Firefly Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians

by Tim Halliday (Editor)

Combining authoritative, easy-to-read essays with exciting illustrations and color photographs, this comprehensive encyclopedia covers all the diverse families of reptiles and amphibians, from chameleons to turtles to tree frogs. Lively, in-depth articles are illustrated with accurate artworks and color photographs and each species listing has a Factfile of the essential

Genres: Science

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Tim Halliday is a professor emeritus of biology at Open University in the UK. Professor Halliday's academic specialty was in the study of newts, toads, and frogs. He researches declining amphibian populations worldwide. He was the amphibian consultant for Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide, which Outside magazine called "the ultimate zoological reference."

Reviews

[Trent Marv · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who is a general fan of both amphibians and reptiles I must commend this book in many ways. It is neat to see this book and it does a great job covering the living groups, especially I wish to commend the coverage of the Caecillians which are often forgotten compared to the other two groups of amphibians with each family getting a short section. All the various images are bright and colorful and the illustrations are also pretty good especially of the extinct forms and salamanders.
In terms of structure the book it is divided into two major chapters. One for Amphibians and the other for reptiles. Each of these sections starts with several pages describing the evolutionary history of a certain group (even though it doesn't mention several extinct families that seem like they'd be important especially for modern amphibians) then several key traits and finally conservation concerns. We then see sections on each of the group.
I will say when it comes to negatives there are a few that bar it from a perfect 5 stars. The aforementioned lack of certain extinct groups, a minor format mistake on page where the phrase "Some elapids" is repeated twice in a row. Of more substance is the inconsistent structure of the coverage of some groups. For some reason Amphisbaenians (also called worm lizards) do not get the same coverage as Caecillians despite both groups being similarly obscure and even worse is the lack of coverage for turtles which are far more well known than either of those fossorial groups and as such there is no excuse.
In conclusion this is an amazing book that while it does have some slight flaws it does provide a great coverage of the living amphibian and reptile groups well worth a buy