Herpetology, Fourth Edition: An Introductory Biology Of Amphibians And Reptiles Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
The fourth edition of the textbook Herpetology covers the basic biology of amphibians and reptiles, with updates in nearly every conceptual area. Not only does it serve as a solid foundation for modern herpetology courses, but it is also relevant to courses in ecology, behavior, evolution, systematics, and morphology. Examples taken from amphibians and reptiles throughout the world make this book a useful herpetology textbook in several countries. Naturalists, amateur herpetologists, herpetoculturists, zoo professionals, and many others will find this book readable and full of relevant natural history and distributional information. Amphibians and reptiles have assumed a central role in research because of the diversity of ecological, physiological, morphological, behavioral, and evolutionary patterns they exhibit. This fully revised edition brings the latest research to the reader, ranging over topics in evolution, reproduction, behavior and more, allowing students and professionals to keep current with a quickly moving field. Heavily revised and updated with discussion of squamate (lizard and snake) taxonomy and new content reflected in current literature Includes increased focus on conservation biology in herpetology while retaining solid content on organismal biology of reptiles and amphibians Presents new photos included from authors' extensive library
Hardcover: 776 pages
Publisher: Academic Press; 4 edition (June 19, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0123869196
ISBN-13: 978-0123869197
Product Dimensions: 2 x 9 x 11.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #77,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #8 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Animals > Reptiles & Amphibians #22 in Books > Science & Math > Evolution > Organic #41 in Books > Textbooks > Science & Mathematics > Biology & Life Sciences > Ecology
This textbook is based on Zug's seminal Herpetology, but unfortunately after he stopped working on it, the book was reorganized. Originally, amphibians were covered and then reptiles. When they are combined together, it forces the reader to jump back and forth between topics and pay close attention to the short notes that "this does not happen in reptiles" or "unlike amphibians..." If you miss those cues, it's easy to lose track of which group has what. I know that amphibians and reptiles are covered together because they have historically been lumped together, but amphibians are vastly different from reptiles and the reptiles are vastly different from each other (and paraphyletic!). It would be much easier to understand if each group was covered in turn.The books swings from readable to barely comprehensible depending upon the section. It is particularly poor about introducing terminology before using it. For instance, in the "Classification and Diversity" section, the description for one family reads: "Pareatids have a blunt snout, lack a mental groove, and have no teeth on the anterior part of the maxillary." That's great, if the authors had ever mentioned what a mental groove is or why it matters. FYI, it's a groove on the underside of a snake's chin formed by an infolded pleat of skin, allowing the snake to expand its mouth wider when enveloping prey. So lack of a mental groove could give you an indication of a snake's diet, if the authors had explained that. This is just a small example, but it happens frequently throughout the book, especially in the phylogenetics, anatomy and physiology sections.In the end, this is the only Herpetology textbook still in print so it is "assigned" reading in my herpetology course.
Herpetology, Fourth Edition: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles Amphibians and Reptiles of the US–Mexico Border States/Anfibios y reptiles de los estados de la frontera México–Estados Unidos (W. L. Moody Jr. Natural History Series) Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Fourth Edition (Peterson Field Guides) Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog, Adder's Fork and Lizard's Leg: The Lore and Mythology of Amphibians and Reptiles Amphibians and Reptiles of the Carolinas and Virginia Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest: Tracking and Identifying Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians, and Invertebrates (A Timber Press Field Guide) A Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Pocket Guide (Zona Tropical Publications) Smithsonian Handbooks: Reptiles and Amphibians (Smithsonian Handbooks) Reptiles & Amphibians of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan Field Guide A Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles in Arizona Peterson First Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California (California Natural History Guides) Reptiles and Amphibians (A Golden Guide from St. Martin's Press) Reptiles & Amphibians Dot-to-Dot (Connect the Dots & Color) Relaxing Reptiles & Amphibians: Adult Coloring Book (Wild Color) (Volume 1) Reptiles & Amphibians: A Folding Pocket Guide to Familiar North American Species (Pocket Naturalist Guide Series) Miles and Miles of Reptiles: All About Reptiles (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library) California Kingsnakes: Keeping & Breeding Them in Captivity (Herpetology series) CliffsNotes AP Biology, Fourth Edition (Cliffs Ap Biology)
