INTRODUCTION TO FIRST EDITION 



A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles 

 has long been wished for by all students of American Her- 

 petology. This list has been prepared generally upon the 

 lines of the American Ornithologists' Union Check List of 

 Birds, and, following that example, it has included the species 

 and subspecies which the authors deem valid ^ and of certain 

 occurrence in North America, north of the Rio Grande, and 

 in Lower California, Mexico. Miller's List of North Ameri- 

 can Land Mammals (Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 79, 1912) 

 has also been a valued guide. 



This volume is the result of lists begun some years ago 

 independently by both authors. The arrangement is on the 

 following system: The higher groups and genera are in 

 systematic sequence, the species are in alphabetic order. No 

 attempt is made to give synonyms. Species not listed are 

 believed to be invalid. The citation of original appearance 

 of names is given for all except such (e.g., family names) as 

 are formed automatically. Following the citation of the 

 original description of each species comes the place of first 

 appearance of the name in its present combination — ac- 

 curate in so far as we have been able to determine. Refer- 

 ences are added to Cope's North American Batrachia and to 

 his Crocodilians, Lizards, and Snakes of North America. 

 Both are frequently erratic and inaccurate, but large and 

 excellent portions of both works are to a great extent from 

 the pen of S. F. Baird, as painstaking an investigator as this 

 country has produced. These monographs are in widespread 

 use, and constitute the most recent attempts toward com- 



' By this statement it is not meant that the authors in all cases have verified the status of a num- 

 ber of more recently established forms by critical study. The judgment of reliable workers has been 

 accepted where no special reason appeared to contra-indicate the validity of the form. As for the 

 admission of subspecies — or rather trinominal designation — tor certain forms no sp>ecial attempt 

 has been made at consistency, the authors on principle leaning towards binominals in all cases where 

 the need of trinominals has not been clearly established. 



