Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Venerable, sometimes conflicting, traditions shape our views of nature, and humans were enthralled by slithering gaits, venomous bites, and various legendary attributes of snakelike animals..." (more)
Key Phrases: stiletto snakes, basal macrostomatans, basal alethinophidians, Costa Rica, New World, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Herpetologists are sure to rejoice at this information-dense study of the world's snakes, illustrated with more than 200 photographs of the reptiles in action. Harry W. Greene offers life histories of cobras and adders, of rattlers and constrictors, showing the astonishing variety in what is, all in all, a fairly simple form. He discusses snake locomotion, adaptation, coloration, nomenclature, mimicry, and habits; and he offers a rigorous account of herp physiology, all the while peppering his scientific prose with personal notes on encounters with sometimes testy subjects around the world. He ends his absorbing book with a detailed discussion of issues in snake conservation, especially identifying and protecting key habitats that are in danger owing to human economic development. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Magnificent photographs enrich this anecdotal and scholarly narrative that lifts the lowly snake to loftier heights by presenting its unique evolutionary story.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 365 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (April 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520224876
• ISBN-13: 978-0520224872
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #648,003 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bushmasters, Eyelash Pitvipers, & Fire-bellied snakes, April 21, 2004

By	E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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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.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Review of "Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature", December 9, 2001

By	Francis Tan "ftcrd" (Seremban, Negeri Sembilan Malaysia) - See all my reviews

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Detailed, brilliant, recommend to all interested in snakes, January 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature (A Director's Circle Book of the Associates of the University of California Press) (Hardcover)

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.