Reptile Books

Yehudah Werner's book is far more than theusual publishedfield guide. The introductory part provides very detailed descriptions of the biology of the reptiles, otherwise only found in books such as Laurie Vitt's "Herpetology". Drawings and photographs illustrate morphological details. In addition, several hundred colour photographs show the beauty and diversity of the Israeli reptile fauna. Yehuda's more than 70 years of enthusiasm for reptiles (he had been keeping them already as a young boy) and his deep interest in their biology led to a very unique book. Frankfurt June 2016, hardcover, large format (21 29,7 cm), 494 pages, 696 colour photographs, 89 distribution maps.

Softcover, 94 pages, more than 125 colour photos. Terrarium animals need a healthy, balanced and varied diet. Self-cultured food insects or other live foods whose nutritional value is enriched by a proper diet and supplementation, will provide you with success in this field: suitable species include green banana cockroaches, tropical woodlouses, fruit flies, locusts, crickets or even mice. This volume details the conditions necessary for successful culturing based upon the extensive knowledge of experienced terrarium-keepers. This will enable you to supply your animals with valuable and suitable food items, all with minimal investment.

Foreword
by Dr Mike Leahy

Nobody I know has put as much thought into how we can learn from nature, using research and common sense, to improve the environments we provide to captive reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. In this respect, John has been an inspiration to me, particularly when I was creating the Zoo-bus, where the depth of his knowledge and his willingness to dispense it were invaluable?qualities that will become very evident as you read this book.

Having studied ecology at university, later specialising in microscopic organisms, and more recently having the privilege of filming some of the world?s most fascinating animals for the National Geographic Channels, it is very clear to me that one of the most fundamental requirements for any organism is nutrition. I well remember spending days changing the composition of growth media in the lab simply to get bacteria to grow successfully, so it is therefore not surprising that far more complex animals, from very diverse and sometimes extreme environments, have specific dietary requirements for good health, and that a balanced diet is essential.

It is all too easy to fall into the trap of anthropomorphising when considering both animal welfare, and the diets non-human animals may require. However tempting it is to assume that other animals? needs may be similar to our own, this may prove to be a big mistake. Very few reptiles?or any other animal, for that matter?exist by eating just one food source, and some food sources that humans enjoy eating can actually be toxic to other animals. As such, John set himself the task of determining what reptiles actually eat in the wild, what nutrients this diet may contain, and finally, how we can replicate this in our collections. Of course, this makes sense, but the work certainly wasn?t easy. I can only imagine the magnitude of the task.

In John?s latest book you are guaranteed to discover many aspects of nutrition that have not been known or widely accepted before, as well as suggestions that may result in your own pet enjoying a longer and more comfortable life. As John says, ?We should be seeking to see captive animals thrive in captivity and not just live a sterile life in a box?. By taking the time to read this book, you may become one step closer to achieving this.

Frankfurt Contributions to Natural History Vol. 29

Frankfurt 2007, hardcover, 375 pages, more than 140 colour illustrations.

Israel offers abundant wild life and a variety of habitats, packed into one of the smallest countries in the world. This book presents useful information on the identification and general biology of all 92 land-reptile and amphibian species occurring in Israel.

The book details each species with an updated textual description, colorful images, and distribution maps. Species inhabiting sandy habitats are addressed in a special chapter detailing their tracks and how to follow them, with the aid of text and photographs.

In addition to its species coverage, this book also covers Israels unique conservation issues, and surveys its diverse phytogeographical habitats, with the aid of illustrations, photographs, and textual information.

Frankfurt am Main March 2018, softcover, 253 pages, 120 illustrations, most of them in colour. Edited by Jens Reissig and with a Preface by Prof. Aaron M. Bauer (Villanova University). Don Broadley is universally regarded as the "godfather" of modern African herpetology. With more than six decades of active research based in Zimbabwe, Don's career has been at the nexus of the field since shortly after his arrival in Africa. In his autobiography, Don presents the many details that have made up his life in herpetology. His numerous field trips, their participants and the reptiles and amphibians collected are all outlined in the orderly fashion that has characterised his many technical publications. Documented too are his first contacts with herpetologists around the world. This reveals how central Don has been to research programs near and far, providing data, specimens and expertise to a tremendous number of researchers and facilitating the last half century's growth in African herpetology. In Umtali and then in Bulawayo, Don built one of the largest collections of amphibians and reptiles in Africa, with its greatest strengths in the Zambesiaca region, incorporating Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, and Botswana ? areas where most of Don?s own field trips and those of his close associates generally took place. Today, because of Don, the collection in Bulawayo, one of the largest in Africa, it is rich in type material and the Museum?s journal Arnoldia is known to herpetologists around the world. Because of Don's centrality to herpetology, this book is a chronicle of the discovery of the herpetofauna of southeastern Africa. Stories from many of Don?s field trips, such as his run-in with a lioness in Botswana, have become legendary. His snake bites are even more storied ? from a stiletto snake bite only a few months after arriving in Rhodesia, to the 1960 puff adder bite that cost him his middle finger, to the boomslang bite that necessitated the transfusion of 13 pints of blood. All are documented in this book. Don was an unassuming man, yet his life was anything but uneventful and his contributions were many. And all of this was achieved against the backdrop of hardships that life in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe have brought. From the war of independence to hyperinflation, Don persevered, driven by his abiding fascination with the African herpetofauna. Whether the reader is a longtime friend of Don?s or someone for whom the name Broadley is familiar only from the literature cited of innumerable papers, this book will provide new insights into an extraordinary life in herpetology.

Don Broadley's autobiography starts off by telling us a little about his childhood and his teenage years, which he spent in England in the 1930s and 1940s. Some stories about the Second World War are also mentioned, especially one of a German bomber plane which he inspected after it had been shot down. Then it moves on to the first few years after his schooling and whilst he was doing his National Service in the Royal Air Force. His early explorations in Dorset testify to his interest in the local herpetofauna. Soon after this his plan to go to Africa started to fall into place. A Quest for African Herpetology documents his scientific work since the mid-1950s, until shortly before his death in 2016.

He has corresponded with many colleagues for decades. The number of people with whom he has been in contact during this period and of which he reports in this book, lies around the 400 mark. The major role players in his development are also mentioned here. It is not just herpetologists with whom he corresponded, but also many other scientific individuals throughout the world. The Zambia expedition can be mentioned here as an example. This he did with Woody Cotterill, a mammologist and Karen Esler, a botanist. They spent many weeks on the road together and thus allow the reader explore a wide aspect of the flora and fauna of the region around the source of the Zambezi.

Many observations and notes were also made available from game wardens or passionate amateurs who were interested in herpetology. Many may thus not have been heard of by the herpetological community in the past.

However, roughly two-thirds of the names mentioned in the book are indeed herpetologist, which are based throughout the world. One could say that there were hardly any herpetologists who were active during the second half of the 20th century that did not correspond with Don Broadley. Especially those that were working on African herpetofauna. Don Broadley's radius however extends far beyond the region which he himself had actively explored.

A Quest for African Herpetology also documents some of his premier field trips and vast collection of species throughout his life. Many of which he described himself, are talked about.

Frankfurt Contributions to Natural History Vol. 45

2nd revised and updated edition Frankfurt 2013, hardcover, 362 pages, 244 colour illustrations, 2 colour maps (physical and polititical maps of Cyprus), 23 distribution maps and 31 line drawings.

With a Preface by Max Kasparek.

Frankfurt Contributions to Natural History Vol. 38

Frankfurt am Main 2010, 693 pages, more than 380 colour- and 25 black-and white-photographs, 23 drawings, 282 maps.

Frankfurt Contributions to Natural History Vol. 32

Frankfurt am Main 2008, hardcover, 463 pages, 418 colour photos and more than 75 distribution maps.

For the first time leading Greek herpetologists have chosen to present their field data as a guide for an international audience. With the support of some of the most renowned European photographers in herpetology this volumes is a valuable addition for everybody interested in Mediterranean reptiles and amphibians.

Frankfurt Contributions to Natural History Vol. 46

Frankfurt am Main, 2010, hardcover, 350 pages, 116 colour photos, 12 colour plates with a total of 131 colour drawings, 50 distribution maps.

Frankfurt Contributions to Natural History, Vol. 50Frankfurt March 2011, HC. 239 pages, 218 color photographs, 2 maps. Taxonomic keys, descriptions, and color photographs make the identification of every species in the Seribuat Archipelago easy for both the untrained naturalist and scientist alike. Sections on each species natural history and distribution provide users with a means on how to find and observe species they find interesting. The distribution section is cross-indexed to an island checklist for every species on every island in the archipelago. Additionally, the archipelago's geological history is discussed and detailed descriptions of the islands are supplemented with color photographs of the varied habitats they comprise.

Frankfurt am Main 2012, hardcover, 374 pages, more than 120 colour illustrations.

Frankfurt am Main March 2018, hardcover, 448 pages, more than 400 colour photos, plus distribution maps and portraits of researchers who have made important contributions to the herpetology of the region in the past. Both authors are renowned experts in Caribbean herpetology.

Robert W. Henderson is Curator of Herpetology Emeritus at the Milwaukee Public Museum (USA). His studies of West Indian treeboas (Corallus) are ongoing. Robert Powell is Professor of Biology at Avila University in Kansas City, Missouri (USA). His research seeks to understand the responses of West Indian herpetofaunas to human-mediated environmental alterations.

In the Eastern Caribbean, the more than 40 islands of the St. Vincent Bank and the Grenada Bank (Grenada and the Grenadine Islands) harbor at least 32 species of frogs and reptiles. Like many West Indian islands, the combined herpetofaunas of the two island banks comprise a mixture of native (including island and bank endemics) and introduced species. They include species that are virtually ubiquitous to those that have precariously limited distributions and are critically endangered, a condition largely attributable to habitat destruction and the impact of introduced species. This book provides a compilation of our current knowledge of the frogs and reptiles of the two island banks and raises concerns for their futures.

Frankfurt am Main 2006, hardcover., 646 pages, 251 colour illustrations., 164 b/w ill. and 23 maps. With chapters by Daniela Schwarz (Origin and Evolution of Crocodilians), Karlheinz Fuchs (Skin and Skinelements and Tanning Crocodilian Skins) and Hemmo Nickel (Systematics of Modern Crocodilians). Trutnau and Sommerlad have been involved in crocodilian conservation for many years (Tomistoma task Force z.B.), and have longtime experience in keeping and breeding crocodilians as well as the the knowledge of many years studying crocs in the wild. Foreword by Graham Webb.

Frankfurt 2017, HC., 354 pages, 291 colour photographs, 44 maps.

This book contains detailed information on all 38 species of reptiles and amphibians recorded from Corfu (Kerkyra) and its satellite islands. Additionally, it outlines these islands? geography and geology as well as it addresses issues pertaining to climate, habitats, legislation and human activities. Corfu?s species richness is quite impressive, but reptiles and amphibians are generally less respected than other wildlife and often in conflict with people and human interests. They are often threatened by habitat destruction and pollution as a result of human activities and the development of the islands over the last 30 years has destroyed, reduced or changed many habitats. The purpose of this book is to increase the knowledge of and the respect for the herpetofauna of Corfu and its satellite islands and to create a preliminary benchmark for the present status and biology of their amphibians and reptiles. We hope it will stimulate further work and contribute to a better understanding and protection of these animals and their environment.

This book exceeds the scope of a field guide and turns it into a sound handbook on the herpetology of northern Pakistan

Frankfurt Contributions to Natural History, Vol. 52

Frankfurt Contributions to Natural History Vol. 4

Frankfurt1997, softvcover, 82 pages, 32 colour plates, distribution maps for all species.

Frankfurt Contributions to Natural History Vol. 20

Frankfurt 2005, hardcover, 137 pages, 80 colur photographs, 4 maps

Frankfurt Contributions to Natural History Vol. 19

Frankfurt 2004, hardcover, 228 pages, 212 colour photos, 23 black-and-white photos, 7 line drawings, 68 distribution maps

Frankfurt 2003, hardcover, 64 colour photos, 200 b/w photos, bilingual (English and German)

The official entitlement and the exigence of nature´s conservation demand a growing standard on the scientific identification of reptiles, both of the living animals and their skins too. In the featured book by Fuchs & Fuchs describe all skins of economical relevant snakes and other reptiles. Many until now unreleased detailed and macroscopic photographs suit as an aid. Especially the macroscopic photos reveal the fact that the morphologic aspects of the reptile´s skin are a scientifically totally underestimated concern due to the well and clearly presented fact, that many recent publications are just to be negated.

Frankfurt Contributions to Natural History Vol. 5

Frankfurt 1998, softcover, 121 pages, vernacular names of reptiles and amphibians from 70 languages spoken on the Indian subcontinent are present.

A valuable source for everyone interested in South Asian herpetology.

The Amphibians and Reptiles of Oman and the UAE. Author: Gardner, A. S. Hardcover, 480 pages, 342 colour photographs, distribution maps for each species, preface by Max Kasparek.

Frankfurt Contributions to Natural History, Vol. 35

Frankfurt 2011, hardcover, 582 pages, more than 500 colour photos, distribution maps for all species providing activity patterns (mating, oviposition,hatching) as well as data for vertical distribution in Bulgaria).

This German language edition lists vernacular names in German, English and Bulgarian for all species.

With a Preface by Andreas Nöllert.

Frankfurt Contributions to Natural History, Vol. 48

Frankfurt a.M. 2011, hardcover, 390 pages, 249 colour photos

It could be expected that such an experienced and knowledgeable herpetological author like Dr. Maren Gaulke who worked on the Philippine Islands, particularly on Panay Island, for so many years and who published such a great number of scientific articles on the amphibians and reptiles of that area, would finally present her collected knowledge in the form of a monographic treatment. This has now been realised in the present book, which appears in the white series of the Chimaira Publishing House in Frankfurt am Main. Subtitled with some understatement as An illustrated Field Guide, this book offers much more than what a simple field guide usually offers, because it provides also extensive introductory information on the geology, biogeography of fauna and flora, climate, conservation issues and legislation, and concludes with additonal chapters on doubtful Panay records, snake bite problems, habitat and faunistic relationships, and a voluminous list of references. Maren Gaulke and her coworkers discovered and described numerous new frog, lizard and snake taxa from the Philippine Islands, but her herpetological career started with varanid lizards, especially with the Philippine water monitors of the Varanus salvator group. One of her most important discoveries of any new species concerns a truly spectacular monitor lizard, the second frugivorous Varanus in the world that has become known: the big-growing, uniformly black, impressive Varanus mabitang, which figures with full justification not only as one of the most important flagship species for the conservation of Panays unique fauna, but also as the subject of the first photograph on the very beginning of his brightly illustrated book, which as I am sure will find a broad readership. (Wolfgang Böhme)