth and even looks wet Plus it has very small eyes. The animal is definitely a herp (amphibian or reptile) but is it a salamander (amphibian) or a lizard (reptile)?

Read the articles Characteristics of Amphibians and Characteristics of Reptiles and then formulate in your mind what three or four specific characteristics you would compare.

Got specific traits in mind? OK Let's investigate how a herpetologist would go about solving this problem.

1. First and foremost would be to examine the skin. A rough skin that looks like little beads = scales = lizard. Smooth and slick skin = no scales = salamander.

2. Examine the toes. Claws on toes = lizard; no claws on toes = salamander.

3. Examine the body posture. Belly held up off the surface = lizard; belly dragging on surface = salamander.

4. Examine the eyes. Large eyes = lizard; small eyes = salamander.

Can you identify the mystery herp? It is a salamander of course. General herp identification is a piece of cake once you know the identifying characteristics to look for.

Slither on!