Laurie J. Vitt – författare

The fourth edition of the textbook Herpetology covers the basic biology of amphibians and reptiles, with updates in nearly every conceptual area. Not only does it serve as a solid foundation for modern herpetology courses, but it is also relevant to courses in ecology, behavior, evolution, systematics, and morphology.

Examples taken from amphibians and reptiles throughout the world make this book a useful herpetology textbook in several countries. Naturalists, amateur herpetologists, herpetoculturists, zoo professionals, and many others will find this book readable and full of relevant natural history and distributional information.

Amphibians and reptiles have assumed a central role in research because of the diversity of ecological, physiological, morphological, behavioral, and evolutionary patterns they exhibit. This fully revised edition brings the latest research to the reader, ranging over topics in evolution, reproduction, behavior and more, allowing students and professionals to keep current with a quickly moving field.

Heavily revised and updated with discussion of squamate (lizard and snake) taxonomy and new content reflected in current literature Includes increased focus on conservation biology in herpetology while retaining solid content on organismal biology of reptiles and amphibians Presents new photos included from authors' extensive library

In a collection rich in implications for all fields of ecology, leading lizard ecologists demonstrate the utility of the phylogenetic approach in understanding the evolution of morphology, physiology, behavior, and life histories. Lizards, which are valued for their amenability to field experiments, have been the subject of reciprocal transplant experiments and of manipulations of resource availability, habitat structure, population density, and entire sections of food webs. Such experiments are rapidly rebuilding ecological theories as they apply to all organisms. As a demonstration of state-of-the-art historical and experimental research and as a call for philosophical engagement, this volume will join its predecessors--Lizard Ecology: A Symposium (Missouri, 1967) and Lizard Ecology: Studies of a Model Organism (Harvard, 1983)--in directing ecological research for years to come. Lizard Ecology contains essays on reproductive ecology (Arthur E. Dunham, Lin Schwarzkopf, Peter H. Niewiarowski, Karen Overall, and Barry Sinervo), behavioral ecology (A. Stanley Rand, William E. Cooper, Jr., Emulia P. Martins, Craig Guyer, and C. Michael Bull), evolutionary ecology (Raymond B.Huey, Jean Clobert et al., Donald B. Miles, and Theodore Garland, Jr.), and population and community ecology (Ted Case, Robin M. Andrews and S. Joseph Wright, Craig D. James, and Jonathan B. Losos). Originally published in 1994. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.