World-renowned for its biological diversity and model conservation system, Costa Rica is home to a wide variety of amphibians and reptiles, from the golden toad to the scorpion lizard to the black-headed bushmaster. Jay M. Savage has studied these fascinating creatures for more than forty years, and in The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica he provides the most comprehensive, up-to-date treatment of their biology and evolution ever produced. Costa Rica has played, and continues to play, a pivotal role in the study of tropical biology as well as the development of ecotourism and ecoprospecting, in part because more than half of the amphibians and reptiles in Costa Rica are also found elsewhere in Central America. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica will be an essential book for a wide audience of nature lovers, naturalists, ecotourists, field biologists, conservationists, government planners, and those interested in Central America more generally. "Written for the enthusiast as well as for the field researcher, this work is an excellent reference source for each of the 396 species of amphibians and reptiles that can be found in Costa Rica. Includes complete full-color photographs of all known species in the region, as well as maps showing their distribution patterns. . . . A must-have book for any library with interests in this subject area."—J. Elliott, Southeastern Naturalist

Reptiles of Costa Rica, the long-awaited companion to Amphibians of Costa Rica, is the first ever comprehensive field guide to the crocodilians, turtles, lizards, and snakes of Costa Rica. A popular destination for tourists and biologists because of its biodiversity, the country is particularly rich in reptile fauna, boasting 245 species. The sheer diversity in shapes, sizes, colors, and natural history traits of these animals is beautifully displayed in this book. Lizards range from minuscule dwarf geckos to dinosaur-like iguanids, and everything in between, while the country's snakes include tiny eyeless wormsnakes, massive boas, as well as twenty-three dangerously venomous species, which include the largest vipers in the world. Author, photographer, and conservation biologist Twan Leenders has been researching and documenting the herpetofauna of Costa Rica for nearly twenty-five years. His explorations have taken him to remote parts of Costa Rica that few people ever visit, journeys that usually find him hauling an array of photographic equipment to document his finds. In addition to including more than 1,000 photographs, detailed black and white scientific illustrations, and range maps, this book also features paintings of anole dewlaps, a key identification feature for that very complex group of lizards. This new field guide will enable the reader to identify all species, while also providing a wealth of information about natural history, predation, breeding strategies, habitat preferences, and conservation of Costa Rica's reptile fauna.

In the more than thirty years since the publication of Daniel H. Janzen’s classic Costa Rican Natural History, research in this small but astonishingly biodiverse, well-preserved, and well-studied Latin American nation has evolved from a species-level approach to the study of entire ecosystems. And from the lowland dry forests of Guanacaste to the montane cloud forests of Monteverde, from the seasonal forests of the Central Valley to the coastal species assemblages of Tortuguero, Costa Rica has proven to be as richly diverse in ecosystems as it is in species. In Costa Rican Ecosystems, Maarten Kappelle brings together a collection of the world’s foremost experts on Costa Rican ecology—outstanding scientists such as Daniel H. Janzen, Jorge Cortés, Jorge A. Jiménez, Sally P. Horn, Robert O. Lawton, Quírico Jiménez M., Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, Catherine M. Pringle, and Eduardo Carrillo J., among others—to offer the first comprehensive account of the diversity, structure, function, uses, and conservation of Costa Rica’s ecosystems. Featuring a foreword and introductory remarks by two renowned leaders in biodiversity science and ecological conservation, Thomas E. Lovejoy and Rodrigo Gámez Lobo, in addition to chapters highlighting the geology, soils, and climate of Costa Rica, as well as the ecosystems of its terrestrial, freshwater, and marine habitats, and including previously unpublished information on Isla del Coco, this beautiful color-illustrated book will be an essential reference for academic scientists, students, natural history guides, conservationists, educators, park guards, and visitors alike.

The first volume contains species accounts of the venomous lizards and elapid and viperid snakes found north of Mexico's twenty-fifth parallel. Volume two covers the twenty-one species of rattlesnakes found in the United States, Canada, and northern Mexico.

This book offers a comprehensive review of the biology of snakes, focusing on Italian species. The snakes of Italy belong to the two families Colubridae and Viperidae, and for each species the systematic classification and chorology including distribution maps are presented. Furthermore, readers will learn how to carry out field studies, how to handle snakes and how to photograph them. The book concludes with a chapter on the iconography of historical Italian snakes and their importance in popular science, and one on myths and legends. This SpringerBriefs volume will appeal to herpetologists and technical staff. The section on iconography may also be of interest to museum staff.

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 reco

Since the publication of The Venomous Reptiles of Latin America by Cornell University Press in 1989, scientific discoveries and taxonomic changes have resulted in the addition of many taxa and species to the herpetology of the Western Hemisphere. This updated, heavily rewritten, and greatly expanded version of that book now includes accounts of all 192 species of venomous snakes and lizards found in the Western Hemisphere. Volume I includes a table of contents, list of tables, preface, introduction, and regional/country accounts with related bilingual identification keys and vegetation and topographic maps. Genus and species accounts in this volume treat all of the lizards, coralsnakes, and seasnakes; these accounts are accompanied by color photographs of individual species. Volume II begins with the pitvipers, including all known species of rattlesnakes. This volume features four chapters by experts on mimicry, evolution, and snakebite treatment in tropical and temperate America. A glossary, literaturecited section, and index serve both volumes. Color photographs portray pitvipers, including rattlesnakes, and the damage done by snakebite.

The Handbook of Venoms and Toxins of Reptiles offers "one-stop shopping" to all biologists, biochemists, toxicologists, physicians, clinicians, and epidemiologists, and informed laypersons interested in the biology of venomous reptiles, the biochemistry and molecular biology of venoms, and the effects and treatment of human envenomation. This book