2016 was our best year yet on Herps of Texas, we had five observers break the Century Club. Again, Connor Adams @connor22 took first place. He might have to take a sabbatical to South Africa before anyone can dislodge him from the top of the Texas leaderboard...........

For first place, Connor Adams @connor22 wins a Stump Ripper from Animal Equipment by Stoney LLC. Thank you Stoney for supporting the Herps of Texas Project!!

In addition, the Century Club will be receiving field guides to support their efforts, and possibly help them give Connor some competition? It is an impressive feat to top 100 species in a year, Congratulations to all five from 2016:

2016 Century Club:

1. Connor Adams @connor22: 139 species, 238 obs...
2. Kenneth Bader @kucycads: 128 species, 531 obs...
3. Dalton Neuharth @dneuharth: 121 species, 206 obs...
4. Romey Swanson @romeyswanson: 106 species, 298 obs...
5. Ashley Tubbs @ashleytubbs: 104 species, 191 obs...

We will be tracking the Century Club again in 2017, how many species can you find?

In addition to the statewide challenge, we want to highlight the importance of county records. We have a lot of county level data gaps for common species. So we are highlighting county level listing in two ways, the County Big Year and the Cumulative County Big Year

The County Big Year, how many species can you find in a single county in 2017? In 2016 it was a tie between Romey and Timothy:

Romey Swanson, Brewster County, 29 Species
Timothy Johnson, Brazos County, 29 Species

The Best Cumulative County list is the sum of all the county species totals. Every time you document a Gulf Coast toad or a green anole in a new county, that counts as a new "County Species"! Here is a list of the top 15 HoTX observers in 2016 along with their "County Species" Total. Kenneth Bader @kucycads was the leader by far with 363 County Species!

1. @kucycads with 363 County Species
2. @sandboa with 276 County Species
3. @romeyswanson with 237 County Species
4. @toby with 222 County Species
5. @connor22 with 203 County Species
6. @dneuharth with 185 County Species
7. @ashleytubbs with 174 County Species
8. @cullen with 171 County Species
9. @gtsalmon with 162 County Species
10. @eyswanson with 156 County Species
11. @troyhibbitts with 150 County Species
12. @catenatus with 114 County Species
13. @jaredholmes with 113 County Species
14. @sambiology with 109 County Species
15. @langaha with 103 County Species

I've been thinking about county stats quite a bit, so I thought I would see what my HoTX county list was for 2016 for Travis County: 28 species... I bet you can't beat it! Post your biggest 2016 HoTX county list in the comments below and let's see who is the top local herper this year! Here is my list:

http://www.inaturalist.org/observations?captive=any&d1=2016-01-01&d2=2016-12-14&place_id=431&project_id=411&subview=grid&user_id=cullen&verifiable=any

To find out just click on the link above, click on the filter button and change the person and place fields. Post your top HoTX County List in the comments below.

Hmmm... I wonder what else I could pick up... And of course now that I have this in mind I am going to go out of my way to top it in 2017!!

Please welcome two new curators to the Herps of Texas Project, Michael Price (@wild-about-texas ) and Corey Roelke (@croelke ). Thank you to all of our curators (@sandboa, @andygluesenkamp, @gtsalmon, @toby, @caudisona, @wild-about-texas, and @croelke) for offering their expertise to help make the Herps of Texas the best vetted herp project on iNaturalist!

Also an update on our Herps of Texas Big Year, three people have already documented over 100 species: @connor22, @kucycads, and @romeyswanson. Well done!

http://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2016-01-01&d2=2016-12-31&project_id=herps-of-texas&quality_grade=research&view=observers

With all of this rain this is a great time to get out and make some discoveries. Good luck and we look forward to seeing what you can find!

Turtles and Crocodilians Challenge (Jan-May): Kenneth Bader dominated the challenge with 46 observations and 16 species, Ashley Tubbs won second place with 12 species. There is a link to Kenneth’s observations below. Collectively we documented 24 species with 573 observations. This includes several high priority species like Alligator Snapping Turtle, Western Chicken Turtle, Cagle’s Map Turtle, and Texas Diamondback Terrapin.

1st: Kenneth Bader aka @kucycads a signed copy of the new Texas Turtles & Crocodilians field guide.
2nd: Ashley Tubbs aka @ashleytubbs a signed copy of the new Texas Turtles & Crocodilians field guide.

Snake Days (June 1-6): Romey Swanson showed us that last year was not a fluke, and he raised the bar by documenting 43 species with 78 observations in just five days! There is a link below to see what he found. His main competition this year was his wife, Erin Swanson, who found a total of 35 species. Even when you don’t count their duplicate obs, she still came in second place. Combined the Swansons won every single prize during the event, but we are going by the one prize per person rule. In addition, I can’t win since I’m the coordinator, so here are the official winners:

1st, Most Species: Romey Swanson aka @romeyswanson wins a Stump Ripper from Animal Equipment by Stoney LLC and a copy of the newTexas Turtles & Crocodilians field guide.
2nd, Most Species: Erin Swanson aka @eyswanson wins a Standard Hook from Animal Equipment by Stoney LLC and a copy of the new Texas Turtles & Crocodilians field guide.
Most species of Snakes: Ben Walker aka @benwalker505 wins a Viper Hook from Animal Equipment by Stoney LLC and a copy of the new Texas Turtles & Crocodilians field guide.
1st, Most observations: Drew Harvey aka @dh1303 wins a 1st edition copy of Snakes and Snake Hunting by Carl Kauffeld donated by @skystevens (Thank you Sky!).
2nd, Most observations: Chris Harrison aka @sandboa wins a Field Book of North American Snakes by Raymond L. Ditmars donated by @chris_mcmartin (Thank you Chris!).

We may do a survey for Chihuahuan Mud Turtle on May 30-31st, and there might be room for a few volunteers. It depends on access, and the details will not be finalized until early next week. The survey would be conducted in the Big Bend region..

If you are interested in participating send me an email at cullen.hanks@tpwd.texas.gov

HoTX leaderboards:

HoTX Big Year: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2016-01-01&d2=2016-12-31&project_id=herps-of-texas&quality_grade=research&view=observers

Turtles and Crocodilians: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2016-01-01&d2=2016-05-31&project_id=herps-of-texas&taxon_ids=39532,26039&quality_grade=research&view=observers

Snake Days: http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/snake-days-2016

The leaderboards for the Turtles and Crocodilians Challenge and the Big Year were double counting subspecies, so here are new leaderboards that only counts species. Check out how many species you have for 2016:

HoTX Big Year: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2016-01-01&d2=2016-12-31&project_id=herps-of-texas&quality_grade=research&view=observers

Currently the HoTX Big Year stands at 173 species with @ashleytubbs leading with 83 species.

Turtles and Crocodilians: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2016-01-01&d2=2016-05-31&project_id=herps-of-texas&taxon_ids=39532,26039&quality_grade=research&view=observers

The Turtles and Crocodilians Challenge has documented 21 species, and @kucycads is leading with 11 species. The challenge goes until May 31st, so you have plenty of time to steal it away... The results will be announce, and prizes awarded, at Snake Days the first weekend in June. Remember, the top two winners will receive a copy of the new guide signed by the authors: @troyhibbitts and @dianaterryhibbitts

http://utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/books/hibbitts-texas-turtles-and-crocodilians

Speaking of Snake Days, here is the leaderboard: http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/snake-days-2016 Stoney is sponsoring some great prizes for such a short five day challenge. There will be prizes for most species of herps, ans a separate prize for most species of snakes. In addition, @skystevens is giving a 1st edition copy of Snakes and Snake Hunting by Carl Kauffeld to the person who posts the most observations.

With this rain, it is time to go herping! And we have great news, Animal Equipment by Stoney is offering some great prizes this year. The winner of the big year will receive a Stump Ripper, plus major bragging rights. Plus, TNT will be awarding new field guides to whoever can document over 100 species: Check out the leaderboard: http://bit.ly/HOTX2016

Plus there will be some great prizes offered at Snake Days: http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/snake-days-2016

And don't forget about the Spring Turtle Challenge: To celebrate the arrival of a new guide Texas Turtles & Crocodilians by Troy D. Hibbitts ( @troyhibbitts )and Terry L. Hibbits ( @dianaterryhibbitts ), we are posting a Spring challenge to see who can find the most species of Turtles and Crocodilians. If you find more than one wild crocodilian, I will be very impressed! All observations must be made between January 1st and May 31st, 2016. The top two winners will receive a copy of the new guide signed by the authors.

Book: http://utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/books/hibbitts-texas-turtles-and-crocodilians

Leaderboard: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/user_stats?projects%5B%5D=herps-of-texas&quality_grade=research&taxon_ids%5B%5D=39532,26039&d1=2016-01-01&d2=2016-05-31

2015 is done, and once again, Connor Adams( @connor22 ) reigns supreme: http://bit.ly/HOTX2015

Connor posted 488 observations, including a total of 126 species.

The HoTX Century Club: In total only three people broke the 100 species barrier: Connor Adams (126), Ashley Tubbs ( @ashleytubbs 105 species) and Toby Hibbitts ( @toby 102 species). All three will be receiving a surprise prize to help with 2016: a brand new Black Diamond headlight!! I was only able to log 90 species in 2015, but 2016 is looking up!

For 2016, we have three challenges:

1. Big Year, how many species can you find? I heard @connor22 is slowing down, so this is a good year to go for it. @ashleytubbs already has a good start! All observations must be research grade, and observed in 2016. Any tie will be broken based on their total number of observations and the locational accuracy of observations.
2. The HoTX Century Club: Can you find 100 species in one year? If you can break 100 species, you know you had a good herping year!!

http://bit.ly/HOTX2016

1. Turtles and Crocodilians: To celebrate the arrival of a new guide Texas Turtles & Crocodilians by Troy D. Hibbitts ( @troyhibbitts )and Terry L. Hibbits ( @dianaterryhibbitts ), we are posting a Spring challenge to see who can find the most species of Turtles and Crocodilians. If you find more than one wild crocodilian, I will be very impressed! All observations must be made between January 1st and May 31st, 2016. The top two winners will receive a copy of the new guide signed by the authors.

Book: http://utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/books/hibbitts-texas-turtles-and-crocodilians

Leaderboard: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/user_stats?projects%5B%5D=herps-of-texas&quality_grade=research&taxon_ids%5B%5D=39532,26039&d1=2016-01-01&d2=2016-05-31

We have turned on the automatic aggregator for the Herps of Texas Project, this will automatically add your observations to the project if they meet the project rules and you allow curators to add observations to the project:

must be observed in Texas, US
must be in taxon Reptilia or must be in taxon Amphibia
observer must allow project curators to view coordinates.

For the aggregator to work, you must give curators permission to add observations and view the locations of obscured observations. You can choose this setting when you join the project or by going to the project page and clicking "Your Membership" and then selecting "Project members" on the right side of the page. This will be the most convenient way to share your observations with our project.

To manually add observations you can choose "You" under project settings, this will allow you to choose which observations you want to add to our project. However, curators will not be able to add your observations. The easiest way to do this is to go to the project, click "Add from your observations"->batch edit-> select all or the observations you want to add->add to project->Herps of Texas.

To add information to the optional data fields, go to the observation, click on the black asterisk next to the "Herps of Texas" tab on the right side of the page, then select "Fill out project observation fields."

Please comment on this post or email me directly with any questions or feedback: cullen.hanks@tpwd.texas.gov

-Cullen

Can you find 100 species of herps in one year? Last year only four people topped the 100 species mark, you can see the leaderboard here:

http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/user_stats?projects[]=herps-of-texas&d1=2014-01-01&d2=2014-12-31

Several people are within reach this year, but only two have crossed the 100 species mark so far this year. Check out how many species you have logged on Herps of Texas so far this year here:

http://bit.ly/HOTX2015

http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/user_stats?projects[]=herps-of-texas&d1=2015-01-01&d2=2015-12-31

And by the way, is Conner Adams going to dominate again this year?