Language: English
Somaliland (formerly British protectorate and later part of the Somali Republic) and eastern Ethiopia were until a hundred years ago of interest to explorers and travelers from Europe and America. Since then, bar a few minor exceptions the Horn of Africa was escaping the interest of scientists.
In Amphibians and Reptiles of Somaliland and Eastern Ethiopia the author presents photos (with comments) of amphibians and reptiles of this region. Many species have never been photographed in the wild. For all species presented in this book there is a photograph of the location where they were found. The reader can get an idea of where and how they live. Photographs of other rare or less common animals (insects, mammals, etc.) and plants are added.
All animal and plant species were recorded during two expeditions to certain areas of the Horn of Africa, which the author and his colleagues undertook in 2010 and 2011. Expeditions were short (3 weeks), but they have found and taken photos of a relatively large number of species, some of which have yet been given a scientific name. The reader can admire a previously unknown species of the genus Xenagama (Wagner, Mazuch, Bauer in print) or several species of geckos of the genus Hemidactylus or very recently described new species of scorpions. For the first time photos of the living snake species Telescopus ("Migiurtinophis") pulcher, the rare and endemic species of spiny-tailed lizard, Uromastyx macfadyeni, or the rock agamas Acanthocercus guentherpetersi and A. phillipsi are published.
Amphibians and Reptiles of Somaliland and Eastern Ethiopia shows a total of over 150 species of animals and plants in natural conditions (for example: Holodactylus africanus, Hemitheconyx taylori, Xenagama taylori, n.sp., batillifera, Agama robecchii, Acanthocercus annectans, A. zonurus, Hemidactylus barodanus, H. citernii, H. albopunctatus, H. macropholis - three n.sp., Pristurus; and all species recorded from the region, Uromastyx macfadyeni, U. princeps, Latastia caeruleopunctata, L. boscai, Pseuderemias brenneri, P. striata, P. septemstriata, and Echis "varius").
Customer Reviews:
nice photos - and nothing else
by a herpetologist in the United Kingdom (2013-08-14)
there are nice pictures in this book. Not just of amphibians and reptiles but also of scorpions and the like. There is almost no text - hardly a line to a picture. There is no information in this book whatsoever, on the country, on the species, no details on places, on biology, on morphology, no maps, no tables nothing. It is a coffee-table book, seems a little as if the author instead of publishing his trip photos on Flickr published them as a (rather expensive) book.