This project page or section is in the middle of an expansion or major revamping. You are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well. If this article has not been edited in several days, please remove this template. This project page was last edited by Enlil Ninlil (Contribs • Log) 25 hours ago.

[edit] Title

WikiProject Amphibians and Reptiles

[edit] Scope

This WikiProject aims to expand organise Wikipedia's collection of entries about Amphibians and Reptiles, both living and extinct.

[edit] Parentage

This WikiProject is an offshoot of WikiProject Tree of Life

WikiProject Science.

WikiProject Biology

WikiProject Tree of Life

WikiProject Animals

WikiProject Amphibians and Reptiles

[edit] Descendant Wikiprojects

• WikiProject Dinosaurs
• WikiProject Pterosaurs
• WikiProject Sea Monsters

[edit] Related Wikiprojects

It is worth keeping one eye on several Wikiprojects that overlap with this one or that have made significant progress towards completion, including WikiProject Birds, WikiProject Ecoregions, WikiProject Conservation worldwide and WikiProject Marine life.

[edit] Associated Portal

The Amphibians and Reptiles Portal (P:AAR) is the associated portal of WikiProject Amphibians and Reptiles. Feel free to update the article and picture of the month.

[edit] Criteria for inclusion

At what level is it worth having a separate Wikipedia article for a particular amphibian or reptile? Any level you like! If we write individual articles for all the species, we will be at it for a long time! The simplest (and probably best) rule is to have no rule: if you have the time and energy to write up some particularly obscure subspecies that most people have never even heard of, go to it!

As a general guideline though, combine several species or subspecies into a single article when there isn't enough text to make more than short, unsatisfying stubs otherwise. If the article grows large enough to deserve splitting, that can always be done later.

[edit] Structure

Amphibian and reptile articles can be on any level that makes sense in context. Most will be about particular taxa. For example:

• Class: Amphibian, Reptile
• Order: Frog, Squamata, etc.
• Family: Ichthyophiidae, Chameleon, etc.
• Genus: Litoria, Geochelone, etc.
• Species: Great barred frog, Nile crocodile, etc.

In many cases, it makes sense to combine several taxonomic levels in a single article. For example, the subfamily Rheobatrachinae contains only one genus, Rheobatrachus. All rheobatrachids are gastric-brooding frogs, so the one article covers both subfamily and genus levels.

Conversely, sometimes it is better to cover only a part of a taxon: Corroboree frog deals with two different (but related) species and ignores the other species in the genus Pseudophryne.

Some of the larger taxons, such as frogs, must be broken down into smaller articles to reduce article size. For example, with frog, the biology related sections remain in the article, and the popular culture section and list of families within that order are split into the Frogs in popular culture and List of Anuran families articles. A paragraph with a link to the separate article should be left within the main article (e.g. Frog#Taxonomy).

It may be useful to start with a high-level article, such as a family article, and then split off genus and/or species articles as the material builds.

Create links to articles on the levels immediately higher and lower. An article on a family such as true toads should link back to frogs, and down to the genus articles.

[edit] Article contents

The following items are desirable for articles of all levels, although the detail will vary depending on several factors. These items do not need to be separated into distinct sections; text should flow in continuous prose so far as possible. The order this information is included is also relatively unimportant, although the order listed is generally preferred.

• Description (physical, behavioral characteristics) - what makes this (group of) critter(s) different from its close relatives?
• Habitat - where does it live? how broadly does it roam? Map images help.
• Cultural, Religious, Economic, etc. importance - what impact has it had on humans? Include here use for experimental purposes that do not relate to other headings.
• Classification - how does it fit into the tree of life?

[edit] Names and titles

This project follows guidelines discussed at WikiProject Tree of Life/article titles and Naming conventions (fauna).

[edit] Taxonomy

Certain choices have been made to follow specific taxonomies for the different groups of articles that fall under this WikiProject. Excluding our three descendant WikiProjects, the following sources are used as our primary taxonomic references:

• Amphibia - The AMNH database together with Frost et al. (2006).
• Reptilia - ITIS, Reptilia (higher level classification)
  • Crocodilia - (none)
  • Rhynchocephalia - (none)
  • Squamata - ITIS, Squamata (higher level classification)
    • Amphisbaenia - (none)
    • Autarchoglossa - (none)
    • Gekkota - (none)
    • Iguania - (none)
    • Serpentes - (none)
  • Testudines - (none)

In cases where a taxonomy has been selected, articles for newly described taxa that are not (yet) included in these taxonomies may still be added, but those articles describing the parent taxon should not be changed to suggest their inclusion. This rule does not apply if no taxonomy has been selected.

[edit] Use a taxobox

New Caledonian crested gecko
Crested gecko, Rhacodactylus ciliatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Sauria
Family:	Gekkonidae
Genus:	Rhacodactylus
Species:	R. ciliatus
Binomial name
Rhacodactylus ciliatus Guichenot, 1866

In general, amphibian and reptile entries should have a taxobox, a feature we inherited from the Tree of Life WikiProject. See Wikipedia:WikiProject Tree of Life/taxobox usage for guidelines on how to use a taxobox.

[edit] Photographs

Please use and help maintain collections of photographs and other images such as:

• Category:Frog images

Note that Wikimedia Commons is the recommended repository for uploading images: ( Media related to Crocodilia at Wikimedia Commons)

[edit] Assessment

Amphibian and reptile articles		Importance
		Top	High	Mid	Low	None	Total
Quality
	FA	2	2	5	1		10
	FL	1				1	2
	GA	1	9	3	6		19
	B	4	31	34	17	14	100
	C	3	7	26	17	17	70
	Start	6	33	134	290	106	569
	Stub	2	5	68	824	6057	6956
	List		3	2	5	20	30
	Assessed	19	90	272	1160	6215	7756
	Unassessed		3	2	4	1299	1308
	Total	19	93	274	1164	7514	9064

[edit] Task list and progress

edit · history · watch · refresh  To-do list for Wikipedia:WikiProject Amphibians and Reptiles:
Here are some tasks you can do:

As organized by WikiProject Amphibians and Reptiles, the current tasks are:

1. Create article for each Order and Family
2. Ensure all Family articles are taxonomically consistent
   1. Ensure all articles between Order and Family rank are taxonomically consistent
3. Create article for each Genus
   1. Ensure all articles between Family and Genus rank are taxonomically consistent
4. Create articles for all Species
   1. Create links for all species articles on appropriate articles
   2. Create lists of uncreated articles to add to category pages:
      1. List of amphibians
      2. List of reptiles
      3. Prehistoric amphibian
5. Create articles for aspects of amphibian and reptile biology, such as snake scales and vocal sac.
6. Copyedit current article text to coincide with Wikipedia:Naming conventions (fauna) (e.g., convert "Coral Snake" to "coral snake").
7. For articles with {{AARTalk}} templates, rank and assess articles that have not been given a rating or an importance rating (see Cat:Unassessed_amphibian_and_reptile_articles).

[edit] Participants

If you wish to be involved in this project, please add your name to the list below (using {{User}}), as well as what your interest or expertise here might be. Please keep the list in alphabetical order. This list was purged on the 11 November 2009 and expires again in one year on 11 November 2010. If you are a former member please add your name again.

• AshLin (talk · contribs) Indian reptiles & amphibians.
• Aviceda (talk · contribs) Australian & Global Wildlife
• Bibliomaniac15 (talk · contribs) Special interest in Varanoidea
• Ciar (talk · contribs) amateur with an interest in ectotherms -- mostly help out with tagging or fixing obvious errors
• Dinoguy2 (talk · contribs)
• Dger (talk · contribs) photography
• Dougcard (talk · contribs)
• Drakesketchit (talk · contribs) Philippine fauna, vertebrates, new species
• Enlil Ninlil (talk) Australian and fossil species.
• Innotata (talk · contribs) interested in any vertebrates: mostly starting new articles and destubbing: the more obscure the better
• IvanTortuga (talk · contribs) Australian & Michigan fauna
• Mokele (talk · contribs) General herpetology and functional morphology.
• Shyamal (talk · contribs) mainly South Asian taxa
• Struhs (talk · contribs)
• XPS420 (talk · contribs) Colubridae and Boidae, particularly of Central and South America. Photography.
• ZooPro (talk · contribs) (current coordinator)

[edit] Participant Userboxes

Please feel free to add these userboxes to your user page, signifying your participation in the project.

Code	Result
{{User WikiProject Amphibians and Reptiles}}	This user is a member of WikiProject Amphibians and Reptiles.
{{User WikiProject Amphibians and Reptiles2}}	This user is a member of WikiProject Amphibians and Reptiles.

[edit] Paleontological references

Phylogeny and taxonomy of some fossil groups is not known or is uncertain; relationships of living species to each other and fossil species is also not fully known. Join the discussion for other possibilities.

The following is suggested as primary references (feel free to add more!)

[edit] Print - Primary References

• Benton, M. J. (2004), Vertebrate Paleontology, 3rd ed. Blackwell Science Ltd, or 2nd ed. 2000. This is a widely used and respected work, which has superceded but not replaced Carroll 1988. The classification presented in this book, although not perfect, is a good compromise that combines the Linnean and Cladistic approaches. For more on this book see Vertebrate Paleontology
• Carroll, R. L. (1988), Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, WH Freeman & Co. At the back of this book is a very useful appendix that lists every veretebrate genus classified according to family, order, etc. This is the most recent Linnean classification of living and extinct vertebrates, and Dr Carroll's book is in any case and excellent textbook, although too detailed and technical for trhe beginner
• Handbook of Paleoherpetology, a multi-authored series of important volumes, each on a particular group. Some are rather dated, others are more current. The main page is here. For a classification, click on the title/group you are interested in, that brings up some info about that volume with a picture of the cover. There will generally be a little button on the lower part of the page which says "more". Click on that for the table of contents. The table of contents includes the taxonomy of the group in question.
• Ruta, M, MI Coates & DLJ Quicke (2003), Early tetrapod relationships revisited. Biol. Rev. 78: 251-345. pdf - includes a number of cladograms on early Tetrapods
• Rubidge, B.S. & Sidor, C.A. 2001, Evolutionary patterns among Permo-Triassic therapsids. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 32: 449-480. pdf - includes large Therapsid cladogram and very good overview of Therapsid clades
• any articles or papers in peer-reviewed journals

[edit] Online - Primary References

• Tree of Life describes the early amniote clades; follow the links back to tetrapods, or forward to more recent or derived groups. The Tree of Life project is peer-reviewed and so can be considered authoritative. Note that this phylogeny differs in places from Benton's.
• any online (html or pdf) articles or papers that have also appeared in peer-reviewed print journals

[edit] Print - Secondary References

The following books can also be used, but they are not as detailed or authoritative as the Primary references textbooks. Note: these books are not peer-reviewed, so they can only be used as basic introductory material

• Patricia Vickers-Rich and Thomas H. Rich, The Great Russian Dinosaurs, Gunter Graphics, 1993, Pg 37.
• Dinosaurs and other Prehistoric Creatures Edited by ingrid Cranfield 2000 Salamander books ltd
• Barry Cox, R.J.G.Savage, Brian Gardiner, Dougal Dixon, 1988 Illustrated Collins/McMillian/whatever Encyclopaedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals (this book has been variously published so the name of the title may differ - a higherly recommended for a basic intro, although there are still a few mistakes - e.g. still presents Teratosaurus as a dinosaur!))

[edit] Internet - Secondary References

• Palaeos - includes detailed technical information on many tetrapod groups, also some overviews, and lists references
• Terrestrial Vertebrate Groups - Mikko's Phylogeny - a giant cladogram made up of thousands of linked webpages. Includes references, but does not specify which parts of the cladogram on each page were based on which references
• UCMP Berkely - description on different groups of prehistoric organisms - gives a good basic intro, but does not cover sub-groups in detail

[edit] Phylogenetic references

Phylogeny and taxonomy of some fossil groups is not known or is uncertain; relationships of living species to each other and fossil species is also not fully known. Join the discussion for other possibilities. The following is suggested as primary references (feel free to add more!)

[edit] Internet - Secondary References

• Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. - a resource dealing with the taxonomy of extant and recently extinct amphibians.
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System - a partnership designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species
• Turtles of the World Online resource based on C. H. Ernst's reference work about turtles and tortoises.
• Amphibia.web A database which containts data about the amphibians of the world.

[edit] Project templates and categories

[edit] Talk

Place {{AARTalk}} at the top of an article's talk page. This will allow for assessment and make editors aware of the project.

[edit] Stubs

See also: Cat:Animal stubs

• {{amphibian-stub}}
• {{reptile-stub}}

[edit] Categories

Do not categorise in more than one level of taxa. For example, do not categorise an article in both Category:Frogs and Category:Litoria. Only categorise in the lowest taxa with a category, in this case Category:Litoria.

[edit] Navboxes

• {{Anura}} - Placing this template on a page creates a box with list of names of anuran families. This template has been used in Frog and the wikipages on anuran families.
• {{Snake families}} - Placing this template on a page creates a box with list of names of snake families. This template is meant for been use in Snake and the wikipages on snake families.
• {{Crocodilia}} - creates a navbox with a list of crocodilian taxa.
• {{Crocs}} - Placing this template on a page creates a navbox with crocodilian-related topics.
• {{Varanoidea}} - Placing this template creates a navbox with a list of the members of this superfamily. Meant for use on Helodermatid and Varanid articles.
• {{Iguanidae}} - Placing this template creates a navbox with a list of the members of this family. Meant for use on Iguana, Ctenosaura, Cyclura, and Sauromalus articles.
• {{Caudata}} - creates a navbox with a list of caudate taxa. Meant for use with salamander articles.
• {{Cordylidae}} - creates a navbox for cordylid lizards.

[edit] Sample Articles/Lists

Some article under this Wikiproject have been recognised for their excellence by the Wikipedia community as featured articles, and may serve as good models.

[edit] Featured Articles

• Blue Iguana
• Cane Toad
• Frog
• Green and Golden Bell Frog
• Hawksbill turtle
• Komodo dragon
• Olm
• White's Tree Frog

[edit] Featured Lists

• List of Anuran families
• List of Testudines families
• List of snakes of Trinidad and Tobago

[edit] Good articles

Other articles are listed as good articles, and may need some more work to reach featured status:

• Beaded lizard
• Bitis gabonica
• Bitis arietans
• Ctenosaura bakeri
• Cyclura nubila
• Daboia
• Decline in amphibian populations‎
• Gila monster
• Green Iguana
• Northern Red-legged Frog
• Poison dart frog
• Sea snake
• Snake scales
• Tuatara
• Varanus salvadorii
• Vipera berus

Some articles specially created under auspices of the WikiProject are:

• Snake scales
• Category:Snake scales.

[edit] Awards

Image	Name	Description
	The Amphibian Barnstar	The Amphibian Barnstar may be awarded to an editor in recognition of his or her knowledge and exceptional contributions to Wikipedia's articles on Amphibians .

Image	Name	Description
	The Reptile Barnstar	The Reptile Barnstar may be awarded to an editor in recognition of his or her knowledge and exceptional contributions to Wikipedia's articles on Reptiles .