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Definitions A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Acclimation: The adjustment of an animal to its surroundings when in captivity. Aestivation: A prolonged inactivity during the hottest periods of the year. Amplexus: The mating clasp of many frogs and certain salamanders. Annuli: Shallow but prominent concentric body grooves found in caecilians. Anterior: Toward the head or forward end of an animal. Antibiotic: A general term for a drug that will kill or control pathogenic microorganisms. Anuran: Frog. Arboreal: Living or active on trees and shrubs. Autotomy: The phonomenon seen in certain salamanders that enables them to rapidly shed their tail by constricting a line of weakness across the blood vessels, muscles, and vertebra of the tail at specific point, resulting in separation at that point. As the tail comes loose it continues wriggling under the action of the contracting muscles, deterring or confusing the predator in the process. A new tail often is regenerated in place of the old one but is composed of a bony cartilage, not vertebrae. Bask: to place the body or a section of the body in a position directly exposed to the sun. Calcareous: Consisting of or containing calcium carbonate. Caudate: Salamander. Cloaca: The single chamber into which the alimentary canal, kidneys, and genital ducts discharge their contents. Clutch: The eggs produced by a single female animal as a result of one breeding effort. Costal Grooves: Vertical indentations on the flanks of some salamanders that are caused by the positional stress exerted by the ribs on the muscles and skin. Courtship: Ritualized behavioral interractions between males and females that preceed and accompany mating. This behavior is highly developed in day geckos and includes a series of distinctive visual signals or cues. These signals, if successful, include the approach, close contact, ritualized movements, and actual mating. Crepuscular: Active at dawn or twilight. Crest: A soft and often highly colorful cutaneous formation that develops along the back, tail, legs, and sometimes digits of male (and to a lesser extent female newts. Dessiccation: The process of drying out. This may apply to both eggs and the actual animal if air moisture levels become too low. Digit: A finger or toe. Display: A specific pattern of behavior involved in communication between animals. it includes any of the senses such as vision, hearing, touch, and smell. Diurinal: Active during the daytime. Dorsa:l Relating to the upper part of the body; the back. Dorsolateral: Of or pertaining to the upper sides of the body. Ectoparasite: A parasite that inhabits the outer surface of an organism e.g., a mite or tick. Ectothermic: Regulating the body temperature by means of outside sources of heat, such as the sun (=cold-blooded). Endemic: Confined to a certain area, region, group of islands, or continent and found nowhere else. Endothermic: Regulating the body temperature by means of an internal regulating mechanism so as to produce a more-or less conxstant body temperature (=warm-blooded). Estivation: A period of dormancy during which the surrounding temperature becomes too high or the habitat too dry for an amphibian to remain active. It goes into hiding and becomes inactive until the temperature drops or rains come. Often it is sheathed in a protective layer of dad skin and mucus that allows it to retain sufficient moisture to survive. Family: A taxonomic category ranking below order and above genus. Femoral pores. Small oppenings on the underside of the thighs in some species of lizard, which secrete a waxlink substance. Fertilization: The method of making the eggs into viable living eggs. Flanks: Sides of the body Fossorial: Living or active at least part of the time in a substrate such as soil or sand. Gecko: Members of this large family of lizards are notable for their abilities to vocalize and, in many cases, to climb, even on slick vertical surfaces. Widely distributed in both the Old and New World and on oceanic islands, they are especially diverse in the tropics. Climbing geckos, such as day geckos, have individual rows of scales on the undersides of their toes referred to as setae. Genus: (pl. genera). A taxonomic category above species and below family. In a scientific name, the genus comes before the species name; the first letter is always capitalized. Gestation: the period of development or carrying of embryos (within the body) by the female of a species. Granules: Tiny, flat scales. Gravid: A female bearing eggs or young, ordinarily in the oviducts (pregnant). Gregarious: Tending to congregate into groups. Heliothermy: An interaction between the sun and an amphibian basking in its rays; attraction to the sun or a basking light. Hemipenis: (pl. hemipenes). One of the grooved, paired copulatory organs (double penis), found in lizards and snakes. A male lizard's hemipenes are elongated, rounded pouches which are turned outward during copulation. One is used at each mating. When not in use, they are sheathed in the lateral areas of the ventral portion of the tail. Herpetology: The study of reptiles and amphibians. Herptile: Any individual reptile or amphibian. Hibernation: A resting period when the surrounding temperatures become too low for an amphibian to remain active and it seeks a frost-free but cool refuge where it enters a state of dormancy. Indigenous: Occurring or living naturally in a particular region or place, but not restricted in distribution to that area. Interspecific: Occurring between menbers of different species. Intraspecific: Occurring within or between members of the same species. Jacobson's organ: One of the primary sensory organs in snakes and many lizards. This organ is located in the roof of the mouth and is used to perceive odors and chemical substances. Juvenile: A young, not yet sexually mature individual, sometimes displaying proportions and coloration which differ from that of the adult. Labial: Of or pertaining to the lips. Lateral: To the side. Melanistic: Having an abundance of black, resulting in an all-black or unusually dark animal; the opposite of albinism. Metamorphosis: The process that occurs when an amphibian larva or tadpole transforms into a form resembling its parent. In most cases this involves the loss of oxygen-extracting gills, heavy body crests, and tail (in frogs), and the development of conventional respiratory apparatus, legs, a proper mouth, and primary sexual organs. Metatarsal Tubercle: An enlarged hardened tubercle located on each hind foot of mainly fossorial frogs. Mid-dorsal. Of or pertaining to the center of the upper surface of the body. Mid-ventral: Of or pertaining to the center of the undersurface of the body or abdomen. Montane: Inhabiting mountain or high-altitude areas. Herpetoculturists, by adding the term montane to the descriptive terms above, intend to indicate that beacause the species live at a high altitude it has special temperature requirements. Nasolabial Groove: A narrow channel that extends from just below each nostril to the upper lip of plethodontid salamanders. Neonate: A young animal that has just emerged from its egg, or which has just been born. Nocturnal: Active at night. Nominate: Referring to the first or originally described form or type of a given species. Nuptial Pads: Small rough or horny cutaneous growths found on the thumbs, inside or top of the front or hind limbs, and underside of the tail (in some salamanders) mainly of males that have entered breeding condition. These pads enable a male to gain a better purchase on the female and are particularly useful in slimy-skinned species. Omnivorous: Feeding on both animal and plant material. Oviparity: The production by the female of undeveloped eggs that are self-contained in terms of nourishment (from a yolk sac) and develop independently of the parent's body; reproduction by laying eggs. Oviparous: Reproducing by means of eggs that hatch outside the body of the female. Ovoviviparity: The condition in which eggs develop within the mother's body, gaining nutrition from a youlk sac, and often are born either partially or well-developed and therefore only remain inside the mother for protection; reproduction by giving live birth from eggs that develop in the mother's body but without being fed by the mother. Ovoviviparous: Reproducting by means of eggs that have a shell, but which hatch inside the female before or just before laying so as to produce living young. Pantropic: Occurrring or distributed throughout the tropical regions of the world. Parotoid Gland: A swollen gland (usually behind the eye) that is prominent in many bufonids, Salamandra, and some ambystomatids, and barely visible but present in many other amphibians. It acts as a storage region for watery toxins used as a defensive mechanism. Pathogenic: Disease-causing. Examples include bacteria and many viruses. Pectoral: Of or pertaining to the chest. Pharynx: The portion of the alimentary canal between the cavity of the mouth and the esophagus. Pole: The point of an amphibian egg from which the embryo develops as a result of progressive cell division. It usually is cloaked in several gelatinous layers that act as a protective and heat retaining medium. Preanal scales: Scales located on the ventral surface anterior to the anus. In males of some geckos and certain other lizards, these scales my have enlarged pores that secrete a waxlike substance. Predation: Obtaining food through consumption of prey animals which may be either vertebrates or invertebrates. Prehensile: Adapted for grasping or seizing, especially by wrapping around, as the tails of certain lizards and snakes. Premaxillary Teeth: Teeth on the upper center pair of bones of the upper jaw; they perforate the upper lip of certain male salamanders and can be used in determining the sex of such species. Resource partitioning: Referring to the utilization of separate or different portions of the same habitat so as not to compete directly for existing resources. This term may be applied to separate species or to different age groups within a species. Reticulations: A network-type pattern of markings. Riparian: Living at the edge of or in close proximity to a river, stream, or similar body of fresh water. Saxicolous: Living or active among rocks. Scale: A thin, flattened platelike structure formint the major part of the surface covering of reptiles and certain other vertebrates. Scute: Any enlarged scale of a reptile which may also be referred to as a "plate" or "shield." Semi-arboreal: Living or active on trees and shrubs part of the time. Semi-aquatic: Living or active part of the time in water. Seminal Receptacle: A specialized storage chamber in the femal's reproductive system that allows her to store indefinitely the male's spermatophores. Sexual dichromatism: Sexually dimorphic in color. Typically, the adult males are the most colorful. Sexual dimorphism: a difference between males and females of the same species in color, form, or structure. Snout-vent length: The direct or straight line length of a reptile, amphibian, or other animal as measured from the anterior tip of the snout to the prosterior tip of the vent. Species: A group of animals that naturally interbreeds to produce fertile offspring. The fundamental unit of classification. Spermatophore: The tiny gelatinous sac released by many male salamanders and some frogs that houses the sperm. These sacs often are sticky or barbed so that they attach themselves to the female's cloacal opening. Subadult: A young individual that is older and/or larger than a juvenile, but which has not yet achieved full adult size. Subadults may be capable of breeding although, if social, have not as yet obtained a high rank within the group. Subcaudal: Beneath or on the ventral surface of the tail. Subspecies: When a population of animals is distributed over a geographic area with diverse environmental conditions, the members of the species in one section of the range may differ slightly in form or color from those in another section. Each subdivision is known as a race of subspecies. Substrate: The material which is used on the bottom of a vivarium, such as soil, newspaper, or bark. Subtropical: Inhabiting areas adjacent to the tropics. In Herpetoculture this means lizard species which require warmth during most of the year. Sympatric: A term applied to two or more populations of animals that occupy the same or overlapping geographical areas. Taxon: (pl. taxa). A specific taxonomic group or entity such as a species or subspecies. Temperate: Inhabiting either the North Temperature Zone between the artic Circle and the Tropic of Cancer or the South Temperature Zone between the Antarctic Circle and the Tropic of Capricorn. In Herpetoculture, this refers to lizards exposed to seasonal variations in temperature, including warm summers and cool-to-cold winters. Terrestrial: Living or active on the ground surface. Thigmonthermy: The interaction of an object that retains heat from the sun during non-sunny hours and an amphibian that rests on the object to utilize this heat; attraction to warm surfaces. Threat display: A social behavior to indicate territoral ownership or agressive intent. With day geckos, this behavior is usually directed towards members of the same species in a form of specific color changes, tail-waving, and head movements. Total Length: The greatest straightline length of a reptile, amphibian or other animal as measured from the anterior tip of the snout to the prosterior tip of the tail. Tropical: Inhabiting the tropics. In Herpetoculture the term tropical usually means species from lowland tropical areas, moist tropical forest. Vent: the ventral opening of the cloaca which serves as the terminus of waste discharge and the reproductive canal; in snakes and lizards the vent is considered the division between the body and tail. Ventral: Relating to the underside of the body or any other organ; the belly. Vertebral: Relating to the narrow line running along the spine. Vertical pupil: A vertically elliptical pupil of the eye that is especially useful to animals active at night. Vestigial: Referring to a small and degenerate or imperfectly developed bodily part or organ that remains from one more fully developed in an earlier stage of the individual, in a past form, or closely related forms. Visual Signals: Many lizards use these distinctive behaviors in courtship. Viviparity: The condition in which the embryo develops within the mother's body and results in the birth of live-born, sometimes fully-developed young; reproduction by giving birth to young that have been fed at least in part by the mother's body during development. Warts: Swollen tubercles often occurring in large numbers about the back and sides of many bufonids, some other frogs, and a few salamanders. |