Amphibians of Central and Southern Africa

Author(s)

    • Channing, A

Bibliographic Information

Amphibians of Central and Southern Africa

Alan Channing

(Comstock books in herpetology)

Comstock, c2001

  • : cloth

Related Bibliography 1 items

Available at  / 1 libraries

Search this Book/Journal

Note

Includes bibliographical (p. [427]-455) references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Amphibians of Central and Southern Africa is the first comprehensive guide to the frogs, toads, and caecilians of the ten sub-equatorial African countries-Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The result is at once a valuable reference tool, a field guide, and a source of ideas for future research.A source of increasing interest in their own right, amphibians are also benchmark species for biodiversity, and are used as laboratory animals in many of the sciences. In the wild, amphibians, especially frogs, act as natural monitors of water quality and are invaluable in pest control. Their skins secrete a wide range of pharmacologically active substances, such as antibiotics and painkillers. Yet frog populations are declining worldwide, mainly due to human destruction of their habitats. Alan Channing synthesizes information published over the last century to provide the first natural history and a portrait of the amphibian fauna of this vast region.Key features of Amphibians of Central and Southern Africa include*detailed accounts for 205 species of frogs and toads (and 2 species of caecilian) accompanied by color illustrations, distribution maps, details of breeding and tadpole behavior, and call descriptions*illustrations and tadpole identification keys for each genus*special sections for some species with topics such as "skin toxins"*an overview of fossil frogs, a discussion of humankind and frogs in Africa, and a bibliography of African frog biology

by "Nielsen BookData"

Related Books: 1-1 of 1

Details

  • NCID
    BC08815753
  • ISBN
    • 0801438659
  • LCCN
    20013709
  • Country Code
    uk
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    Ithaca, N.Y. ; London
  • Pages/Volumes
    x, 470 p., 24 p. of plates
  • Size
    24 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
  • Parent Bibliography ID
Page Top