A review of the aquatic rear-fanged snakes that inhabit freshwater, brackish water, and marine environments from Pakistan's Indus River eastward to Queensland, Australia. While a few live in flowing streams with clear water and rocky bottoms, most live in the muddy habitats created by Himalayan silt flowing to the seas of Southeast Asia.

A gorgeously illustrated guide to the incredible diversity of snakes around the world Snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica and have evolved to occupy a vast range of habitats, from mountains to oceans and deserts to rain forests. Snakes of the World explores their extraordinary diversity, with an in-depth introduction covering anatomy, behavior, habitats, reproduction, conservation, and other essential topics. This expert guide also includes profiles of some of the approximately 4,000 species of snakes, featuring examples from every family and subfamily. Each family profile highlights the remarkable appearance, characteristics, and lifestyle of notable snake species. Covering how snakes use venom or constriction to subdue their prey, how a snake’s appearance can aid camouflage or boast of its killing capacity, and how habitat destruction is jeopardizing the future of many species, Snakes of the World is an invaluable guide to these fascinating reptiles. Features more than 200 stunning color photographs Presents species profiles with a commentary, distribution map, and table of information Includes examples from every snake family and subfamily

Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species—the first catalogue of its kind—covers all living and fossil snakes described between 1758 and 2012, comprising 3,509 living and 274 extinct species allocated to 539 living and 112 extinct genera. Also included are 54 genera and 302 species that are dubious or invalid, resulting in recognition of 705 genera and 4,085 species. Features: Alphabetical listings by genus and species Individual accounts for each genus and species Detailed data on type specimens and type localities All subspecies, synonyms, and proposed snake names Distribution of species by country, province, and elevation Distribution of fossils by country and geological periods Major taxonomic references for each genus and species Appendix with major references for each country Complete bibliography of all references cited in text and appendix Index of 12,500 primary snake names The data on type specimens includes museum and catalog number, length and sex, and collector and date. The listed type localities include restrictions and corrections. The bibliography provides complete citations of all references cited in the text and appendix, and taxonomic comments are given in the remarks sections. This standard reference supplies a scientific, academic, and professional treatment of snakes—appealing to conservationists and herpetologists as well as zoologists, naturalists, hobbyists, researchers, and teachers.

A comprehensive and user-friendly photographic field guide With more than 1,000 photographs, Snakes of Australia illustrates and describes in detail all 240 of the continent’s species and subspecies—from file snakes, pythons, colubrids, and natricids to elapids, marine elapids, homalopsids, and blind snakes. Features introductions to each family, species descriptions, type locations, distribution maps, and quick-identification keys to each family and genera Covers English and scientific names, appearance, range, ecology, disposition, danger level, and IUCN Red List Category Illustrates every species and has multiple images for some species to show variation Presents information on habitat types, snakes in the environment, and snake-bite prevention and first aid Includes a checklist of all the snakes, a glossary, and a table of venom toxicity

Anyone can look at a snake and see a creature unique unto itself, a reptile with a set of zoological and biological traits that are entirely its own. Just looking at this distinct animal raises many scientific questions. With regard to evolution, how did such an animal come to be? How does a snake move, and how do its sense organs differ from that of other reptiles? How does it eat, and how does it reproduce? Essentially, how does a snake "work"? In How Snakes Work: The Structure, Function and Behavior of the World's Snakes, leading zoologist Harvey B. Lillywhite has written the definitive scientific guide to the functional biology of snakes. Written for both herpetologists and a more general audience with an interest in the field, How Snakes Work features nearly two hundred color images of various species of snakes, used to provide visual examples of biological features explained in the text. Chapter topics include the evolutionary history of the snake, feeding, locomotion, the structure and function of skin, circulation and respiration, sense organs, sound production, temperature and thermoregulation, and reproduction. Containing all the latest research and advances in our biological knowledge of the snake, How Snakes Work is an indispensable asset to professional zoologists and enthusiasts alike.

This book provides detailed and updated knowledge about medically important ‘Big Four’ venomous snakes of India (Indian spectacled cobra, Indian common krait, Indian Russell’s viper, and Indian saw-scaled viper). This book essentially covers the snakebite problem in the world with particular reference to Asia and India. It discusses the evolution and systematics of venomous snakes, emphasizing ‘Big Four’ venomous snakes of India; the evolution and composition of venoms determined by traditional biochemical and modern proteomic analyses. It also describes the pharmacological properties of enzymatic and non-enzymatic toxins of ‘Big Four’ venomous snakes of India. Different chapters discuss exciting topics such as species-specific and geographical differences in venom composition and its impact on pathophysiology and clinical manifestations of snakebite envenomation in India, biomedical application of Indian snake venom toxins; production and quality assessment of commercial antivenom, prevention, and treatment of snakebite in India, adverse effects of antivenom including strategies to combat antivenom reactions inpatient. This book caters to toxinologists, pharmacologists, zoologists, antivenom manufacturers, biochemists, clinicians, evolutionary biologists, herpetologists, and informed non-specialists interested to know about the Indian snake venoms.

Note that there is a companion website for this book and it can be seen at: http://secretsofthesnakecharmer.blogspot.com/ Humans and snakes have an intimate and ancient relationship that often revolves around either love or hate. Snakes can be seen as gods, spiritual messengers, symbols of fertility, and guardians of resources in virtually all cultures. But to those that fear them, snakes are seen as venomous creatures that cannot be trusted. In Secrets of the Snake Charmer, John Murphy, a research associate of the Division of Amphibians and Reptiles in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, provides an in-depth, twenty-first century look at snakes utilizing the published research of other herpetologists as well as his own personal experiences and speculations. Murphy covers a wide range of topics such as the adaptability of snakes, the ways in which evolution has tinkered with snakes during the last 160 million years, and the impact snakes have on the ecological communities they live in. While sharing ideas about the origin of snakes, rattlesnake rattles, and spitting in cobras, Murphy presents an innovative portrayal of snakes that proves they co-evolve with their prey, predators, and parasites in order to fulfill a significant and novel role in the web of life.

Updated to reflect the most recent species classifications, a second edition of the beautifully illustrated and beloved guide to 600 members of the suborder Serpentes. For millennia, humans have regarded snakes with an exceptional combination of fascination and revulsion. Some people recoil in fear at the very suggestion of these creatures, while others happily keep them as pets. Snakes can convey both beauty and menace in a single tongue flick, and so these creatures have held a special place in our cultures. Yet, for as many meanings as we attribute to snakes—from fertility and birth to sin and death—the real-life species represent an even wider array of wonders. Now in a new edition, reflecting the most recent species classifications, The Book of Snakes presents 600 species of snakes from around the world, covering roughly one in seven of all snake species. It will bring greater understanding of a group of reptiles that have existed for more than 160 million years and that now inhabit every continent except Antarctica, as well as two of the great oceans. This volume pairs spectacular photos with easy-to-digest text. It is the first book on these creatures that combines a broad, worldwide sample with full-color, life-size accounts. Entries include close-ups of the snake’s head and a section of the snake at actual size. The detailed images allow readers to examine the intricate scale patterns and rainbow of colors as well as special features like a cobra’s hood or a rattlesnake’s rattle. The text is written for laypeople and includes a glossary of frequently used terms. Herpetologists and herpetoculturists alike will delight in this collection, and even those with a more cautious stance on snakes will find themselves drawn in by the wild diversity of the suborder Serpentes.

In this follow-up to Islands and Snakes, this book contains 15 chapters describing diversity and conservation of snakes on islands, with foci on selected island systems not previously summarized. Attendant topics include biogeography, plasticity and evolutionary responses to insular conditions, invasive species, importance and collapse of trophic systems, threats to insular snake populations, and strategies of conservation to save them. Chapters include descriptions of snake faunas on larger islands such as Borneo and New Guinea; reproductive biology of insular snakes; phenotypic evolution; physiology and growth patterns related to diet and environment; patterns of endemism; taxonomy of snake radiations; and history of invasions by snakes on islands. The final chapter presents a discussion of prospects and overview of conservation of snakes on islands. Chapters are contributed by international authorities on respective island-and-snake systems. The latter include some islands or archipelagos that are young, or of high importance, or support snake populations that were previously not well known. The content includes colourful photographs, informative illustrations, and in some cases synthesis of new data relevant to the importance of islands for understanding the ecological underpinnings and genesis of biodiversity. Each chapter is appropriately referenced with citations to scientific literature, and where useful, footnotes, tables and graphic information supporting the narrative of the respective subject matter. The overall presentation is intended to provide readers with an enhanced appreciation for islands and the spectacular snakes that might live there.

Offering coverage of a wide range of topics on snake reproduction and phylogeny, this comprehensive book discusses everything from primordial germ migration in developing embryos to semelparity (death after reproduction) in the aspic viper. Beginning with a review of the history of snake reproductive studies, it presents new findings on development