A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians: Eastern and Central North America

by Roger Conant, Robert Powell, Joseph T. Collins

Book Overview

A completely updated edition, including 122 newly recognized or recently established non-native species of reptiles and amphibians. The new edition of this definitive guide reflects 25 years' worth of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0395904528
• ISBN13: 9780395904527
• Release Date: May 1998
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 634 Pages
• Weight: 1.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 4.5" x 7.2"

Customer Reviews

Great book

This is exactly what I was looking for! Very educational.

A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern/Central North America

Quick delivery. Nice. Thank you for a clean transaction. Book is in good shape.

An Excellent Teaching Tool for Beginners

A friend, a doctor of biology, gave me this book and it reminds me of the many books I has like it at an early age. These books are a tremendous aid to young people, especially, as they begin their understanding of ecology and identification of animals in their area. I would highly recommend this book to any young person who expresses a desire to learn more about the creatures the encounter during their adventures.

Everything a field guide should be!

This is the best field guide I've had for herps. The layout is typical; there are color plates of the species and some written commentary and advice on field herping in the front of the book, followed by species accounts and range maps. Fairly typical layout. However, the way in which subspecies were handled is new, at least to me, and incredibly practical and useful. Those subspecies that are readily distinguishable in the field are given full seperate entries and individual range maps, which is particularly nice with certain large species groups (milk and king snakes, Pitouphis, etc.) My only complaint, and it is minor, is that the taxonomy is old and very conservitive, even given when this book was published. Pitouphis is treated as monospecific genus in the book, whereas it's currently regarded as having several species, and Elaphe is still used for a good many of the colubrids that have since been reassigned. This, however, has little bearing onto the practicality of this field guide, or it's usefullness for ID'ing animals. It's really the best done reptile field guide I've seen, and if you herp the eastern and/or central part of North America, it's a must have. The layout is logical, the subspecies are handled well, the color plates are excellent, and the book is solid enough to actually be used in the field. This continues the Peterson tradition of great reptile guides, and actually improves on it.

Bible of Amphibians and Reptiles of this region

This book was my bible as a boy. For anyone who enjoys watching small creatures in their natural habitats, the life-histories of amphibians and reptiles can be very enjoyable. This book is educational and extremely comprehensive. Even after moving to Europe, I kept my copy of this book, purely for sentimental value (none of the species from back home are to be found over here). The book is written for those who want a lot of information, yet it is accessible for anyone from a very inquisitive boy or girl, through to university students who want to identify species in the wild. (I know, I used my copy from the age of ten to twenty-five on countless field trips and excursions.)It's sturdy and affordable, especially considering the amount of information it contains. There are many b/w illustrations within the text showing specific identifying features, and a nice set of colour and black and white plates. More useful than Audubon, if you like these peaceful little animals this book will be with you for a long time.

A useful and beautiful book for the amateur naturalist.

As a casual amateur watcher of frogs, turtles, snakes, and lizard-like beasts, I recommend the Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North American. The first part of the book consists of 48 colour plates, each illustrating about 10 similar species. Following the plates, the main part of the book consists of a very readable summary description of each species, together with a map showing its geographical range. Special line drawings illustrate particular features of some of the species, that help in their identification, and add to the reader's appreciation. The volume is well-indexed, and includes a glossary, and a reference list. It is sturdily bound in an attractive cover. I am writing this at a computer in a cold northern January, and I look forward to the spring and summer when I can sortie into the open spaces with my Guide, to enjoy a renewed appreciation of these marvellous creatures. Search as I might, I cannot find anything negative to write about this beautiful book.