Updated pics of Ralph

[daydreaming]

looks like your going to have him for dinner, you put him on a plate in front of a microwave!!!

[Kerry1968]

Excuse my ignorance Kurt. I don't even know which are the taxonomic names, the genus, which is the family or sub family, I just do my best to give all the information I have. I'll try to get it all the right way next time.

[Kurt]

Excuse my ignorance Kurt. I don't even know which are the taxonomic names, the genus, which is the family or sub family, I just do my best to give all the information I have. I'll try to get it all the right way next time.

Don't worry about it to much. I will explain it for you. Ok, if we take the name Kassina maculata, for example, Kassina is the genus and maculata is the species. Other frogs will belong to the genus Kassina, one other that comes to mind is Kassina senegalensis. Same genus, different species.
A taxonomic name includes a genus, species, and sometimes a subspecies. The taxonomic name is often called the scientific or Latin name.
We discussed genus and species, now let's talk subspecies. Sometimes you will come across a Latin or taxonomic name that has a third part, that would be the subspecies. When we break down a species into races, we call these races subspecies. An example would be Anaxyrus debilis, the American green toad, which is has two subspecies. They are Anaxyrus debilis debilis, the eastern green toad and Anaxyrus debilis insidior, the western green toad. Now not all species have subspecies.
When the species is unknown, but we know the genus, we write it down as sp. Example - Leptopelis sp. If genus and species are known but we are unsure of subspecies, it would be written like this Anaxyrus debilis ssp.
Does this make sense?

[Kerry1968]

It makes sense Kurt, but I think it'll take me years to get my head round it! In the mean time, bear with me!

[Kurt]

No problemo!