Serpent Research: Salamanders

Salamanders

Photographs of salamanders with captions will be published here. For a list of newly described salamander species go to the AmphibiaWeb site.

The Striated Tropical Salamander, Bolitoglossus striatula, inhabits wet lowland forest from Honduras to Costa Rica. It often sits on grass stems at the edges of ponds

The Small Mouth Salamander, Ambystoma texanum is a Midwest USA species

that breeds in ephemeral forest ponds. This one was photographed in Will County,

Illinois. JCM

A Tiger Salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum, from northern Illinois. JCM

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Secrets of the Snake Charmer

Reviewers have said the following about this book: "This book is an easy to read summary on the research on snake species of the world." "This book is a fascinating read and an encyclopedia of information on all aspects of snake zoology. However, it does not have the dry constricted style of writing characteristic of encyclopedic accounts. Instead, it is well-written (easily understandable by laypersons and herpetologists) and has a unique topical organization unlike other hematological books." "This is an exceptional book on snakes, a perfect mix of factual information and historical anecdotes without being too technical." "This book has it all...evolution, genetics, natural history, distribution and much, much more. Well written, readable and is the most comprehensive snake book published in the past few years. It contains a lot of new findings and research that changes many previously held beliefs regarding snakes and their habits." "Congratulations for the amazing piece of work!" "A very stimulating read . . . full of intellectual nuggets.... Every herpetologist needs it."

About- John C. Murphy

John C. Murphy retired from a teaching career to focus on amphibians, reptiles, and photography. He has herpetological field experience in North America, the Caribbean, Central America, Asia, and Australia. His most recent book, Secrets of the Snake Charmer, Snakes in the 21st Century was published in 2010; his other books are: Tales of Giant Snakes (co-authored with Robert W. Henderson), Amphibians and Reptiles of Trinidad and Tobago, and Homalopsid Snakes, Evolution in the Mud. Currently, Murphy is developing a fine art photography business. His other interests include: dogs and human evolution, the environment, and science and society. He is past president of the Chicago Herpetological Society, and a Research Associate in the Division of Amphibians and Reptiles at the Field Museum.

New Book

A field guide to the terrestrial and semi-aquatic snakes of the Lesser Sunda Islands with identification key. Over 220 color photos. 349 pp. Hardcover. Herpetological field guides to remote corners of the world are becoming more common. Ruud de Lang has now produced a book to rival his Snakes of Sulawesi (co-authored with Gernot Vogel), The Snakes of the Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara), Indonesia, has just been released by Edition Chimaira. The Lesser Sundas are a chain of small islands that link the Indonesian Archipelago with the Australasian region and therefore have considerable interest for biogeographers. The book examines the 36 species of snakes in nine families that inhabit about 20 islands that range in size from the tiny 20 km2 island of Padar to the 14,000 km2 islands of Flores and Timor. This well written and excellently produced volume stands alone as the single source of information on the snakes of this region. Keys, illustrated species accounts, photographs of habitats, and distribution maps make this a particularly valuable volume for anyone interested in snake diversity. Of interest are an undescribed python from Rinca and an undescribed typhlopid from Flores which are illustrated in the book.

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Salamanders