Australian reptile books
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| Books about Australian reptiles. |
| 1. A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia. Wilson and Swan Okay, we're starting with the best-in-class. Wilson and Swan have vast experience in the field of herpetofauna and clearly love what they do. This is the clear winner for anyone wanting a comprehensive field guide to Australia's reptiles, and not only because it's the only one to cover all 800+ species. For each species there is a good description and notes on the typical habitat. This information, coupled with the adjoining distribution maps should give the best chance for accurate identification. You're just left wishing for illustrations rather than photos. However, some things you should know about this book are the weight, (all glossy guides are heavy), the lack of a large scale coverage map (this can make it tricky if you're not familiar with the territory of Australia) and the lack of a decent introduction. Also, the fact that this is a photo guide means that sometimes ID can be difficult, indeed I've been beaten on a couple of occasions. Having said all that, it's still the recommended choice. 7/10 |
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| 2. A Field Guide to the Reptiles of New South Wales Swan Not a lot to say about this book that I haven't covered in the Swan and Wilson above, it's just that the area of coverage is more limited. So it again comes highly recommended, but with the same reservations. 7/10 |
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| 3. Key Guide Australian Reptiles and Amphibians Cronin Well I quite like this book. Immediately that you see the illustrations you realize how much better it would be if the Swan and Wilson book had them. The clarity of detail is just so much better and so identification is so much easier. My problem with this book is that it's just too big compared to the amount of information it includes. The illustrations are unnecessarily large and the 'white spaces' too common. A book this size could just about manage full coverage if it used the available space better and whilst some will say that this is a petty I would say that getting the most from available space is what field guides are all about. However, whilst it could benefit from a better introduction and glossary, the coverage is probably good enough for everything you are likely to see on a short trip out here. If full coverage is not your thing then this book is probably the best available. |
|
| Size mm/in |
| Weight g/oz |
| 189x95x10 / 7.4 x 3.7 x 0.4 |
| 200/7 approx |
| Photos |
| Photos/Illustrations |
| Complete coverage? |
| No |
| Paperback/Hardback |
| Paperback |
| Number of pages |
| 144 |
| Latin ind |
| Yes |
| English index? |
| Yes |
| Quality of introduction info. |
| 6/10 |
| Quality of illustrations/photos |
| 8/10 |
| Large scale coverage map? |
| No |
| Distribution maps? |
| Yes |
| Maps next to description? |
| Yes |
| Checklist? |
| Yes |
| Glossary? |
| No |
| My rating |
| 9/10 |
| Size mm/in |
| Weight g/oz |
| 230x145x13 / 9x5.7x0.5 |
| 400/14 approx. |
| Illustrations |
| Photos/Illustrations |
| Complete coverage? |
| No |
| Paperback/Hardback |
| Paperback |
| Number of pages |
| 224 |
| Latin ind |
| No |
| English index? |
| Yes |
| Quality of introduction info. |
| 3/10 |
| Quality of illustrations/photos |
| 9/10 |
| Large scale coverage map? |
| No |
| Distribution maps? |
| Yes |
| Maps next to description? |
| Yes |
| Checklist? |
| No |
| Glossary? |
| No |
| My rating |
| 6/10 |
| Size mm/in |
| Weight g/oz |
| 212x113x18 / 8.4x4.5x0.7 |
| ? |
| Photos |
| Photos/Illustrations |
| Complete coverage? |
| Yes |
| Paperback/Hardback |
| Paper |
| Number of pages |
| 304 |
| Latin ind |
| Yes |
| English index? |
| Yes |
| Quality of introduction info. |
| 3/10 |
| Quality of illustrations/photos |
| 8/10 |
| Large scale coverage map? |
| No |
| Distribution maps? |
| Yes |
| Maps next to description? |
| Yes |
| Checklist? |
| Yes |
| Glossary? |
| No |
| My rating |
| 7/10 |
| Size mm/in |
| Weight g/oz |
| 210x148x26 / 8.2x5.7x1.0 |
| 990/35 |
| Photos |
| Photos/Illustrations |
| Complete coverage? |
| Yes |
| Paperback/Hardback |
| Paperback |
| Number of pages |
| 480 |
| Scientific ind |
| Yes |
| English index? |
| Yes |
| Quality of introduction info. |
| 10/10 |
| Quality of illustrations/photos |
| 8/10 |
| Large scale coverage map? |
| No |
| Distribution maps? |
| Yes |
| Maps next to description? |
| Yes |
| Checklist? |
| Yes |
| Glossary? |
| No |
| My rating |
| 7/10 |
| 4. A Photographic guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Australia Swan This is a really very good field guide. It is truly pocket sized, it has good distribution maps adjacent to good descriptions, it has habitat and behaviour information and it has good photos. All this adds up to the key feature of a field guide - identification. Where it lets itself down is in the lack of coverage and a few other, less important, features such as not having a checklist or large scale coverage map. However, there are over 800 species of reptile in Australia so unless you are really serious about your reps then the chances are that in any short stay in Australia this book will provide all the coverage you need (it actually covers 223 species). One more good thing about this book is the inclusion of information about the danger level for each species, although having read it you might be put off from even coming here! 9/10 |
|
| Size mm |
| Weight g |
| Photos/Illustrations |
| Complete coverage? |
| Paperback/Hardback |
| Number of pages |
| Scientific ind |
| English index? |
| Quality of introduction info. |
| Quality of illustrations/photos |
| Large scale coverage map? |
| Distribution maps? |
| Maps next to description? |
| Checklist? |
| Glossary? |
| My rating |
| Not a bad selection here, there certainly should be enough for all tastes. Those of you planning to travel to Australia and who have an interest in the reptiles of this country are largely indebted to the work of Gerry Swan, since he is responsible for 4 out of the 5 books reviewed here. Reptiles aren't really my thing but I do own two of these books and can vouch for the quality. Anyway, happy herping! |
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 210x148x26 |
| Photos |
| Yes |
| Paperback |
| 480 |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| 10/10 |
| 8/10 |
| No |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| No |
| 7/10 |
| 212x113x18 |
| ? |
| Photos |
| Yes |
| Paper |
| 304 |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| 3/10 |
| 8/10 |
| No |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| No |
| 7/10 |
| 230x145x13 |
| Illustrations |
| No |
| Paperback |
| 224 |
| No |
| Yes |
| 3/10 |
| 9/10 |
| No |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| No |
| No |
| 6/10 |
|
| 5. Green Guide Snakes and other Reptiles of Australia Swan The Green Guides are, to my mind, great. Not a true field guide in the traditional sense but a great way to foster interest in a subject and learn a whole load into the bargain. For those unfamiliar, the Green Guides all follow the same pattern. They are physically small paperbacks, glossy but not heavy, and packed full of interesting information presented in a format that is probably targeted at children but still good for adults. There are usually none of the things you come to expect from a field guide (complete coverage, distribution maps, consistency of species information, scientific index) but as long as you know this in advance you will likely not be disappointed. This book covers snakes, turtles, crocodiles and lizards and it includes a checklist of the most commonly seen species for the ambitious and location maps. The pictures are consistently good. 9/10 |
| Size mm/in |
| Weight g/oz |
| 180x131x10 / 7 x 5.1 x 0.4 |
| 173/6.1 approx |
| Photos |
| Photos/Illustrations |
| Complete coverage? |
| No |
| Paperback/Hardback |
| Paperback |
| Number of pages |
| 96 |
| Latin ind |
| No |
| English index? |
| Yes |
| Quality of introduction info. |
| 7/10 |
| Quality of illustrations/photos |
| 10/10 |
| Large scale coverage map? |
| No |
| Distribution maps? |
| Yes |
| Maps next to description? |
| Yes |
| Checklist? |
| No |
| Glossary? |
| No (partial) |
| My rating |
| 9/10 |
| 189x95x10 |
| 200 |
| Photos |
| No |
| Paperback |
| 144 |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| 6/10 |
| 8/10 |
| No |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| No |
| 9/10 |
| 180x131x10 |
| Photos |
| No |
| Paperback |
| 96 |
| No |
| Yes |
| 3/10 |
| 10/10 |
| No |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| No |
| No (partial) |
| 9/10 |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 990 |
| 400 |
| 173 |
| Please click on either the US or UK link if you wish to purchase this book. |
| Please click on either the US or UK link if you wish to purchase this book. |
| Please click on either the US or UK link if you wish to purchase this book. |
| Please click on either the US or UK link if you wish to purchase this book. |
| Please click on either the US or UK link if you wish to purchase this book. |