This is an essential buy for any amateur or professional herpetologist with an interest in snakes, and a bargain at the price. This stunning book provides up-to-date information on every facet of the natural history of snakes, their diversity, evolution, and conservation, as well as summarising details of their biology on a global level. Eight chapters are devoted to general biology topics including anatomy, feeding, venoms, predation and defense, social behaviour, evolution, and conservation, and a further eight survey the major snake groups, including blindsnakes, boas, colubrids, stiletto snakes, cobras, seasnakes, and vipers. Details of particular interest, such as coralsnake mimicry and the evolution of the rattle, are highlighted as special topics.
Harry W. Greene is Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University. He was formerly the Curator of Herpetology the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, and Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, where he won the campuswide Distinguished Teaching Award in 1993. In 2000, he was awarded the third Edward Osborne Wilson Naturalist Award, presented by the American Society of Naturalists.
Michael and Patricia Fogden are acclaimed nature photographers whose work has appeared in such publications as Smithsonian and Natural History, and in books published by Time-Life, National Geographic, and Audubon. They live in Costa Rica.