Key to the Herpetofauna of the Continental United States and Canada - by Robert Powell & Joseph T Collins & A01 (Paperback)

About the Book

This thoroughly revised and profusely illustrated comprehensive key for identifying amphibians and reptiles from the continental United States and Canada incorporates a wealth of new scientific findings.

Book Synopsis

This profusely illustrated comprehensive key for identifying amphibians and reptiles from the continental United States and Canada incorporates a wealth of scientific findings.

Since the first edition was published in 1998 and the second in 2012, the number of currently recognized species of native amphibians and reptiles in the area covered by this key has increased from 545 to 634 to 685, and the number of established non-native species has increased from 39 to 58 to 67. The increase in native taxa reflects the dynamic nature of modern systematics and the use of new (especially molecular) techniques to elucidate relationships and redefine species boundaries. The increase in non-native species reflects the porosity of the North American borders when it comes to controlling animal imports.

The key is easy to use and illustrated with outstanding line drawings that show details of color patterns and structures used for identification. To accommodate the additional taxa, the number of line drawings in this third edition has increased from 257 to 279 to 295. In addition, nine maps illustrate the distributions of species that have been recognized since the publication of maps in the most recent editions of the Peterson Field Guides to the reptiles and amphibians of eastern, central, and western North America. A large number of annotations detail current taxonomic ambiguities or disagreements and the literature cited has been expanded. Collectively these features enhance opportunities to teach and learn the classification and identification of amphibians and reptiles in the continental United States and Canada.

Review Quotes

Praise for the first edition:

"A much needed addition to the herpetological literature of the continental United States and Canada. . . . The illustrations in themselves are worth the price of the book. Thoroughly recommended."--Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society

"This is one book that every biologist who works with North American amphibians and reptiles, or who teaches herpetology, will want to own. . . . Will be extremely useful to researchers, park naturalists, conservation biologists, and students in herpetology courses."--Copeia

"Any wildlife biologist with an interest in amphibians and reptiles will be delighted with this book."--AB Bookman's Weekly

"This book is a 'must have' for herpetology-oriented biologists and serious amateurs. It is an indispensable teaching tool and a valuable reference. Since the publication of the first edition, every student who has taken my herpetology course has been required to have a copy and every student with whom I have spoken since has kept their copies after the class was over."--Arthur C. "Sandy" Echternacht, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

"This comprehensive key to the native and introduced species of amphibians and nonavian reptiles, with its excellent artwork and insightful synopses of the many taxonomic controversies, will be of considerable interest to amateur and professional herpetologists and many natural history organizations."--Brian T. Miller, Middle Tennessee State University