Iguana b&w text


IGUANA  •  VOLUME 14, NUMBER 3  •  SEPTEMBER 2007 205NEWSBRIEFS

mal immune system functions, diseases,
injury, and death of frogs and salaman-
ders. Studies by Dr. Tyrone Hayes at the
University of California have strength-
ened the case for banning atrazine, a
potent chemical that is the most com-
mon contaminant of ground, surface,
and drinking water nationwide. Dr.
Hayes demonstrated that atrazine is an
endocrine disruptor that “assaults male
sexual development,” interfering with
reproduction by chemically castrating
and feminizing male frogs. Atrazine has
also been linked to increased prostate
cancer, decreased sperm count, and high
risk of breast cancer in humans.
Thousands of pounds of atrazine are
used each year in the Bay Area in close

proximity to habitat for the Red-legged
Frog and Tiger Salamander.

The Bush administration has
attempted to undercut Endangered
Species Act protections by changing how
pesticide impacts on wildlife are evalu-
ated and making it easier for pesticide
manufacturers to ignore the effects of
their products on endangered plants and
animals. The EPA proposed new regula-
tions in 2004 that would have removed
input from expert wildlife agencies in
determining whether pesticides threaten
endangered species, but a federal court
overturned these new rules in 2006.

The lawsuit, report on pesticide
impacts to Bay Area species, maps of pes-
ticide use, and information about the

listed species are available at: www.bio-
logicaldiversity.org/swcbd/programs/sci-
ence/pesticides/bay-area.html

Freshwater and wetlands habitat used by the
endangered San Francisco Garter Snake
(Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia) has been
contaminated by pesticides. A lawsuit seeks
to prevent further applications until a thor-
ough review of the effects of potentially
harmful agents has been properly assessed.

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O B I T U A R Y

George McDuffie, a well-known Ohio herpetologist, passed
away on 15 April 2007. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 25

August 1927, George received his Bachelors (1952), Masters
(1956), and Doctoral degrees (1960) from the University of
Cincinnati, the latter doing research on the natural history of
Copperheads in the Buckeye State. His research on these snakes
was published in 1963 [Studies on the size, pattern, and col-
oration of the Northern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix
mokasen Daudin) in Ohio. Journal of the Ohio Herpetological
Society 4: 15–22]. He was one of the founding members of the
Ohio Herpetological Society, which evolved into the Society for
the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.

During the 1950s and 1960s, George mentored many
young herpetologists in southwestern Ohio, and most of them
experienced their first real snake hunt under his watchful eye.
He is remembered for his sense of humor, and on field trips to
Shawnee State Forest in southern Ohio, many students and col-
leagues on their first field trip listened in stunned silence to the
plethora of risqué limericks that he sang with gusto (and which
they eventually memorized and sang also). More importantly,
he took the time and made the effort to teach them how to find
amphibians and reptiles, and much of what they know today
about field herpetology can be traced directly back to George.

At the first Shawnee Herpetological Weekend held at
Shawnee State Forest in May 2006, keynote speaker Joseph T.
Collins (who grew up in Cincinnati and was mentored by
George during his teenage years) dedicated the event to George
McDuffie, and spoke fondly of his influence. Memorial contri-
butions should be sent to the Torch Lake Protection Alliance,
P.O. Box 706, Bellaire, MI 49615.

George Thomas McDuffie 
(1927–2007)

George McDuffie with a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus
atrox) ca. 1960. Photograph courtesy CNAH files.

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