United States
£ GBP
Language: English
The first-ever photographic field guide to all 493 reptile species of Ecuador. Years in the making, the strenuous efforts involved in locating and photographing all these animals have resulted in the discovery of several new species, as well as species presumed extinct, all of which are featured in this book.
Foreword author Russel Mittermeier highlights five distinctive features of this guide:
1) It is exceptional to have a book like this for Ecuador given that its biodiversity per unit area is unmatched among the list of Megadiverse Countries. Ecuador's reptile diversity is comparable to the entire USA, despite having just 3% of its land area.
2) The level of focused effort and passion behind producing this book's photographs is remarkable. The authors spent 14 years travelling the country with the sole purpose of creating new photographs of every single reptile species, depicting their variations in what has become their signature style of scientific white background photography. As a result of their incredible field campaign, the authors photographed 464 species, including at least 20 species that had never before been documented on camera.
3) The quality and precision of the maps are unprecedented. The authors reviewed more than 24,000 locality records (including from literature, museum specimens, online databases, and their own field catalogue). With this, they created research-grade species distribution models, bringing to life the most detailed, updated, and reliable compendium on species ranges for the herpetofauna of any country on Earth.
4) The contents of the field guide are also accessible on an accompanying website where information is continuously being updated.
5) This book came into existence without major university support or backing from a publisher but was entirely crowdfunded, inspiring many supporters in the process.
"The level of focused effort and passion behind producing this book's photographs is remarkable. The authors spent 14 years traveling the country with the sole purpose of creating new photographs of every single reptile species, depicting their variations in what has become their signature style of scientific white background photography. As a result of their incredible field campaign, the authors photographed around 500 species, including at least 20 species that had never been documented before on camera. Needless to say, this book will make a tremendous contribution to bringing the reptilian fauna of Ecuador closer to the spotlight it so greatly needs. Congratulations to all involved for this great new contribution to one of the most iconic reptile communities on our planet in one of the world's most important countries for biodiversity."
– Russell A. Mittermeier
