Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature

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.