Description
Book SynopsisThe captivating and beautifully illustrated true story of snakes in America. 125 million years ago on the floodplains of North America, a burrowing lizard started down the long evolutionary path of shedding its limbs. The 60-plus species of snakes found in Sean P. Graham's American Snakes have this ancestral journey to thank for their ubiquity, diversity, and beauty. Although many people fear them, snakes are as much a part of America's rich natural heritage as redwoods, bald eagles, and grizzly bears. Found from the vast Okefenokee Swamp to high alpine meadows, from hardwood canopies to the burning bottom of the Grand Canyon, these ultimate vertebrates are ecologically pivotal predators and quintessential survivors. In this revelatory and engaging meditation on American snakes, Graham, a respected herpetologist and gifted writer, explains the everyday lives of American snakes, from their daily routines and seasonal cycles to their love lives, hunting tactics, and defensive repert
Trade ReviewBrimming with intriguing and unusual storiesof hognose snakes that roll over and play dead, blind snakes with tiny vestigial lungs, rainbow-hued dipsadines, and wave-surfing sea-snakesthe text is interspersed with scores of gorgeous full-color images of snakes, from the scary to the sublime. This proud celebration of a diverse American wildlife group will make every reader, no matter how skeptical, into a genuine snake lover.
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Birdbooker Report[American Snakes] is an authoritative yet accessible guide that makes the world of American snakes attractive to even non-scientist readers.
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Donovan's Literary ServicesThis is an excellent book about snakes, well worth the price, and worthy of finding a home in the libraries of herpetologists and all naturalists. I anticipate pulling my copy off the shelf again and again.
—Robert Powell,
Amphibian & Reptile ConservationA valuable resource for a range of audiences. It is an attractive introduction to snake biology for beginning herpetologists and curious readers, yet even seasoned professionals will likely find items to interest them. Recommended for general and undergraduate collections as well as herpetology research collections.
—K. M. Sheffield, Clemson University,
ChoiceAmerican Snakes is a wonderful book to read because it is replete with snake stories, personal stories, and stories about other herpetologists. It also has a lot of science about snakes in it. Sean Graham is a fine storyteller. He starts each chapter with a story that reveals something about human behavior, usually his, and snake behavior. The way he writes reads like his oral presentations to live audiences. His stories are engaging whether written or oral.
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CopeiaThis thoroughly enjoyable book lets readers absorb the excitement of being a herpetologist who works with snakes while learning about the general and specific biology of the creatures. Any nascent or veteran field biologist will learn something new about snakes, and this volume is especially suitable for anyone who needs to be convinced that American snakes are an ideal group to focus on for a career.
—J. Whitfield Gibbons, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina,
Quarterly Review of BiologyExtremely pleasant to read . . . very profound, cutting-edge, exciting, and interesting . . . The highly recommended work is aimed at a very wide audience, from the layman interested in reptiles to the expert.
—Kriton Kunz,
ReptiliaTable of ContentsForeword, by Rick Shine
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
2. Form and Function
3. A Day in the Life of a Snake
4. A Year in the Life of a Snake
5. Snake Sex
6. Snake Food
7. Snake Eaters
8. Snake Defense
9. Dangerous Snakes
10. Snake Invaders
11. Snake Conservation
Epilogue
References
Index
