this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2024
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My only question is, why are only amphibians measured this way?
Perhaps their tails are easily or often damaged?
So measuring from full fore to aft might give inconsistent results among other similar variables for the examined species, such as location, age, and weight. Going booper to pooper might give more reliable data, if the tails are often snipped at the tip by other reptiles, predators, disease, rogue mohels, swamp boat propellers, or hastily closed doors.
This is my best guess, I'm not lizardologist or a measuresmith.
I'm also not an expert, but that was my thought, too.
More than that, even if a tail is undamaged, including it is not giving useful imformation because tail size can vary out of proportion to the main body and is pretty standard for other animals as well. For example, no one is measuring a horse to include the tail length, nor a dog, cat, and generally not a bird, either.
That said, I expect an news story about alligators on the golf course or catching invasive snakes to measure the whole body for the NEWS story and let the experts worry about the booper2pooper length in their own space.
I mean, it's not the exact same, but human fetuses can be measured similarly with a "crown to rump" length. I have to notate this in my reports (but I include other measurements too like hand/foot length and "crown to heel" length).