3.0 out of 5 stars
Decent book with some crucial mistakes, December 6, 2010
This review is from: Snakes of the World (Hardcover)
It's a decent book. There are some great photos and almost most of the information is correct and informative... however, there are a lot of drawings as well, that appear to be nothing more than basic digital images (some are reminiscent of clip art) and a lot don't show the correct details for identification or even appear to be the proper species.
However, in the quick runthrough I gave it after it arrived today, I found a good number of potentially critical errors:
1: Page 9. Under the Classification tab, it shows four boxes with the for taxonomic classifications of reptiles. The pictures and the scientific nomenclature are correct. However, next to Rhynchocephalia, it should say "Tuataras" to make it correct. Instead, it has a picture of a tuatara but fact says "toads." However, as most people know, toads aren't even reptiles.
2: Page 20. There are three head drawings showing the types of fangs on a snake. The first two (Opistoglyphous [rear fanged colubrids] and Proteroglyphous [elapids] respectively) can get away with the same head because they can share a lot of features in the area, the same head shouldn't be used to show the fangs of Solenoglyphs (vipers) because of the fact that they don't have rounded pupils (except for a very few exceptions [i.e. the night adders]) therefore making this misleading.
3: Page 25. Bottom right picture, the subtext says Elaphe notaeus. However, it is a picture of Eunectes notaeus - the yellow anaconda. Elaphe notaeus isn't a real snake and if it were, it would be a member of the ratsnake group, and therefore, not ovoviviparous. Just a typo, but still incorrect information.
4: Page 27. Boiga denchophila should say Boiga dendrophila.
5: Page 29. For image number two, it shows Crotalus cerastes, the sidewinder, which is a species of rattlesnake found in the United States and Mexico, which is correct with the picture and other species listed. However, next to the correct latin name, it says "North African Horned Viper" which is actually Cerastes cerastes. A viper from Africa and the middle east that has a much higher venom potency than the sidewinder.
6: Page 117. Bottom right, it shows a drawing of a Southern hognosed snake, but has it mislabeles as Xenodon simus. It should actually say Heterodon simus.
7: Page 155. An entire page devoted to Thamnophis sauritus. The eastern ribbon snake and it's subspecies. The only picture it shows, however, is of an massasauga (genus Sistrurus) which is a type of rattlesnake. This, in my opinion, is a big mistake that shouldn't have been overlooked, or made in the first place.
8: Page 156. Top right picture of "Thamnophis sirtalis (Common garter snake)" (which is what the page is for) is actually a picture of a ribbon snake (Thamnophis sauritus). This isn't a crucial mistake like the other, however.
9: Page 245. The page for Crotalus lepidus. The Rock rattlesnake. Two of the species occur in the United States, however, the only two pictures shown on that page (labeled Crotalus lepidus) are actually pictures of Crotalus durissus. A species of rattlesnake that doesn't occur in the United States for one, and doesn't look anything like C. lepidus, for two. The pictures shown are of a different subspecies than the two shown on the prior page for C. durissus.
Other small errors/typos include incorrectly/inconsistently capitalized species names (after a capitalized Genus name, the species and subspecies should be in lowercase) and misspelled words throughout the book.
I don't mean to just go in and nitpick the book, but I feel that these are rather large mistakes that should have been caught during editing or avoided altogether.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Seen Much Better, August 18, 2005
This review is from: Snakes of the World (Hardcover)
There is some wonderful photography in this book and it should have stuck to just that. There are many drawings throughout the book and many are not quite depicting what they are supposed to that well. Unforunately, the authors must have been running on a short budget as well because there are numerous typos that should have been easily corrected by an editor.
In addition to some errors that tend to be somewhat frustrating as you read through the info are some mix-ups and facts that are simply not true or just backwards.
i. e. Befor you begin the book, on page 9, they wrote Rhynchocephalia as the Order for toads, with a picture of a Tuatara. Last I checked, toads are amphibians. They apparently confused the Madagascar Leafnosed Snake's sexual differentiation and misspelled their genus name (Langara should have been Langaha). They also put a picture of a rattlesnake where they are describing the Eastern Ribbon Snake.
Overall, the book is good and does have some OK information within it. The photography in it is nice and there is much to take from this book. However, I would not recomend this book over many other books of its kind and I wouldn't agree that it's worth $30.
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