Need Reptile Links!!

[~birdybea~]

I've just sat down to try to start an assignment for my Vertebrate Zoology class. We have to research and report on an aging technique and a marking technique (outline the method, give examples of where it's been used, advantages/disadvantages, etc). The aging technique i was given is the use of size to estimate age in reptiles. I am now discovering that Google is not being kind and isn't offering me much info. Does anyone know any links?

I knew when i got the technique that size only gives a very crude estimate of age in reptiles, but i assumed that if i was given it to research there would be some info out there i could use!

 

[Angelicarboreals]

PM me if you still need this information, I will have to do some digging as far as aging goes, but I can tell you all about marking techniques for the animals for later identification as I am having to do that now for my thesis.

 

[~birdybea~]

Still need the info if you have it. The marking technique I got is much easier: leg bands for birds.

 

[Coliephile]

Go to the HerpNation.com website and post your query on the Field Herp Forum. There are many active research biologists participating on that Forum engaged in a lot of field work who are knowledgeable about alot of data gathering techniques. Determining age by size is extremely unreliable because so many factors can influence the size of an individual herp in any given population: competition with others sharing the same niche, availability of food, heat, light which affect growth hormones. I have seen great differences in the size of desert tortoise juveniles of the same age simply because some individuals are more aggressive in terms of eating habits and territoriality. They will actually 'stunt' the growth of other juvies sharing the same habitat range. In many lizard species such as chuckwallas, the marking with pheromones from a more dominant or aggressive males/females can inhibit the growth of same age individuals sharing territory.

 

[~birdybea~]

That's for the link, i'll check that out this arvo when i get home from school.