Customer Reviews

Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature

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This book is not an encyclopediac treatment of snakes, but rather a natural history of some of the 2,700 species of snakes that are currently recognized. Eight chapters are devoted to general topics in snake biology, including anatomy, feeding, venoms (more snakes are venomous than we used to think), predation and defense, social behavior, reproduction, evolution, and conservation.

The illustrations supplied by world-acclaimed nature photographers Michael and Patricia Fogden are absolutely gorgeous---snakes in every aspect of their dangerous, seductive charm, including my favorite of Peringuey's Adder in Namibia. This snake's tail protrudes above the sand as a lure, and if you look very closely at the picture, you might make out eyes and head scales that are almost completely invisible between the grains of sand. It is quite startling to be looking at a pile of sand and suddenly see the outline of an adder's head.

The author, Harry W. Greene is Curator of Herpetology in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and Professor of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. He opens each chapter in 'Snakes' with an essay that considers the subject from a more personal perspective: many of his fellow herpetologists have been bitten by venomous snakes, and some have died. The essays lead to Greene's epilogue and his answer to the question, "Why snakes?"

This book is a fascinating read. I sat down to learn more about garter snakes when I came across several of these handsome reptiles that were just emerging from hibernation. I soon found myself rereading the whole book. There are fourteen references in the index to 'Thamnophis sirtalis' (the common garter snake) but they are scattered throughout the book in interesting chapters such as "Diet and Feeding." I didn't know garter snakes were semi-aquatic and dined mainly on other watery creatures such as frogs. They also form mating balls which may stay together for two or three days---one female and multiple males. They spend the winter together in hibernaculums--one hibernaculum in Ontario was found to have over 6,000 garter snakes!

The author's favorite reptiles are the venomous snakes, their ability to cause damage measured in the number of mice that would die from the poison injected through a single bite. "Drop for toxic drop, the Inland Taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus) wins hands down: a bite from this Australian cobra relative contains enough venom to kill two hundred thousand mice..." In the introductory essay, the author and some of his friends go scrambling through a Costa Rican rain forest, looking for the deadly Bushmaster (Crotalus mutus). They weren't bitten by the Bushmasters they found, just by "huge black ants with the most intensely painful and long-lasting sting of any hymenopteran."

If you'd like to explore the beauty and seductive grace of these ancient reptiles against a detailed backdrop of their biology and natural history, I highly recommend that you read "Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature." I own the hard-bound version, and it is 315 pages of dense text and hypnotic photographs.

This was the first time I ever ordered a book through 'Net and must say that Amazon's promised delivery period was bang on target. The book was in mint condition. Count me as very satisfied with the service. On with the review.

It was with much excitement as I unpacked the book, also another first as far as literature on snakes was concerned, and I have found it hard to put down ever since. The photos were excellent as well as the quality of the print. What "disappointed" me was the main focus on venomous species with almost perfunctory glimpses of non-venomous snakes. The author's fascination with venomous snakes is very evident and, in this respect, a wealth of information. However, if one's interests lies with non-venomous species, this book would be considered inadequate.

The above aside, I find this book to be most absorbing and lucid in its explanation of the various topics covered. I'd certainly recommend this book as a "must-have" for all avid herpers' libraries.

I came upon this book while searching for information on an unusual snake- the Asian Long-nosed Vine Snake. This book not only gave me information, but in it I found great detail on many snakes, and much information on adaptations that I had known nothing about. As a budding herpetologist, I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about snakes, their wiles, their guiles, and their wonder.

I grew up reading the works of Ditmars and Kauffield (sp?), dreaming of the day when I could visit some of the places they went to, and do some of the things they did. This book managed to capture some of the same feeling of wonder and yearning that I experienced all those years ago. Unlike those books, this book gives a good general overview of snake biology and evolution, and the photos are so beautiful that they brought tears to my eyes. Dr. Greene's anecdotes and writing style bring the subject wonderfully to life.

Snakes: The Evolution Of Mystery In Nature, is one of the best books on snakes I have ever owned. It is a classic right up there with Ditmars, Klauffeld, and Conant. The illustrations are flawless, and include many rarely seen species. The text is extremely well edited, with virtually no typos or spell-check misuse of words. Factually, the book is spot on, with no misidentified species, no incorrect references, and no gaffes. All of the information presented is up to date, and based on state-of-the-art research.

The author relates his personal experiences to introduce each chapter, evoking at-the-scene imagery, and lyrically conveying his point of view. The chapters are packed with information, conveying many new and fascinating tidbits of information about well know and lesser know serpents. Additionally, the chapters have special topics, which go into detail concerning specific aspects of snakes, such as the rattlesnake's rattle, mimicry of coral snakes by harmless species, and the ability of some snakes to swallow proportionately huge food items, and how these specializations may have evolved. Both the introductory essays and the special topics are illuminated by appropriate photos.

If you like snakes, reptiles, are fascinated by nature, or simply interested in evolutionary theory, this is a book you must have.

This book encompasses all of the main groups of snakes. There are absolutely amazing and beautiful photographs that illustrate the diversity of snakes. The writing is clear and understandable to a novice, but at the same time is very informative. The book is broken into sections: General snake biology, Snake Taxonomy, Venomous snakes, and Conservation. I highly recommend this book--even just flipping through and glancing at the pictures make a person excited about herpetology!

An outstanding resource with equally stunning photographs.This book is an essential. I initially purchased it as a gift for a young herpetologist/ biologist and decided I had to own my own copy. Both witty, informative and appealing to all levels. I highly recommend it.

Harry Greene's book is widely considered to be a "classic" in the world of herpetological literature. He does a great job of presenting the information in sufficient detail, but not bogging it down in terminology or specifics that would lose the layman. The book covers all the major families of snakes, covering behavior, evolution, diet, reproduction, etc. The pictures, taken by husband and wife team Michael and Patricia Fogden, are gorgeous documentations of snakes in their natural habitats, and are a great addition to this book. I would venture to say that NO herp library is complete without a copy of this book, and that if one is just starting to compile a herpetological library, this book should easily be your first.

Though it is an old book (1997) it is still a really really good book, which I think is a MUST for everyone keeping snakes. Some things like the taxonomy and "rearfanged-anatimy" is outdated, but still there is a LOT of really good basic info on snakes to get in this book.

I have yet to find one book covering so many topics and give so much information in a easy-to-understand language.

It is also quite easy to read, though english is not your native language.

The book is made up of 3 parts, which again is divided in chapters.

Part one is "Lifestyle"

Some topics covered here is Classification, General biology, Feeding, Venomous snakes, Reproduction etc.

Part 2 is Diversity.

Here the different families like elapids, viperids, colubrids etc are covered.

Part 3 is Synthesis.

Here Greene write s about evolution and biogeography as well as a historic chaåter where he discuss snakes in the past, present and future.

Furthermore there are 16 "special Topics" in the book. These are a few pages coverings topics like "Deadly colubrids and famous herpetologists "The coral snake mimicry problem" etc.

I, for one, would love to see an updated version of this fantastic book, since much has happend since '97.

This was my first "serious" snakebook and i have read it several times. Sometimes i still take it down from the shelf nd read my favorite chapters.

I highly recommend this for people who wants to know a little more than cage temperatures and humidity ;)

This book is a must for anyone who likes or dislikes reptiles. Harry Greene is one of the worlds authorities on snake ecology and evolution. This book is beautifully written and the photographs are priceless! A must for every Amazon.com shopper!