ASIH, AES, HL, and SSAR group photographs will be taken immediately following the Plenary Session on Thursday, 27 May. If you would like to order photographs, please specify group name and the quantity on the registration form. Photos will be available for pick-up during the meeting.

An informal gathering will be held on Wednesday, 26 May, 6:00 - midnight in the NCED/Marriott Conference Center lounge.

The General Reception, open to all registrants, will be held on Thursday, 27 May, 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. in the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, located on the OU campus. Transportation will be provided between the museum and the NCED for participants. Food and drink will be provided.

This event is free of charge to all registered students of the Joint Meeting and includes food and beverages. Festivities precede the General reception on Thursday, 27 May, beginning at 7:00 p.m. and will take place in the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, located on the OU campus. Transportation will be provided between the museum and the NCED for students. Non-student registrants and guests will not be admitted until 8:00 p.m.

The banquet has been sold out. Please check on site to see if any guests are selling their tickets because of change in travel arrangements.
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On Saturday, 29 May, 2004 a special evening has been planned at the NCED/Marriott Conference Center. Take the short walk to the recreation area behind the hotel and enjoy traditional Oklahoma barbeque, drinks, and live music provided by Harvey and The Wallbangers.

Register for the picnic at a cost of $38 for regular participants and $29 for students. Vegetarian options will be available.
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The AES Banquet tentatively will be held on Sunday, 30 May, 2004. Information about location, cost, and reservations, as it becomes available in the spring of 2004, will be posted on the AES web site at http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Organizations/AES/aes.htm.

The SSAR/HL auction is an opportunity to support the programs of SSAR and HL and to clean out your office or house of those interesting and valuable herp (or fish) related items. Any herp (or fish) related item, especially books, art, sculptures, famous autographs, field equipment, or clothing, is appreciated. Please note that items made from amphibians, reptiles, fish, or parts thereof, should NOT be donated.

Items can be brought to the meeting or sent to Norman prior to the meeting. Send items to Stephen C. Richter, Oklahoma Biological Survey, 111 E. Chesapeake Street, Norman, OK 73019; email: richter@ou.edu.

For additional information contact John Moriarty at: john.moriarty@co.ramsey.mn.us or (651) 748-2500.

Rafe M. Brown
University of Texas at Austin

The amphibian and reptile fauna of the Philippines is exceedingly rich in total species numbers, taxonomic diversity, and percent endemism-especially when expressed on a per unit land area basis. In the last several years, over 50 previously unrecognized species have been formally identified, but we estimate that herpetological diversity is still substantially underestimated.

Available evidence suggests that distributions of amphibians and reptiles in the Philippines have been strongly influenced by the mid- to late-Pleistocene formation of several aggregate island complexes, as well as by climatic gradients associated with elevational gradients and, recently, deforestation. Each Pleistocene aggregate island complex is a major center of biological diversity, and within these major (and several other minor) land mass amalgamations, numerous sub-centers of endemism exist.

In this talk, I will present an overview of herpetological diversity in the Philippines, briefly review the history of taxonomic work, comment on the environmental crisis plaguing the archipelago, and discuss major obstacles to biodiversity research. Finally, I will highlight several recent remarkable disoveries from the Philippines and give personal accounts from fieldwork over the past ten years. In the Philippines, conservation efforts are plagued by a variety of factors, but a few small groups and non-government organizations are having an enormous positive impact.

by David Dennis and Eric Juterbock
Thursday, 27 May, 2004 10:00 pm

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