Michael is a former biologist and Texas Master Naturalist. Originally from Newsome, Texas (Between Pittsburg and Winnsboro), educated in Dallas & Garland schools, then off to the University of Texas system where he received a degree in biology and worked as a biologist with the University of Texas system. After many years away from nature and biology, he relocated to the banks of Lake O' the Pines where he has been rediscovering the joys of nature. He is somewhat surprised that he has become a birder. Most of his interest in nature was centered around reptiles. Perhaps just like birds evolved from reptiles starting in the late Jurassic, he has begun his own evolution. During his formal education, his interests in biology/nature grew to include community ecology and population studies, all with a binding of evolutionary processes. He liked birds, but they were secondary at best. All at once he finds them fascinating.
When I first got pretty serious about snakes, which was when I was around 11, I had my first exposure to scientific names. It wasn't enough to identify a Texas Ratsnake, I wanted to know the proper name, the scientific name. At the time, that was Elaphe obsoleta lindheimeri. And I learned that the many water snakes that bit the daylights out of me each time I caught one, were Natrix rhombifera and Natrix ethrogaster. The little Red-Eared Sliders that I caught and some I bought at the 5 and dime, were Pseudemys scripta elegans.
In my considerable years of absence from the scientific world and especially that of Taxonomy, things sure changed. Our local ratsnakes went from Elaphe to Pantherophis; watersnakes - Natrix to Nerodia; sliders - Pseudoemys went to Trachemys; and there were many other changes. Of course, this is a natural occurence in biology.
Specimen are examined and classified as belonging to a certain genus. Sometimes, if there were no similar genus, one was created for them. (I am ignoring species designations here which work in a similar fashion).
