Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR) is an international herpetological society. It is a non-profit organization supporting education, conservation, and research related to reptiles and amphibians. Regular publications include the "Journal of Herpetology" and "Herpetological Review". It is the largest international herpetological society, and is recognized worldwide for having the most diverse program of publications, meetings, and other activities. The SSAR Conservation Committee brings conservation issues that affect reptiles and amphibians to the attention of state and federal government agencies, non-government organizations, and herpetologists worldwide. The committee serves
Human uses of reptiles is indeed shared by other primates. In the US, 12% of men and 38% of women feared snakes; along with spiders, this is the most common phobia in Western societies. Negative attitudes extend in some countries to other reptiles; for example, the harmless gecko is considered to be evil and poisonous in Portugal. Such attitudes have contributed to persecution. Folklore about reptiles, too, is correlated with negative attitudes to them. Persecution resulting from folklore and people's attitudes can thus be added to the challenge of conserving reptiles, already threatened by human activities including destruction of their habitats, pollution, climate change,