Field Guide to East African Reptiles

by Spawls, S.; Howell, K.; Hinkel, H.; Menegon, M.

Publisher : Bloomsbury Natural History
Illustrations : col photos, distribution maps

Our customers have given this title an average rating of 5 out of 5 from 1 review(s)

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2nd edition. A comprehensive guide to the reptile fauna of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. This second edition is revised and updated.

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Our customers have given this title an average rating of 5 out of 5 from 1 review(s), Click here to add your own review for this title.

Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne on 8/26/2023 7:59:30 AM

(5 out of 5)

My interest in this book is because I am an all-round natural history photographer and wanted to identify some of the commoner species of reptiles I had photographed on safaris in East Africa. I was also keen to have a book that was up to date in taxonomy both at the level of species and higher level taxonomy. This book certainly does not disappoint as it is one of the most current books on African reptiles. It is also written by a team of expert herpetologists and this is reflected in the text that has a strong scientific orientation. However, I should make it clear that I am no herpetologist. I make no attempt to handle reptiles. I also keep a good distance from snakes and unless I know for certain that a species is non venomous I will only photograph one from a cautious distance.

The introductory sections (pages 5 to 23) cover a range of useful topics, albeit briefly. These include zoogeography of East African reptiles, conservation, identification taxonomy, what reptiles are and safety. Most people will keep a safe distance from snakes but the section on identification. In East Africa there is no single way to tell a harmless snake from a dangerous one and the section on safety and reptiles Unless you are an expert, you should never handle are worth reading. The authors admit that snakes have a bad press and note that most snakes are not dangerous. But one cannot be too careful and reading this field guide reinforced my view that when travelling abroad I should treat all snakes with due caution. On my visits to Africa, my main focus in relation to reptiles has been to photograph skinks and lizards which I see around the game lodges. This book serves well my modest requirements but it is evident that this is probably the best book available for the serious herpetologist as well.

The final topic in the introductory section is Further Reading Literature and Resources In addition to pointing out various internet resources it also references key papers such as the paper on phylogeny and revised classification of Squamata including 4161 species of lizards and snakes by Alexander Pyron, Frank T Burbrink and John J Wiens. As someone interested in taxonomy, I found some of these leads useful and downloaded some of the material which is freely available.

The species accounts which comprise the bulk of book (pages 25 to 567) are divided into Chelonians (tortoises, turtles and terrapins), Lizards (geckoes, skinks, lizards, chameleons and monitors, placed across ten families), Worm Lizards, Crocodiles and Snakes. The snakes span eight families and occupy almost half of the book from pages 335 to 567. Orders and families have short but useful introductory sections. Where relevant brief details of taxonomic changes are also indicated. In many cases the genera have introductory sections as well. Being familiar with skinks in the genus Mabuya found in Asia it was useful for me to learn that the Trachylepis skinks (Typical Skinks) were once placed in the same genus. Although photographic field guides to groups such as a birds and mammals are unlikely to have introductions to genera, with reptiles and amphibians it is not unusual to point out the features that are typical of a genus. This has practical benefits for identification in the field or more likely in the hand. There are many keys interspersed throughout the book and these may be shown at the level of order, family or genus and key down to various levels including down to species level.

The species accounts have sections on identification, habitat and distribution and natural history. They are also accompanied by distribution maps. Both the keys and the identification text have references to scale counts or other features which would require a reptile to be in the hand. The end sections have a series of line drawings (pages 600 to 611) which not only introduce the technical terms for various topographic features but also explain how to correctly determine scale counts. Fortunately, almost all of the non-snake reptiles seen by a wildlife enthusiast on a safari holiday can be identified using the photographs and distribution maps in the species section.

The species accounts are well written and strike a good balance between identification-oriented detail, taxonomic notes and the natural history of a species. The natural history section is more likely to be interesting with common and well studies species such as the familiar Kenya Red-headed Rock Agama (Agama lionotus). Not surprisingly, with many species the authors refer to the absence of information even on basic information such as distribution or unresolved questions on species-level taxonomy.

The book is printed to a typical field guide shape at 140mm (width) and 210mm (height). It weighs over a kilogram. It has the heft of a handbook rather than a field guide. I think it is better that a comfortable to read font size has been chosen by the publisher rather than trying to reduce page count and weight by using a smaller font. I suspect for the majority of nature enthusiasts on safari naturalists, field guides to birds and mammals will have greater utility and this book might be one to refer to after coming back home to check on any reptiles photographed. But it is clearly an important addition to the library of any naturalist interested in East African natural history whether they are a resident or a visitor. For visitors who want a good introduction to East African natural history as a whole I would strongly recommend Kenya: A Natural History which is authored by Stephen Spawls (the same lead author of this book) and Glen Mathews. Also published by Bloomsbury, this is one of the finest books I have read as an introduction to a country's natural history. It is obvious that Field Guide to East African Reptiles has been an enormous undertaking and there may not be a better field guide until the arrival of a future third edition.