A "New York Times "Notable Book
A stunningly original exploration of the ties that bind us to the beautiful, ancient, astoundingly accomplished, largely unknown, and unfathomably different species with whom we share the world.
For as long as humans have existed, insects have been our constant companions. Yet we hardly know them, not even the ones we're closest to: those that eat our food, share our beds, and live in our homes. Organizing his book alphabetically, Hugh Raffles weaves together brief vignettes, meditations, and extended essays, taking the reader on a mesmerizing exploration of history and science, anthropology and travel, economics, philosophy, and popular culture. "Insectopedia "shows us how insects have triggered our obsessions, stirred our passions, and beguiled our imaginations.

Amphibian Conservation is the fourth in the series of Synopses of Conservation Evidence, linked to the online resource www.ConservationEvidence.com. This synopsis is part of the Conservation Evidence project and provides a useful resource for conservationists. It forms part of a series designed to promote a more evidence-based approach to biodiversity conservation. Others in the series include bee, bird, farmland and bat conservation and many others are in preparation. Approximately 32% of the 7,164+ amphibian species are currently threatened with extinction and at least 43% of species are declining. Despite this, until recently amphibians and their conservation had received little attention. Although work is now being carried out to conserve many species, often it is not adequately documented. This book brings together and summarises the available scientific evidence and experience relevant to the practical conservation of amphibians. The authors consulted an international group of amphibian experts and conservationists to produce a thorough summary of what is known, or not known, about the effectiveness of amphibian conservation actions across the world. "The book is packed with literature summaries and citations; a veritable information goldmine for graduate students and researchers. It also admirably provides decision makers with a well-researched resource of proven interventions that can be employed to stem/reverse the decline of amphibian populations." -John G Palis, Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society

With many frog populations declining or disappearing and developmental malformations and disease afflicting others, scientists, conservationists, and concerned citizens need up-to-date, accurate information. "Frogs of the United States and Canada" is a comprehensive resource for those trying to protect amphibians as well as for researchers and wildlife managers who study biodiversity. From acrobatic tree frogs to terrestrial toads, C. Kenneth Dodd Jr. offers an unparalleled synthesis of the biology, behavior, and conservation of frogs in North America.

This two-volume, fully referenced resource provides color photographs and range maps for 106 native and nonindigenous species and includes detailed information on- past and present distribution- life history and demography - reproduction and diet- landscape ecology and evolution- - diseases, parasites, and threats from toxic substances- conservation and management

Paddas en Paddajolyt bied natuurliefhebbers 'n gebruikersvriendelike en praktiese bekendstelling aan paddas. Die inligting in die titel is gebaseer op die nuutste klassifikasie. Verder bied dit: Identifikasie en beskrywing van alle paddas Suid van die 22 breedtegraad; 'n afdeling oor paddabiologie en gedrag; leiding oor die fotografering van paddas asook die maak van klank - opnames van roepe; inligting oor hoe om paddas na tuine te lok met idees vir projekte soos die bou van 'n paddavriendelikke tuindam; leiding oor die verskeidenheid paddas wat in elke tipe habitat verwag kan word; kleurvolle fotos en verspreidingskaarte vir elke spesie; 'n Sleutel tot op spesievlak asook 'n paddavissleutel tot genusvlak; 'n CD in MP3 formaat met al 115 roepe wat beskikbaar is. Dit bied 'n baie betroubare manier om paddas te identifiseer.

Reef Aquarium Success - Volume 1: Learn How To Maintain A Beautiful Mini-Ocean Environment Within Your Tank" is Volume 1 of the original electronic book "Reef Keeping Basics - Successful Reef Management." To assist in the marketing and promotion of that original book, the author - Eric V. Van Der Hope, decided to publish a paperback version of the book. Also, because the original electonic book comprised over 700 pages & over 300 colorful images, it wasn't cost effective to produce as a single printed book. Thus, "Reef Aquarium Success - Volume 1" has become part 1 of an extremely informative and educational resource.About "Reef Aquarium Success - Volume 1""A Comprehensive Reef Keeping Resource - Written by Hobbyists - For Hobbyists "Do You Want To Maintain A Beautiful Pristine Reef Environment Successfully, While Maintaining Proper Conditions For The Health of Your Tropical Fish, Invertebrates and Corals?Learn to master what it takes to successfully maintain a mini-ocean environment within your home or office Here's just a sample of what's revealed within the pages of "Reef Aquarium Success - Volume 1": Discover what the most important aspect to consider is before even beginning the thought of maintaining your very own mini-reef environment Learn 10 critically important steps to help guarantee your chances of establishing a successful reef tank.You'll get a revealing look at some of the most common mistakes hobbyists make that result in disastrous results. This is your opportunity to make sure that you don't do the same.Learn what type of water you should use - this can ultimately be your most important decision you make to help guarantee the success of your mini-ocean environment.Learn what the most important types of testing are at setup, how often it should be done, and what the parameters should be.There are several types of lighting arrangements you must choose from. Deciding what type of lighting is suitable for your tank will have a direct link to the survival of your reef environment.Learn how important a refugium is (usually in a sump below the tank) which has fast become one of the most useful filtration methods used by hobbyists around the world.This book is for everybody - especially for 'newbies'. There is no better way to learn more efficiently than from individuals who have been through it all before. If your goal is to be successful at something - then you must imitate someone who is doing it successfully Your chances of success within this hobby will increase dramatically if you do 1 thing - follow the advice from proven methods

Host to more than one hundred species of reptiles and amphibians, the Savannah River Site, a 780-square-kilometer tract in South Carolina, is one of the most intensely studied areas of herpetological ecology in the world. This guide is a summary of basic information on the site's richly varied herpetofauna, from their taxonomy and distribution to their behavior and habitats. Keys to identify the adult and larval forms of the site's known species comprise the core of the guide. These keys are supplemented by maps, graphs, and illustrations as well as by information on habitats; population characteristics and distribution; behavior related to movement, feeding, and reproduction; morphology; and techniques for collecting specimens. The guide also includes information about special identification and study problems involving unresolved sighting reports; subspeciation; and venomous, edible, endangered, and introduced species. Finally, a bibliography gives not only the sources referred to in the guide but virtually all studies and reports based on herpetological research conducted at the Savannah River Site. The site-related publications are listed by author but can also be found through an index to the subjects they cover. Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of the Savannah River Site is a valuable one-volume introduction to the existing information on herpetofauna at the site and to the countless research opportunities the site still presents. Because it is clearly written and designed and lists most of the reptiles and amphibians found in Georgia and South Carolina, the guide is also useful to wildlife observers--professional and amateur--in those states.

With its varied topography of coast, mountains, and desert, the San Diego region, considered one of the world's biodiversity hotspots, boasts a rich variety of amphibians and reptiles--from the arboreal salamander to the green sea turtle to the secretive San Diego banded gecko and the red diamond rattlesnake. More than a field guide, this up-to-date, authoritative, conservation-oriented book is the first comprehensive resource on the herpetofauna of the region, which is unfortunately also known for its high number of endangered species. Jeffrey M. Lemm gives information on identification, habitats, biology, and the conservation status of all 88 amphibian and reptile species found in the San Diego region. Many of these animals can also be found in a wide area of Southern California and Northern Baja California, making this valuable guide useful for a wide geographic area and a must-have for outdoor enthusiasts, nature-lovers, and professionals alike.
* Includes a special venom section written by Sean Bush of Animal Planet's "Venom ER"
* 160 color photographs illustrate the major habitats and all 88 amphibians and reptiles found in the region
* 70 range maps pinpoint the locations of each subspecies
* A new, easy-to-use taxonomic key by renowned herpetologist Jay Savage as well as line drawings of tadpoles and amphibian egg masses help make species identification simple

"Assays of assemblages of amphibians and reptiles provide important information on community structure in the tropics. These ectothermic organisms are highly responsive to slight differences in the environment and to seasonal differences, such as patterns of rainfall. Most species seem to have rather restricted home ranges; therefore, data gathered in a restricted area provide much better insight into the requirements of, and potential interactions among, the species in the assemblage." from the IntroductionThe rainforests in the southwestern part of the Amazon Basin in southeastern Peru are home to scores of amphibians and reptiles. Cusco Amazonico is a richly illustrated and comprehensive account of the lives of 151 of these species. William E. Duellman's masterpiece of community ecology includes descriptions of the physical environment and vegetation found in this unique habitat along with syntheses of abundance, mass, feeding, reproductive guilds, and daily and seasonal patterns of activity. Identification keys in English and Spanish precede detailed and illustrated species accounts. Tadpoles of many frogs are described and illustrated.Cusco Amazonico will become a standard reference for herpetologists, tropical biologists, biogeographers, ecologists, and conservationists and stands on its own as a portrait of an animal community in a unique bioregion. The illustrations include 236 color photographs, 121 charts and graphs, 16 maps, 42 line drawings, 2 halftones, and 56 sets of audiospectrograms and waveforms. There are 71 tables."

"This book is an outstanding contribution to our understanding and enjoyment of frogs by an eminent leader in the field of amphibian biology. It is written in an engaging style, which reflects the author's long interest in popularizing natural history subject matter."—Robert C. Stebbins, Emeritus Professor of Zoology and Emeritus Curator in Herpetology, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley Australia is home to some of the most interesting and unusual frogs in the world and Michael J. Tyler is acknowledged to be the foremost expert on them. This lavishly illustrated new edition of Australian Frogs is the definitive resource on the subject, with updated tables and supplementary text on the fossil record which is vital to historical understanding. Tyler covers the origins, environment, nomenclature, habits, and biology of frogs. Tyler writes conversationally about the amphibian creatures he clearly loves, and his book does not require detailed technical knowledge. He does, however, provide a wealth of information on the ways and needs of Australian frogs in all their fragile variety.

The preeminent naturalists Albert Hazen Wright and Anna Allen Wright spent years assembling the wealth of material on frogs and toads appearing in this widely used handbook, the third edition of which was originally published in 1949. With abundant black-and-white photographs, colorful descriptions, journal notes from the field, and excerpts from the literature, their personalized natural history emphasizes amphibians observed in the wild. In a foreword to the 1995 paperback edition, Roy McDiarmid, a foremost specialist on frogs and toads, brings the book into historical perspective and supplies information to bring it up to date. Accounts of more than 100 species and subspecies cover such topics as common and scientific names, range, habitat, size, and general appearance, as well as color, structure, voice, and breeding. Separate keys are given for secondary sexual characteristics, eggs, tadpoles, families, and species. Generous quotations from the Wrights' field journals give the reader a sense of the problems and satisfactions of their work.

Despite their abundance in many parts of North America, salamanders have generally been neglected by all but a few specialists. In this book-first published in 1943-Sherman C. Bishop discusses in a lively but authoritative manner the 126 species and subspecies of salamanders that are known to exist in the United States, Canada, and Baja California.Group by group, Bishop describes salamanders in accounts that give the common and technical names, type of locality, range, habitat, size, anatomical characteristics, color, breeding habits, and relationships-all in a uniform arrangement that makes the handbook especially convenient for studying both living animals and laboratory specimens. His brief introduction surveys the relationships and general habits of salamanders and gives information on collecting and preserving them. In his foreword to the 1994 reprint edition, Edmund D. Brodie, Jr., a specialist on salamanders, updates the taxonomy of the group.

This edited volume explores the various views on the origins of tetrapods-amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals-views that agree or differ depending in part on how certain fossil animals are classified and which methodology is used for classification. Eighteen chapters by an international group of paleontologists and neontologists here present current hypotheses, emphasizing the kinds of data needed to answer controversial questions, as well as the variety of solutions that emerge from diferent analyses of the same data set. The book is arranged in five sections, each of which contains an overview essay that either describes the development of various schools of thought regarding the origin of the tetrapod group in question or critically summarizes the arguments presented in the section. The first section addresses the origins of tetrapods as a group, focusing on lobe-finned fishes and early tetrapods. Next is a section dealing with amphbians, followed by one on reptiles. The fourth section concerns avian origins, and the final section treats the origins and early diversification of mammals. With an overall goal of stimulating critical evaluation by the reader rather than providing unequivocal answers, this volume will be of particaular interest to vertebrate paleontologists, evolutionary morphologists, and ichthyological, herpatological, avian, and mammalian systematists.

Through its emphasis on recent research, its many summary tables, and its bibliography of more than 4,000 entries, this first modern, synthetic treatment of comparative amphibian environmental physiology emerges as "the" definitive reference for the field. Forty internationally respected experts review the primary data, examine current research trends, and identify productive avenues for future research.

The Yucatan Peninsula is today divided among Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico. Travelers to this region discover both astonishing archaeological sites and a stunning array of wildlife, including crocodiles, turtles, lizards, snakes, frogs, toads, and salamanders. This book written by the world's leading authority on the herpetology of the lowland Maya area is the only comprehensive field guide to all the species of amphibians and reptiles found there. This field guide*allows identification of all native and introduced species of amphibians and reptiles of the region.*features nearly 180 color photographs and 180 drawings.*offers valuable techniques for field identification, and a glossary of herpetological terms.*provides in each species account: description, natural history, similar species, and geographic distribution (complete with maps of each animal's range). *includes suggested readings for those who want to know more about a particular species.*illustrates all tadpoles.*describes the most characteristic vocalizations of the reptiles and amphibians in the volume.*introduces the physical geography, climate, and vegetation of the region, with emphasis on the habitats of amphibians and reptiles."