From Colubridae to Natricidae. Why?

[Simland]

Hi,

Does anyone know where I could find some trustworthy information about the switch from the Colubridae family to the Natricidae family (what the reasons are, how accepted it is in the scientific community, what other snakes were affected, etc.).

Who decides that, by the way? I'm assuming there's an organization that makes the final decision.

[guidofatherof5]

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature

[joeysgreen]

Colubridae has always been a "catch-all" taxon. Thus it was a polyphyletic group just waiting to be properly organized. Just like the Bufo, Rana, and Elaphe genuses.

Go to reptile-database.org. This is where I go to for my most up-to-date taxonomy. It's based on peer-reviewed content, and has the primary literature referenced so that you can answer questions like the one you have today. For this specific question, at that site, click on snakes. It will give you the phylogenetic tree of snakes with citations at each family level. Further citations are at the bottom of the page. Using these, and perhaps an additional scholar.google search, will answer your question.

As per who makes the decision, it is a fluent, community action. A scientist writes a paper based on the results of their research. It is published after being critically reviewed by experts (peers) in the field. The community as a whole shows acceptance of this paper by citing it in their own research papers. Alternatively, and you see this with a lot of highly debatable subjects (like what killed the dinosaurs for instance), a "counter-paper" is authored with additional evidence proposing a separate theory and often times specifically discrediting the original paper.

Ian

[Simland]

Man, that Website's design (reptile-database.org) takes me back to the early days of the Internet...

I'll look a bit more into the documentation they provide.

I'm familiar with the general process, but there's also often an organization that makes an "official" decision and manages a list that is then used as a reference for field guides and by non-scientists. For instance, The American Ornithologists' Union manages the Checklist of North American Birds, which is used as a reference by the birding guides I have.

The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature sounds like something similar with a broader spectrum, but the quick look I was able to give their website didn't reveal much information for non-members (was I looking in the wrong places?).

[joeysgreen]

The ICZN basically has a bunch of guidelines and nomenclature rules that are used to settle disputes on what names are acceptable (you can no longer name a species after yourself), who has naming rights, and what names to use when species are split or lumped etc. For North America, there is a committee on standard English and scientific names that publishes a book in English and French (and likely Spanish, but I don't have that one). This book is the official names list of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Canadian Association of Herpetology, Canadian Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Network (has since merged with the CAH), Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, The Herpetologists' League, and the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.
Hope this helps!

ps, I hear you on the database design, but alas, herpetologists aren't often computer nerds