. The Canadian field-naturalist. Natural history. Book Reviews 657 for the first time changes in scientific names from the last edition are not only referenced to recent liter- ature but conflicting opinions discussed. Now read- ers can readily track and evaluate decisions for themselves. Groups have been split among individu- als or subcommittees: frogs: Frost; salamanders: Highton, Tilley (Chair), Wake; lizards: de Queiroz (Chair), Reeder, Sites; snakes: Boundry, Campbell, Crother (Chair), Taggert. There is also a discussion of new rules applied in the formation of common names to provide mo
. The Canadian field-naturalist. Natural history. Book Reviews 657 for the first time changes in scientific names from the last edition are not only referenced to recent liter- ature but conflicting opinions discussed. Now read- ers can readily track and evaluate decisions for themselves. Groups have been split among individu- als or subcommittees: frogs: Frost; salamanders: Highton, Tilley (Chair), Wake; lizards: de Queiroz (Chair), Reeder, Sites; snakes: Boundry, Campbell, Crother (Chair), Taggert. There is also a discussion of new rules applied in the formation of common names to provide more consistency, largely following the lead set by the American Ornithologists Union, which pioneered standardization of common names for birds long before the herpetologists attempted it. Numerous changes have been invoked. Just as we were getting finally accustomed to using Redbelly Snake, and similar contractions (Ringneck Snake, Redback Salamander, Hognose Snake, etc.) for compound names where a character was singular in an individu- al, we find the new list reverts to the traditional Red- bellied Snake, etc., a form abandoned earlier as suggestive of an individual having multiple bellies. For a character with several occurrences in one indi- vidual, such as in Blue-spotted Salamander, the name is unchanged but the distinction between sin- gular and plural states is now lost. Many other com- pounds have been changed to provide consistency. Thus the familiar Garter Snake becomes Gartersnake and Rat Snake becomes Ratsnake, presumably because the long used Rattlesnake has become the model. Other reversions invoked here are the undig- nified Stinkpot back again for Sternotherus odoratus. This had been changed to Common Musk Turtle in recent lists but the present compilers were apprehensive that "Common" might be misinterpret- ed to imply abundance rather than widespread! Problems arise in compiling common names for both species and subspecies. Confusingly, some- times
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