A Guide for the Study of Animals Part 41

6. The flying frog of Ceylon.

7. The distribution and habits of the h.e.l.lbender; of the mud puppy; of the Congo "snake."

8. The general absence of the amphibia from arid regions.

9. Frog farming for city markets.

10. Protective devices of various amphibia.

11. Toads and warts.

12. The homing and water instincts of toads.

13. Hibernation, seasonal or prolonged, of toads and frogs.

14. The changes in the respiratory and circulatory system during metamorphosis.

15. Ontogeny and phylogeny, as ill.u.s.trated by amphibia.

16. The structural defects which would prevent an ambitious frog from becoming a highly trained and skillful animal.

17. The cla.s.sification of amphibia, with examples.

18. The kinds of frogs and toads found in the region where you live.

#C. STUDIES OF LIVING REPTILES#

#Showing Diversity of Adaptation among closely related Animals#

The Snake

1. What is the shape? What regions are present? How do you distinguish between the trunk and the tail? Has the tail any use?

What are the advantages of a body without limbs?

2. Describe the snake's path in locomotion. How is locomotion accomplished? Is the absence of limbs a hindrance to the animal in its locomotory activity?

3. Describe the appearance and movements of the tongue. Of what use are these movements of the tongue?

4. What evidence is there that the snake breathes with lungs?

5. What sense organs do you find? Compare the ears and eyes with those of the frog. What explains the peculiar staring appearance of the eyes?

6. What is the color scheme? Does it appear to be protective? If so, how?

7. Of what does the exoskeleton consist? How are the scales arranged?

What variations in the size of the scales do you find? What special use have some of the scales? How fitted for this? How does a snake moult? Appearance before and after moulting.

The Florida Lizard

1. Describe the body as to regions and shape. Is the tail of use?

2. What are the lizard's locomotory abilities? How is it fitted for living in trees?

3. Feed the lizard flies or meal worms and describe its method of capturing them.

4. Compare the lizard's respiration and sense organs with those of the snake and frog.

5. What is the usual color of the lizard? What have you discovered about its power to change colors? How may this be of use to it?

6. Of what does the exoskeleton consist? Is the entire body covered?

How are the scales arranged? How does the lizard moult?

The Turtle

1. In what important ways does the body of the turtle differ from those of the snake and lizard?

2. What methods of locomotion has the turtle? For which method is it best fitted? How? Why are its movements in water so much less clumsy than on land? (Compare weight on land with weight in water.) Compare the efficiency of the locomotion of a turtle with that of a lizard and suggest a reason for the difference.

3. What do turtles eat while in the laboratory? Since turtles have no teeth, how can they bite off their food?

4. What can you discover with respect to the respiration of the turtle? Does it breathe when under water?

5. What sense organs has a turtle? Which appears to be most highly developed? How do you know?

6. In what various ways is the turtle protected against enemies? (You should state several.) Are you afraid of a turtle? If so, why? Why does the turtle need more protection than the snake or lizard?

7. Describe the color pattern of the turtle you are studying. Is this arrangement of colors the same for others of the same species?

8. Describe the arrangement of the epidermal plates of the turtle's sh.e.l.l. Are the arrangement, number, and form of plates the same for all turtles of this species? Compare with the plates of other species. What variations do you find?

Reptiles: A General Review and Library Exercise

1. Characteristics of reptiles.

2. Orders of reptiles. Characteristics and examples of each order.

3. Poisonous snakes found in the United States. The poison fangs of a rattlesnake. Habits of the rattlesnake.

4. Cures for snake bites, fabled and real.