Reptiles: perception and worldview from the agricultural context

Abstract

This work reflects on the ethnoherpetofaunistic perspective and the relationship between reptiles and farmers, which is often conflictive and contradictory between these two actors. As is the wealth of customs, uses, myths and legends that exist around reptiles, and that are developed in the psyche of agricultural producers as part of their recent worldview. As in many states of the Mexican Republic, the state of Guanajuato, and especially its southern region, is rich in traditions and diversity of species, so this reflection focuses on agroecosystems and the reptiles that inhabit them. From the spiny lizard (Sceloporus spinosus) to the cencuate snake (Pituophis deppei), and mexican mud turtle (Kinosternon integrum), uses, traditions and customs amalgamate in the world of the countryside, enriching and hoping to conserve our mythical reptiles.