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Reptiles and Amphibians of the Afghan Desert.

Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 11:20 pm
by Apache Devil
I found this site in a random search. My son Aaron is in Afghanistan and has already described the whiptail-like lizard to me and the toads. I do not know if those lizards are teiid like the whiptails, but they sure look it. A great example of evolutionary convergence. How fascinating it would be to be there and explore the wildlife of this desert land.

http://www.northwestwildlifeonline.com/ ... ibians.htm

Re: Reptiles and Amphibians of the Afghan Desert.

Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 11:34 pm
by Desert Cruiser
Thanks loads for the link. Wow that's interesting, you sit here and don't think about what's in the rest of the world. Who would've thought?

Don...

Re: Reptiles and Amphibians of the Afghan Desert.

Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 8:13 pm
by Sycamore
I'm not a rattler killer, not for 20 years......but

I wouldn't let a saw-scaled or russell's viper live anywhere near a tent or a military compound.

I believe I read an article a number of years ago, listing the five deadliest snakes of the world.

Not the snakes with the deadliest venom, or largest, or most agressive, but the 5 snakes that killed the most people, year in, year out.

from memory they were the Russells viper, the saw-scaled viper, the asian cobra, the puff adder and the fer de lance.

The reasons given were: wide spread, fairly toxic venom, aggressive, lived around people, lived in areas without good medical care.

folks in a war zone have enough to worry about, with out laying down on a deadly snake.

My 2 cents, from someone who loves to see wild animals out in the wild.

Sycamore

Re: Reptiles and Amphibians of the Afghan Desert.

Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 8:21 pm
by reptilist
I am sure the military feels the same way.

Re: Reptiles and Amphibians of the Afghan Desert.

Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 8:51 pm
by Goldseeker
The bottom line is that humans are more valuable than snakes. If you disagee with that, you are hopeless.

Re: Reptiles and Amphibians of the Afghan Desert.

Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 9:02 pm
by Guz
That aint called for.

Re: Reptiles and Amphibians of the Afghan Desert.

Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 12:07 am
by Apache Devil
I doubt that many people would argue that a snake is more important than a human being and I saw no one making that argument here. However, I doubt that you could ever convince my son, a staff sergeant in Afghanistan, to kill one.

Re: Reptiles and Amphibians of the Afghan Desert.

Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:59 am
by Goldseeker
Guz wrote:That aint called for.



You dont agree?

Re: Reptiles and Amphibians of the Afghan Desert.

Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:37 am
by reptilist
Actually, if you look at the big picture, we are all on this planet together....We need snakes to counter the real enemy of mankind, rodents! Although I agree that a human life is more important that a snake life, collectively, as a whole, as far as the health of all mankind and the planet is concerned, we as individuals are not more important. I don't argue against what Goldilocks said, except to say that it is a very subjective statement.

Re: Reptiles and Amphibians of the Afghan Desert.

Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:28 am
by Jerry Feldner
Apache Devil wrote "I do not know if those lizards are teiid like the whiptails,..."

You are right, they are not Teiids. They are members of the family Lacertidae which is the Old World family that is Convergent with Teiids. I took the liberty of posting that link on the Arizona Herp Assn ( http://www.azreptiles.com ) website since the photograpy is really very good. Another family of lizards common to the Old World is the Agamidae which Mr. Regan actually mentions in his text.