Biology and Evolution of Crocodylians is a comprehensive review of current knowledge about the world's largest and most famous living reptiles. Gordon Grigg's authoritative and accessible text and David Kirshner's stunning interpretive artwork and colour photographs combine expertly in this contemporary celebration of crocodiles, alligators, caimans and gharials. This book showcases the skills and capabilities that allow crocodylians to live how and where they do. It covers the biology and ec...

Modern crocodylians—crocodiles, alligators, caiman (Central and South America), and gharials (India)—have evolved over 250 million years from a fully terrestrial, bipedal ancestor. Along with birds, crocodylians are the only living members of Archosauria, the group including nonavian dinosaurs.Ruling Reptiles features contributions on a broad range of topics surrounding crocodylian evolution and biology including osteology, osteohistology, developmental biology, myology, o...

Amphibians and reptiles is a comprehensive guide to the native and non-native species of amphibian and reptile found in the British Isles. Professor Trevor Beebee covers the biology, ecology, conservation and identification of the British herpetofauna, and provides keys for the identification of adult and immature newts and newt eggs, larvae and metamorphs; frog and toad adults and metamorphs, spawn and larvae; adult and hatchling limbed lizards; and adult snakes. Distribution map...

Escaping into a world of pages filled with slithering snakes of all sizes, with many vivid colors, patterns and designs. It's the perfect place for a child to spend their time. Filling their mind with never ending creativity and motivation for play. Leaping through the vast backyard, discovering tons of new species...careful not to step on the venomous garden hose!!!

New species of animal and plant are being discovered all the time. When this happens, the new species has to be given a scientific, Latin name in addition to any common, vernacular name. In either case the species may be named after a person, often the discoverer but sometimes an individual they wished to honour or perhaps were staying with at the time the discovery was made. Species names related to a person are ‘eponyms’. Many scientific names are allusive, esoteric and even humorous, so...

If you are looking to find new ways to ignite your children's imagination, a picture book on large sea creatures may be one of the better options. Large sea creatures such as whales, sharks, dolphins, and sea lions are not things that your child would come acrosss in their day to day life and will expose them to the variety and diversity of life that is out there. Their imagination can be tested with these new and interesting creatures which can help to develop their critical thinking skil...

Amphibian species around the world are unusually vulnerable to a variety of threats, by no means all of which are properly understood. Volume 11 in this major series will be published in parts devoted to the causes of amphibian decline and to conservation measures in regions of the world; this Part 3 is concerned with Western Europe (Britain, Ireland, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal).Experts from each country contribute a chapter describing the ecological backg...

Alligators and crocodiles that are featured in books can be real and somewhat scary or whimsical as in cartoon characters. If a child is interested in actual alligators, then parents or teachers can use nature books to have the child imagine what the alligator is thinking. The same is true for whimsical alligators in picture books. Because kids are already interested in the subject they are able to develop their imaginations by being asked about scenarios that involve their love of the cre...

A picture book about frogs can work wonders for a child's imagination. The child will leave the book with a deeper understanding about frogs and can then go and imagine what life is like for frogs. If children are prompted to, then they can draw or write about what life might be like for frogs. They may even make up stories with frogs in them. Children have rich imaginations and a picture book about frogs will only feed that imagination.

"Evidence bases for conservation are becoming increasingly important to convince landowners and politicians of the need to take action in defence of species and habitats all around the world. A valuable feature of this book is its emphasis on collecting and analysing such essential information." Trevor Beebee, PhyllomedusaAmphibians are among the most globally endangered groups of vertebrates with more than one-third of species being assessed as declining or threatened. Of...

This new edition of Snakes in Question has been completely updated to take into account the most recent research available, offering useful scientific information about snakes while dispelling many widely-circulated myths and common fears. Accompanied by 100 stunning color photographs and written in the popular question-and-answer format of Smithsonian's “In Question” series, the book tells how snakes breathe, hear, smell, and much more. It covers not only the life cycle of snakes...

Revised and updated to reflect the most current science, and including 30 new species, this authoritative and comprehensive volume is the definitive guide to the amphibians and reptiles of the Carolinas and Virginia. The new edition features 189 species of salamanders, frogs, crocodilians, turtles, lizards, and snakes, with updated color photographs, descriptions, and distribution maps for each species. It is an indispensable guide for zoologists, amateur naturalists, environmentalists, ba...