Need help with binomial nomenclature display

I am setting up a reptile presentation for school and library displays and I need some suggestions for one of my stations.

I am doing a station on the importance of scientific names for animals. Part of it focuses on the confusion surrounding common names. I have some whites tree (Litoria caerulea) frogs that I understand are called green tree frogs in Australia and I have some green tree frogs (Hyla cinerea) from the US. One of my examples focuses on keeping these animals as pets and getting the proper husbandry.

I pose this problem. Say you live in Florida and you catch a green tree frog. You call a friend in Australia and ask them how to care for a green tree frog. Your friend, thinking of L caerulea gives you tips on that species but you obviously have H cinerea so there could be a problem. The thing is I've been keeping these two species in pretty much identical conditions in tanks side by side for more than three years now so the care advice wouldn't necessarily be a problem. They don't have to know that and they probably won't know that so I can still use it but I would like another more drastic example if you will.

What I was wondering is if there are two species of frogs or snake or lizards that have the same common name in either different parts of the country or different parts of the world but would requires vastly different care where the confusion between the two common names could lead to serious problems.

I've already included and example of the importance of knowing the scientific name for venomous snakes using cottonmouth and water moccasin. If you happen to get bit and the doctor is not familiar with the common name you are using. I know, a little far fetched especially in this day and age with computers and all, but it gets the point across when you explain that anti venom is very often species specific so it is important to get the right one.

Anyway, If you understand what I am looking for and can think of anything please let me know.

Hmmmm that is a great question, I can't think of any examples off the top of my head but the common name iguana can be applied to all the species and subs in the genera Iguana and Cyclura as well as the desert iguana Dipsosaurus dorsalis. Certainly there are husbandry differences between Dipsosaurus and the others.


Oftentimes venomous species are given general/ambiguous common names in their native countries by the locals (Ex: 2 step snake, black snake, big mean bite you in the face snake, etc). This is challenging for species id but can also be quite dangerous if the two species sharing a common name have differing venom toxicity and require specific antivenom.

Other than increased consistency with species id I find binomial nomenclature to be interesting in helping to show taxonomic relatedness and/or the history of the species taxonomy.

Great question!

Hope I'm not too late with this post...

How about chameleons. In the states, we colloquially call our native anoles chameleons. Although you can house them almost identically, their diets differ. It is essential that female chameleons (at least Furcifer pardalis) receive an adequate amount of dietary calcium, or they will be drained of calcium in their bones and likely die once the female drops semi-calcified eggs (females will lay eggs whether they are with males or not). Females can also lay multiple clutches a year, and will have their first clutch possibly in their first year of life!

Garter snakes could be another. Thamnophis spp. are harmless, but the African Garter snakes (Elapsoidea spp.) can give you a good kick. Probably not life-threatening, but I wouldn't want to find out You could probably go out and find a Garter snake (American, of course), making it a nice presentation animal. I would imagine Twin Lakes has some monster Garters!

One not from America - if that counts - are File snakes. Completely aquatic in Australia (Acrochordus spp), and entirely terrestrial in Africa (Mehelya spp).

Sounds like an awesome display and presentation! Wish I had gone to school there lol.

Take care,
-- Noah

For what it's worth at this point in the game, the common name confusion and ease of communication aspect of a scientific name is a minor point compared to what these names ultimately are, which are hypotheses. The ultimate goal of taxonomy is to reflect evolutionary history in these naming schemes.

But maybe you're already aware of this, as your post says "part" of the display is about common names. If so, sorry for the repetition!