Let’s face it – the popular understanding of the cognitive abilities of reptiles isn’t particularly complimentary. And for that matter, even some areas of the scientific world have borrowed the name to represent aspects of biology that are considered primitive or base – the “reptilian brain,” for example. However…
I’ll be honest – alligators are not a very big part of my life. They’re neither native nor invasive to Oregon – I don’t even think the Oregon Zoo has one (they have two African Slender-snouted Crocodiles, which true to Portland form, they’ve named Morgan and Lance, but no alligators) – so I don’t tend to encounter them while afield. I did see one once while bird watching in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, and years ago in New Orleans I had a small portion of one, deep fried with a side of chips, but that’s the limit of my experience with them.
There are 123 currently recognized species of reptiles and amphibians to be found in New Zealand. Of these, an astonishing (well, it was to me, at least) 64 are of the family Scincidae – the skinks. All but one of these – the introduced and now established Rainbow Skink – are of the genus Oligosoma and are endemic. With the island’s geckos (all species of which are also endemic), this remarkable assortment of skinks comprises the entirely of the lizard species to be found in Aotearoa.
Each time the nice people from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s publicity department contact me to say that they have a new Peterson’s Field Guide soon to be released, I always reply with a note that includes the text “Western? ;-)” As nine times out of ten they’re Eastern, this has become a friendly little joke between us. However every so often a new – or updated edition of a – Western guide does make an appearance.