Salamanders & Newts of the World

About this book

The author has published several papers and four books including the first encyclopaedia in French on all newts and salamanders in 2007. More than 15 years after this unique book, Jean Raffaëlli decided to publish the third edition in English for the first time, describing all known species. In 2022, a new species was named after him, Raffaëlli’s spiny crocodile newt (Echinotriton raffaellii), as a special tribute and recognition of his major contribution to herpetology. Hence, this new essential book is the most complete achievement of Raffaëlli’s life and is a must-have for all international herpetologists and enthusiasts around the world.

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Biography

Jean Raffaëlli is a French herpetologist, journalist and author born on 2 July 1954 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. After many years spent in Africa during his childhood with his parents, Jean fell in love with salamanders and newts. When arriving in France at the age of 10 years old, he first observed these incredible amphibians in local ponds after which his interest in them never ended. After studying literature and foreign langages, he worked and travelled in many countries, from Moscow to Washington as a journalist for the Agence France Presse, Paris (Crystal Price of Albert Londres), and in his beloved Central America (Honduras, Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica) during the last decades. In his special field of herpetology, he made fascinating discoveries on the behaviour, life history, ecology, taxonomy and distribution of newts and salamanders including a new classification with Professor Alain Dubois (National Museum of Natural History in Paris) and developed new revolutionary concepts on conservation in captivity for these endangered amphibians. In fact, Jean Raffaëlli has personally kept and bred more than 250 species in his own breeding facilities built in Bretagne, which represents the most complete living collection of salamanders and newts.