Snakes of Italy Herpetological Treatise on the Biology and Iconography of Italian Ophidians

About this book

Snakes of Italy 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. Snakes of Italy 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.

Contents

1 Introduction
1.1 Italy's Landscape and Territory

2 Reptiles

3 Biology and Origin of Snakes
3.1 Skeleton
3.2 Locomotion
3.3 Physiology
3.4 Reproduction
3.5 Sense Organs
3.6 Skin
3.7 Ecology
 
4 The Venom
 
5 Feeding
 
6 Conservation and Protection
6.1 Status of Snakes belonging to Italian fauna and conservation problems
 
7 Field Studies
7.1 How to study snakes
 
8 How to Handle Snakes
 
9 How to Photograph Snakes
 
10 Determination
10.1 The Herpetological collections in Natural History Museums: a valuable resource for research, conservation, and an Increase in awareness, with a particular references to snakes
 
11 Information Sheets
11.1 Colubridae Family
11.1.1 Coronella austriaca (Laurenti, 1768)
11.1.2  Coronella girondica (Daudin, 1803)
11.1.3 Elaphe quatuorlineata (Lacépède, 1789)
11.1.4 Hemorrhois hippocrepis (Linnaeus, 1758)
11.1.5 Hierophis viridiflavus (Lacépède, 1789)
11.1.6 Macroprotodon cucullatus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilarie in Savigny, 1827)
11.1.7 Malpolon malpolon monspessulanus (Hermann, 1804) and Malpolon malpolon insignitus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1827)
11.1.8 Natrix maura (Linnaeus, 1758)
11.1.9 Natrix natrix natrix (Linnaeus, 1758), Natrix natrix cetti (Gené, 1839) and Natrix natrix helvetica (Lecépède, 1768)
11.1.10 Natrix tessellata (Laurenti, 1768)
11.1.11 Telescopus fallax (Fleischmann, 1831)
11.1.12 Zamenis longissimus (Laurenti, 1768)
11.1.13 Zamenis lineatus (Camerano, 1891)
11.1.14 Zamenis situla (Linnaeus, 1758)
11.2 Viperidae Family
11.2.1 Vipera ammodytes (Linnaeus, 1758)
11.2.2 Vipera aspis aspis (Linnaeus,1758), Vipera aspis francisciredi (Laurenti, 1768) and Vipera aspis hugyi (Schinz, 1834)
11.2.3 Vipera berus (Linnaeus, 1758)
11.2.4 Vipera ursinii (Bonaparte, 1835)
 
12 The Habitat of Italian Snakes
 
13 Iconography of Italian Snakes
13.1 Drawing Snakes
 
14 Myths and Legends About Italian Snakes

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